Sitting high on a hill on the outskirts of St. Peter’s Bay, St. Peter’s Church is one of the first things one sees on approaching the community from the west. Set back from Highway 313 northwest of St. Peter’s Bay, the bright white building stands beside its large cemetery, with many white marble headstones from the nineteenth century. Inside the church, down each side of the nave, are stained glass windows, most dedicated to past members of the church. At least two have been dedicated to fallen soldiers of World War I.
This memorial window was dedicated in memory of Sylvester Lewis, who was killed November 6, 1917 at Passchendaele. Sylvester was one of 15,654 Canadians killed or wounded at
Passchendaele, a battle which also cost the British 275,000 casualties and the Germans 220,000.
The history of St. Peter's goes back to 1830, with the construction of a church building beginning in that year and completion taking place in 1834. A larger brick church was constructed in the early 1880s, completed in 1886. Still unfinished inside, it opened for services in 1881.
On October 15, 1926 the bell tower was the recipient of a lightning strike which nearly burned the church down. The church was rebuilt, retaining the brick walls, reopening on July 1, 1928. It came to pass that the brick had been damaged to a greater extent than was first believed and the brick facade was replaced with wood framing in 1959.