St Peter

Introduction

St Peter's Church in Bromsgrove, within the Archdiocese of Birmingham, was built between 1859 and 1861 to the designs of the London architect Gilbert Blount. Bishop Ullathorne officially blessed and opened the church on 24 September 1862.

History

In 1853 parishioner William Stott gave the property of Grove Farm to Bishop William Ullathorne, and later contributed £2000 for the church, while his sister Elizabeth gave £300. Bishop Edward Ilsley consecrated the church on 29 September 1910. In 2008 the parish marked the 150th anniversary of the church's construction by inserting the Martyrs Rose Window in the west end.

Sir Edward Elgar attended the church when staying with his sister who lived nearby, and he composed a Mass for the church. In 1858 the parish base was transferred to its present site from Grafton Manor.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of local grey and red soft sandstone with a plain tile roof, in the High Victorian Gothic style. The interior remains largely unaltered, with plastered walls and an elaborate timber roof featuring arch-braced trusses on corbels and cusped wind-braces. The church has an intricate wrought-iron rood screen of 1862 with Bavarian statues. The sanctuary windows contain stained glass of circa 1863, and there is memorial glass of 1913 and circa 1918.

The organ was installed in 1912. The exterior has buttresses with set-offs, nave windows with 3-light Geometric tracery, and apse windows with 2-light Reticulated tracery. The west end gable features a central break with a tall buttress, two tall 2-light windows, a Geometrically traceried rose window above, a niche, and a broad tripartite bellcote with wrought-iron crosses. The porch has a deeply roll-moulded arch with two orders of shafts and a niche above, and double-doors with ornate wrought-iron hinges.

Moulded cast-iron gutters and drain-pipes with ornate heads and brackets are present on the church. Other furnishings include a stone pulpit, font, and benches with shaped ends.

Parish life

The parish serves the whole of Bromsgrove and many of the surrounding villages. A team of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion brings Holy Communion to the sick at least once a month. A weekly newsletter from the parish informs parishioners about Mass times and parish events.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish's Confirmation preparation course begins each January, with the Mass of Confirmation in the summer. The parish offers a one-off baptism preparation course, a meeting where all questions about baptism are answered.

The parish administers Holy Anointing during Mass twice a year, in Advent and Lent. The parish's flower team decorates the church for weddings, but does not provide bridal flowers.