St. Peter's Churchyard Cemetery on Church Road in Onchan.
St. Peter's dates from the earlier 1830’s and was dedicated on 4th September 1833.
'The patron saint of the parish was St. Christopher, better known by his Gaelic name of Conchenn, meaning dog-head or wolf head. In the porch of the present... church, built in 1833, there are Norse carvings which depict dog-like monsters set on Christian Crosses.
The church register dates to 1627 although the first vicar was appointed in 1408. Interestingly, the church features some modern stained glass and in the churchyard, there are headstones designed by Archibald Knox and the grave of Lieutenant Edward Reeves RN, the last surviving officer to fight with Nelson at Trafalgar. An earlier church on the site witnessed the marriage of Captain Bligh of Bounty fame to Elizabeth Betham, daughter of the Collector of Customs, who lived in Onchan and lies buried in the churchyard.'
Source: "Isle of Man: The most comprehensive all round guide" (ISBN:978-1-911177-58-6)
The present church is one of the Manx churches rebuilt during Bishop Ward's time to the design of the Welch brothers.
‘The old church, even though it has a gallery, was too small, and as early a 1760 the walls and roof were considered likely to collapse, to the danger of the congregation. On 22nd December 1829 a meeting was held in church at which it was decided that, in view of the condition of the church, a new and bigger one should be built, capable of seating 500 people and high enough for side galleries to be erected if they should ever be need in future. Mr John Banks of Ballanahow, the Captain of the Parish, agreed to give a piece of his land of the same size as the part of the Vicar’s glebe field on which the new church was to be built. This was to compensate the vicar for the loss of part of his glebe.
The church cost £819-13s-6d. £156-2s-6d came in form of donations, including £150 from Ward’s Fund for building churches. Ward, the Vicar and Deemster Heywood each gave $10. Tynwald gave £250 and £240 came from an assessment laid on the parish at the rate of £5 per quarterland. Mills, cottages and intacks were assessed in proportion. Parishioners who subscribed were given pews, depending on how much they subscribed. Three pews were allotted to the poor in west end gallery, and three others were to be rented and the money was to go to the parish Sunday School for the benefit of the children. Tynwald approved the building of a new church dedicated to St Peter, on 5th May 1830, and on the 8th July 1830, at 12 noon, Bishop Ward laid the foundation stone and grave £1 to treat the Sunday School Children. This site was not unanimously accepted, however, an finally it was decided to build on the present site, so the Bishop had to return on 30th August and lay the foundation stone again. The Church was completed in about 3 years, the architect being Mr John Welsh, and was dedicated on 4th September 1833 in a service lasting 3 hours. The sermon was given by Vicar Craine, and afterwards Mr Banks provided a cold meal for the Bishop and clergy. On 21st March 1839 Tynwald passed an Act for building a new vicarage on the Vicar’s glebe. This was built in 1842 and cost £546-18s-9d of which £482-6s-6d was subscribed, mostly at £1 per person. Nearly all the clergy subscribed. The former vicarage was sold for £100 but even so there a deficit even though Ward gave £10 and Bishop Short later £10.’
Source: A history of the Manx Church: 1698-1911 by Canon John Gelling (ISBN:0-952-4019-4-0)
When built in 1833 the church would have been in a rural setting which is still easy to visualise when viewed from the churchyard to the east.
Unlike many Manx churches the plan of building is not a simple rectangle as the sanctuary projects out to the right.
Today the interior features a series of window designed by the Manx architect Wilfred Quayle which depict other churches on the Island and has 'a mixture of work from different periods...but generally working well together. The sanctuary, entered through three arches with columns in between, is the most elaborate of any Ward Church. The pulpit is an early work by the Arts and Crafts architect M. H. Baillie Scott, who also designed the church hall; the wooden rood screen came later, in 1933, and was carved by Kelly Bros of Michael.'
Source: ‘Churches of Mann by Jonathan Kewley (ISBN:978-1-899602-82-7)
The churchyard surrounds the church on three side to the west, south and east. The churchyard has expanded to the east and south over time with the most recent graves being located to the south-east.
Alongside Church Road to the east of the church is a Garden of Remembrance in memory of the men of the district who laid down their lives in WWI & WWII. To the left of the WWII memorial is a plaque in memory of Fusilier M.J. Sampson who was killed on 22nd November 1975 aged 20 serving in Northern Ireland ('Ulster') (
visit link)
Fusilier Michael Sampson's grave is in the churchyard and I have included a photograph of his headstone which is inscribed as follows:
Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Insignia
243367791 FUSILIER M. J. F. SAMPSON.
ROYAL REGIMENT OF FUSILIERS.
22ND NOVEMBER 1975. AGE 20.