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.
"The first church, was built on a rock above the marsh formed by the Rowell Brook. This is now St Peter’s Square, and the marshy conditions caused problems for the parish authorities for centuries. It was presumably a simple building with a nave and a round apse. It was destroyed - perhaps twice - in the mid-12th Century. In 1140 the army of the Empress Matilda, attacking the Castle held by King Stephen, set fire to the town and massacred the parishioners of St Peter’s who had taken refuge in the church. A further fire destroyed much of the town in 1153.
The church was rebuilt between 1180 and 1220, with a south aisle; some of this building remains in use today, perhaps incorporating fragments of the earlier church. The tower and spire were added shortly before the Black Death, which reached Nottingham in 1348 and stopped further work for some years. It was another twenty years or more before the north aisle was added; curiously, the north arcade seems to have been built inside the old north wall, rather than outside as originally planned, which adds to the lopsided plan of the church.
The final addition to the mediaeval church was the clerestory, with a new oak roof to the nave. This was built about 1480, when wood was given by Nicholas de Strelley from his estate outside the town. The weight of the new stonework pushed the ancient south arcade out of true, and though collapse was prevented by new buttresses to the south aisle, the columns towards the east end of the nave are still clearly far from vertical."
"Like most mediaeval churches, St Peter’s contained many chapels and chantries, often with their own chaplains or mass-priests. Six chapels are known by name, though the location of some of them within the church is not certain. They had particular devotees, and many bequests were made to them. We are fortunate to have the account-books of two Guilds - of St George and of St Mary - which operated at St Peter’s in the 15th and early 16th Centuries, again with their own chaplains. From these a picture of a lively social (and devotional) life can be gained, with feasts and processions through the streets - including St George and the Dragon, which regularly needed repair!
By then St Peter’s had become a notable place in the town. Its rectors were scholars and played a part in civic affairs. In 1483, for example, Dr William Gull was with the Mayor and other notables at St Peter’s when Richard Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) was welcomed to Nottingham - two years before he rode out from Nottingham Castle to his death at the battle of Bosworth. Gull himself had been a university officer at Cambridge before coming to Nottingham, and his successor Master John Mayewe was a lawyer who also held public positions."
More information about the history of the church can be found at the following link.
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The popular Coffee Room serves a wide range of light lunches, sandwiches, cakes, tea and coffee throughout the week.
The church is open seven days a week and plays host to a great many visitors.
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
Service Times:
Sunday- 8:15am Holy Communion, 10:45am Sung Eucharist 5:00pm Holy Communion with prayers for healing
Tuesday - 1:15pm Holy Communion
Thursday - 11:00am Holy Communion
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