St Peter's Church, also known as Church of St Peter with St James, is an Anglican Parish Church in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. It is a medieval, Grade I listed building, that was first constructed in 1180, with the tower and spire completed in 1340. (
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St Peter's has been a place of worship for more than eight hundred years and traditional Anglican services are held throughout the week with the professionally directed choir singing at many of the regular services.
A detailed description of the history of the church can be found at the following link. (
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"The tower, and particularly the spire, has been prominent in the Nottingham townscape for 600 years. Over the centuries there have been many repairs: the top part of the spire seems to need rebuilding once or twice a century. Thomas Wootton of Kegworth was a noted steeplejack who in 1789 repaired the top four feet without scaffolding, then performed acrobatics and drank a pint of ale at the top, to the alarm of the crowd below. His son Philip was commissioned in 1825 to saw off the crockets from the spire, reducing the beauty of the spire but possibly saving it from further decay. There are also several accounts of the renovation of the steeplecock, first added in 1735 (and of its being used for target practice by the militia!)" Source: (
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The Clock.
There are two clock faces one on the west and one on the south faces of the tower. They are 4 x 6'0" dials painted green and gold. A Smiths of Derby Movement installed in the 1970's; synchronous electric with electronic control system and electrically operated chime & strike. The present clock replaced a large weight-driven “Cope” Clock that was installed in the 1850's and required winding three times a day. (
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"In 1552 Edward VI’s commissioners delivered to ‘parson’ Nicholas Cooke a clock in the ‘steeple’, which had probably been there since the fifteenth century. The earliest reference in the church records ‘chargs pyed owete fforw the church of St Peter’s in the yre off oure lord god 1577 2 sh. to Toms Lockwood for looking after the clock.’
On Wednesday 29 April 1846, a vestry meeting was called to consider the offer of new church clock. On Thursday 15 October 1846, as Richard Ward, a man employed by Messrs. Taylor and Garrett, was assisting in taking down the old face of St. Peter’s church clock, when it gave way. A rope attached to it dragged him with it.
The new clock was installed in 1847, manufactured by Reuben Bosworth at a cost of £125 (equivalent to £10,302 in 2015) and was at the time, the largest in Nottingham. It had a pendulum 10 feet 4 inches (3.15 m) long and a bob weighing 60 pounds (27 kg). It was an eight day clock with four dials, each 7 feet (2.1 m) in diameter. The clock was tested for several weeks before the hand on the dials were connected to the mechanism on 7 April 1847. On Christmas Eve 1852 a hurricane broke off one of the minute hands of the clock.
New cast iron clock dials, 7 feet (2.1 m) in diameter were presented by Henry Smith to the church in 1872 at a cost of £66 (equivalent to £5,314 in 2015).
A new clock was installed by G. & F. Cope in 1881 which had a Denison Remontoire, compensation pendulum and wire rope lines. The strike was provided by a hammer on the hour bell on E. This was replaced by an electrically driven clock by Smiths of Derby in 1965.
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The church is open seven days a week and plays host to a great many visitors. The popular Coffee Room serves a wide range of light lunches, sandwiches, cakes, tea and coffee throughout the week.
Open 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday and on Sunday for church services
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Address.
Saint Peter's Church,
St Peter's Gate,
Nottingham.
NG1 2NW