St Peter's Church - Castle Park, Bristol, UK
N 51° 27.318 W 002° 35.395
30U E 528492 N 5700537
St Peter's church was built between the 12th and 15th centuries. It was bombed in the Second World War and has not been repaired but maintained as a meorial to the civilians who died during the Second World War.
Waymark Code: WM11MT8
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/15/2019
Views: 4
On the south west face of the church's tower are three plaques. The first, made from stone, carries the wording:
In
Memory of the
citizens of Bristol
and
surrounding areas
who died
in the Blitz during
the 1939 - 1945 war
The second plaque. also made from stone, is worded:
Unveiled by the
Lord Mayor of Bristol
to commemorate the
60th anniversary
of the departure of
Bristols wartime evacuees
during 1941
A special memory
for the people of Bristol
The lower plaque made from metal says:
Civilians and Auxiliary Personnel
who lost their lives in the Greater Bristol Area
during the air raids carried out between
June 1940 and May 1944
They live in the memory of the living
An extensive list of names follows.
Wikipedia has an entry about St Peter's church that tells us:
St Peter's Church is a ruined church in Castle Park, Bristol, England. It was bombed during World War II and is now preserved as a memorial.
The foundation of the church can be traced back to 1106 when it was endowed on Tewkesbury Abbey, with a 12th-century lower tower, the rest of the church being built in the 15th century. Excavations in 1975 suggest that this was the site of Bristol's first church; the 12th-century city wall runs under the west end of the present church. It was bombed during the Bristol Blitz of 24–25 November 1940 and ruined. It is maintained as a monument to the civilian war dead of Bristol.
It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.
The church ran St Peter's Hospital, a workhouse located between the church and Floating Harbour which was destroyed by bombing during the Bristol Blitz.
As mentioned, the church is Grade II* listed with the entry at the Historic England website advising:
Church. C12 lower tower, the rest C15. Pennant rubble with limestone ashlar dressings to an open shell without roof or glass. Aisled, unclerestoreyed nave and W tower. Early Perpendicular Gothic.
Circa 1950 rebuilt E end of plain rubble; S aisle has a 5-light E window with alternate tracery. N aisle of 7 bays articulated by buttresses, with a deep plinth: small C15 four- and 2-light cinquefoil-headed windows with square heads in the E bay, an octagonal rood stair tower against the buttress of the second bay, and a large chamfered bullseye in the middle one; the sixth bay is windowless, and there are 5-light windows in the remainder; arched door in the W bay has shafts to polygonal moulded capitals within a continuous casement moulding with Tudor flowers, and an arch of sandstone voussoirs.
Broader S aisle of 6 bays with wide 5-light windows between buttresses, and a late Perpendicular E window, blind below a transom. The W ends of the aisles are gabled, a narrow 3-light window with mullions to top of the arch in the N side, and a 5-light window in the S.
A large, square, unbuttressed 3-stage tower flush with the aisles: a wide doorway with 3 orders separated by hollow mouldings below a rubble relieving arch; 3-light window above, and a small 2-light flat-headed window to the second stage; the belfry has a 2-light louvred window, a cornice with gargoyles on the corners and a crenellated parapet with crocketed pinnacles.
INTERIOR: roofless and undecorated: 3-bay arcade on the N side with stairs to rood; broad S aisle, with windows the width of the bay sharing a half-round shaft. The base of the tower and arcades are reinforced with concrete.
HISTORICAL NOTE: excavations of 1975 suggest that this was the site of Bristol's first church; the C12 city wall runs under the W end of the present church. It was gutted in the Second World War, and preserved as a ruin by the City; the concrete was put in in 1974.