| St Peter's Church, Woolton | |
|---|---|
 St Peter's Church, Woolton, from its yard | |
  St Peter's Church, Woolton Location in Merseyside | |
| 53°22′34″N2°52′10″W / 53.3760°N 2.8694°W /53.3760; -2.8694 | |
| OS grid reference | SJ 423 869 |
| Location | Church Road,Woolton,Liverpool,Merseyside |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | St Peter's, Woolton |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 14 March 1975 |
| Architect | Grayson and Ould |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Gothic Revival (Perpendicular) |
| Groundbreaking | 1886 |
| Completed | 1887 |
| Specifications | |
| Spire height | 90 feet (27 m) |
| Materials | Sandstone |
| Administration | |
| Province | York |
| Diocese | Liverpool |
| Archdeaconry | Liverpool |
| Deanery | Liverpool South Childwall |
| Parish | Much Woolton |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Rev Lizzy Holland MA |
| Laity | |
| Churchwarden(s) | Terry van Eker Alistair Fletcher |
| Parish administrator | Derek Dottie |
St Peter's Church is in Church Road,Woolton,Liverpool,Merseyside, England. It is an activeAnglicanparish church in the deanery of Liverpool South Childwall, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and thediocese of Liverpool.[1] The church is recorded in theNational Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II*listed building.[2] It is one of the largest parish churches in Liverpool, and its bell tower was the highest point of the city.[3] The church also has connections withThe Beatles, being the location where founding membersPaul McCartney andJohn Lennon first met.[4]
In 1826 a chapel was built near the side of the present church. It was built insandstone and could hold about 200 people.[3] The chapel was inNeoclassical style.[5] The population of Woolton continued to grow, and the style of the church was disliked by the congregation. A number of wealthy merchants were living in the area, and it was decided to build a new church. The foundation stone for this was laid in 1886.[3] The new church was designed by the local architectsGrayson and Ould, and was completed in 1887. An extension was added to the west of the church in 1989, which includes an eight-sided hall.[5]
St Peter's is constructed in redsandstone. It is a large church inPerpendicular style.[5] The church provides seating for nearly 500 people.[3] Its plan consists of anave, north and south four-bayaisles under separategables, a south porch, a northtransept, achancel, a three-bay north chapel, a southvestry, and a southwest tower. The tower is 90 feet (27 m) high.[3] It has anglebuttresses, acantedturret in the southeast angle, paired two-light bell openings, acornice.gargoyles, anembattledparapet, andpinnacles. The windows along the sides of the aisles have three lights, and the west window has five lights. There are four-light windows in the transept and the chapel, and a seven-light east window.[2]
Inside the church are five-bayarcades carried onquatrefoil columns.[2] The nave has ahammerbeam roof, and in the chapel is a canted, stencilled ceiling. Thereredos contains fiveniches containing paintings dating from 1905 bySigismund Goetze. The octagonalfont is inalabaster, and has atraceried cover. Thepulpit is also in alabaster, and is decorated with afrieze of angels.[5] There arewrought iron screens to the chancel and the chapel. In the chancel is asedilia with cusped arches and pinnacles.[2] Most of the stained glass is byC. E. Kempe, and there are two windows byMorris & Co. Also in the church is a memorial to the First World War byHeaton, Butler and Bayne.[5] The originalpipe organ was designed by Foster and Andrews in 1895. This was rebuilt byRushworth and Dreaper in 1945, and refurbished in 1994 by David Wells. The organ has threemanuals, 38 stops, and 2,338 pipes. The tower contains aring of ten bells.[3]
At the entry to the churchyard is a large, ornatelychgate, which was designed by Grayson and Ould, and is contemporary with the church. It consists of a timbercanopy on a stone base. The roof isshingled, and thebressumers andbargeboards are finely carved. On top of the lychgate is a cross. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.[5][6] In the churchyard is another memorial to the First World War. This is inArt Nouveau style and carries aCeltic cross, the word "PEACE", and the date of the completion of the war.[5] Also in the churchyard is the grave ofBob Paisley (1919–1996), footballer and manager ofLiverpool F.C.[7]
On 6 July 1957,John Lennon first metPaul McCartney in the church hall of St Peter's when Lennon was playing with his group,The Quarrymen. McCartney eventually joined the group, which later becameThe Beatles. In the churchyard of St Peter's is the grave ofEleanor Rigby whose name, coincidentally, is the same as that of a Beatles' song. Also in the churchyard is the grave of Lennon's uncle,George Toogood Smith, with whom he lived as a child.[4]
