Church Heritage Record 613188

Aisled nave with north-west choir vestry and apsidal chancel with north vestry and south-east tower. 

[Approximate] Nave 23m x 14.2 m, chancel 11.9m x 14.2m 

St Peter’s was formed out of the parish of St Ann’s and originated in a mission church on Peel Street. Architect R J Johnson [1832-92] designed and built the church 1873-75. By 1874 the build had stalled due to a lack of money and the Bishop stepped in and paid £3,000 (out of a total cost of £7,000) for the completion of the building. The choir vestry was added in 1912 and it seems likely that the north vicar’s vestry was also a later addition. The hall to the west opened in 1876 and is well used. The choir stalls were introduced in 1889 and the pulpit relocated, necessitating the removal of 200 seats. The architect R J Johnson was the most prominent architect in Newcastle in the latter half of the 19th century and St Peter’s is considered to be an important transitional work for him. 

The archaeological potential of the site is low and there are no known designations relating to the ecology of the plot.

St Peter’s stands amongst the terraced streets which surround it cheek by jowl. It is set into the slight hill of Princes Street giving a more impressive elevation to the eastern apse. The nave roof is steeply pitched with a small hipped projection over the baptistery at the west end of the south aisle. The south aisle has a gabled parapet and the north aisle a lean-to roof.

The south side is more naturally the show side of the church and the west door is approached through a small courtyard created by the positioning of the hall to the west. Between the church and the hall there is the flat roofed choir vestry extension of 1912.

The west elevation has a large window with seven equal lights and reticulated tracery overhead. Beneath are the double wooden doors under a pointed arch with double-chamfered surround in projection. At the peak of the gable there is a small two light window. To the south, there is a three light square headed window.

The south elevation has six openings to the nave, the westernmost has a square headed opening with four lights whereas the remaining five are under pointed arches each with four-lights and reticulated tracery in alternating designs. The windows are divided by stepped buttresses rising from a sloping plinth which allows for the incline of the site; the eastern and westernmost bays each project slightly. 

At the south east corner, positioned hard against the chancel apse, is the truncated tower with a copper pyramidal roof. It is of two stages, the first being very tall with a two light window in line with the nave openings, small double lancet opening to the east, south clasping buttresses, and an east facing square stair turret with tiny openings and a slated offset. The upper stage has sets of three louvred lancets to each elevation.

The chancel apse has a cross finial and a small dormer opening on the eastern face. The three windows are all pointed, each of three lights and perpendicular in style. They are divided by substantial buttresses with four offsets. A robust chimney is set into the north side of the apse.

The clergy vestry to the north of the chancel has a steeply pitched roof and a variety of openings in the eastern elevation; near the top a small double plain window, below this - four equal cusped lancets in a row and a pointed doorway with hoodmould next to openings to the boiler chamber below.

The north elevation is significantly plainer with no mouldings, string courses or detailing. Similarly the north face of the vestry is entirely blank. Presumably this is due to the close proximity of the houses and the lack of views before the bakery was demolished or could relate to the funds running out. Curiously, the ICBS plan shows no openings in the north elevation at all. There are five windows. The westernmost is square headed and matches its counterpart on the opposite elevation whereas the remaining four all have three lights (as opposed to four on the south). The easternmost bay remains blind.

The interior of the church has a good spatial quality with a very tall roof, boarded with painted panels in bright red and green with alternate detailing. The walls are plastered and painted, with ashlar stone dressings. The arcade of six bays comprises octagonal plain piers. The floor to the nave is a mixture of concrete to the outer aisles, carpet to the central aisle and otherwise parquet. The choir and sanctuary have decorative tiles.

The choir vestry is accessed at the west end of the north aisle via a pointed arch doorway. Currently used for storage it was originally kitted out for a large choir with cupboards and panelling. At the opposite end of the aisle a shouldered doorway leads to the clergy vestry which has an emergency exit and a boiler chamber beneath it.

The pews are long benches with canted ends.  The rear pews have blind cusped tracery decoration and the frontals open tracery decoration. The chancel is panelled and the reredos is a colourful dominant feature. The Lady Chapel to the south is used for services and has a modern canopy hanging over it.