St Peter (Parish of St Peter & St Thomas More)

Introduction

The church was consecrated on the feast of Saint Peter & Saint Paul, June 29th, 1987.

History

In 1937 a chapel of ease was built, thanks to the generosity of the Misses Edith and Hilda Robinson, and blessed by Bishop Barrett on December 19th, 1937. In 1948 Archbishop Grimshaw established the area as a separate parish, with Father Eugene O'Mahony as first parish priest. A former curate took over as priest-in-charge and later as parish priest. That priest left the parish in 1994 and was replaced by a new parish priest.

A new parish priest joined in 2015. Saint Peter’s church and Saint Thomas More church amalgamated to form one parish, the parish of Saint Peter & Saint Thomas More, on January 1st, 2006.

Parish life

The new Saint Peter’s Catholic Primary School was built in Whitleigh in 1956. In 1964 a new chapel of ease was built in Southway, dedicated to Saint Thomas More. Notre Dame girls’ school established itself in the area in 1965 after several difficult years in the bombed out building at Wyndham Square. The Comprehensive System was introduced into Notre Dame and Saint Boniface’s College in 1981.

Visiting

In 1890 the Army arrived at Crownhill, then known as 'Knackersknowle', with no Catholic Church in the area and no resident priest. In the early twentieth century, Mass was said by the chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Poor, and in about 1920 an Army chaplain was appointed. April 1921 saw the opening of a Register of Baptisms in the Garrison Church. In September 2022, a new assistant priest arrived at the parish.