CHAPTER 12: THE CHURCH OF ST. PETER WALWORTH AND LIVERPOOL GROVE AND TRAFALGAR STREET
In the twenty years after 1800 the population of Newington increased
from 14,847 to 44,526. (ref. 283) Non-conformist chapels of all types sprang up in
the district and the Catholics were catered for, though somewhat inadequately,
first in the London Road
Chapel and subsequently
in the new church in St.
George's Road, but, since St.
Mary's could on a generous
estimate only accommodate
just over 1,000 people, some
new provision by the established church was obviously
called for. In the application
for an enabling Act it was
stated that there was no accommodation in the parish
church "for Servants or for
the Poor except in the
Aisles and behind the Pews
and in the Galleries," and
no burial place except the
churchyard which was small
and nearly full. (ref. 284)
Figure 27:
WEST ELEVATION
In 1820 an Act (ref. 285)
was passed authorizing the
erection of two new churches in Newington to be
called St. Peter's and
Trinity, and appointing
trustees to carry out the
work subject to the approval
of the Commissioners for
Building New Churches. (fn. a)
The leasehold interest in a house on the east side of Walworth Road and some gardens and
an orchard lying behind it were bought from the Clutton family (ref. 284) for £2,197 (ref. 286)
and cleared for St. Peter's and its approaches. The freehold interest was
presented by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. (fn. a) (ref. 286)
Designs submitted by Simeon Thomas Bull for a church in Gothic
style were not approved by the Commissioners, and after a letter from the
rector of St. Mary Newington, the Rev. Arthur C. Onslow, complaining that
the years were slipping by and the church not begun, they asked [Sir] John
Soane to prepare plans for the new church. (ref. 284) The foundation stone was laid
on 2nd June, 1823, by the Archbishop of Canterbury and he consecrated
the church on 28th February, 1825. (ref. 117)
Apart from the provision in 1886 of a new altar table and choir stalls,
etc., few alterations or repairs were made to the church until 1919 when
ominous cracks appeared in the walls. The timber in the foundations had
rotted and it was found necessary to replace it with concrete. In 1926 the
east wall of the sanctuary was underpinned and a complete repainting and
cleaning of the church was carried out by the
architect, A. E. Henderson. The building
was badly damaged by enemy action on 29th
October, 1940, when more than 30 of those
sheltering in the crypt were killed outright
and 100 more were injured. The church has
since been restored under the direction of
Thomas F. Ford and was re-dedicated by the
Bishop of Southwark on 11th July, 1953.
Figure 28:
Bootscraper
Soane's drawings and plans for the
church, some of which are reproduced on
Plates 64, 66 and 67, are preserved at the
Soane Museum. The variations between these designs and the building as
completed can be seen from the measured drawings (Plate 65). The church
strongly resembles Holy Trinity, Marylebone Road, which was designed by
Soane a year or so later; each has a plain oblong body and a stone tower rising
squarely above the entrance, but the Marylebone church is entirely faced
with stone and the detail is more elaborate. St. Peter's is built of yellow stock
bricks with stone dressings. The columns at the west end are recessed under a
simple stone cornice and at the east end there is a round-arched arcade of three
bays between the two vestries. The nave has a slate roof to which the solid
stone parapet and blocking course at the east end form a gable. The side
galleries have flat roofs which have recently been relaid with copper.
The external proportions of the church give a somewhat misleading
idea of its interior length as the vestries at the east end and the staircase
lobbies at the west end are of the same height as the rest of the church.
Soane bestowed more care on the planning and interior detail of the staircase
lobbies than is usually given to such accessories. They are divided from the
bellringers' chamber at gallery level by recesses containing pairs of Ionic
columns (Plate 63), and at nave floor level the side and centre lobbies are
separated by a succession of graceful round arches.
During the recent renovation, the church has been restored
as nearly as possible to its original
state, but the choir stalls have been
moved back to widen the sanctuary,
and the two most easterly bays
under the galleries have been enclosed to form a Lady Chapel and
a choir vestry. The altar-piece designed by Soane (Plate 69) has
survived, as have parts of the
original organ made by Henry
Cephas Lincoln; the latter have
been incorporated in the new organ
in the west gallery. (fn. a)
Figure 29:
Font
Colourful new stained glass
designed by Miss Clare Dawson
and representing "Christ Born,"
"Christ Foretold," and "Christ
Declared" has been set in the
three east windows above the altar
recess to replace the original glass
designed by William Collins. (fn. b)
The whole of the interior
has been coloured in pastel shades
and particular care has been taken to bring out the fine details of the
ceiling ornament and of the frieze to the nave.
The font, of white marble, was made by Garland (fn. c) and Fieldwick and
presented by Mary and Eliza Boyman in 1839. It stands at the west end of
the south aisle.
There are memorials in the galleries and the north-east vestry to:
Richard Boyman (d. 1836) and his daughters, Mary (d. 1851) and Eliza
(d. 1858); Joseph Clowes (d. 1833) and his wife, Ann (d. 1851); Henry
Johnson (d. 1850) and Charles Johnson (d. 1844); James King (d. 1832)
and his wife, Mary (d. 1840); John Littlewood (d. 1827) and family;
and Martha Speechly (d. 1829).
Incumbents and Rectors
|
| 1825 | Gilbert Elliot. |
| 1831 | George Ainslie. |
| 1837 | William J. Irons. |
| 1838 | George Ainslie. |
| 1848 | Francis Freeman Statham. |
| 1884 | James Henry Hazell. |
| 1894 | John William Horsley. |
| 1911 | William John Jillings |
| 1924 | Gilbert Spofforth Reakes. |
| 1937 | John Gabriel Markham. |
| 1944 | Thomas Oakes. |
The Churchyard
William Chadwick, who had the contract for the mason's work at
Holy Trinity, Newington, built the enclosing walls and curbs round the
churchyard at St. Peter's. Most of the iron railings were removed during the
1939–45 war, but the gates at the west end survive. In 1895 the churchyard
was made into a public garden by the Metropolitan Public Gardens
Association at the cost of the Goldsmiths' Company. (ref. 288)
Figure 30:
Entrance gates to churchyard
Liverpool Grove and Trafalgar Street
The ground north and south of St. Peter's Church forms part of the
Rolls Estate. On the north side, Trafalgar Street was formed, as its name
implies, soon after 1805 and before the church was built, but none of the
original houses survive. On the south side there was only a footpath until
after 1827, when Liverpool Grove (formerly Street) was laid out to link up
with the approach to the church from Walworth Road. A terrace of two-storey brick cottages, with the inscription "PEACOCK TERRACE 1842"
in the centre of the parapet, remains opposite the church and churchyard.