Church is set to celebrate 250 years of worship . . .
WHEN St Peter’s Church opened in 1768 it stood amidst fields and gardens on the western edge of Stockport.
Paid for by wealthy landowner William Wright, it made his Sunday journey from his Mansion House easier than crossing the Tin Brook Valley to St Mary’s on the Market Place.
Stockport’s silk weavers and traders then amounted to a population of only 5,000, but by 1822 this had increased to over 30,000 and side galleries were built to accommodate ‘admission of the poor’ who presumably couldn’t afford to pay pew rents unlike their well-heeled neighbours.
Infants went to St Peter’s Sunday School after it opened in 1844, later as a day school, which stood between the church and the slope to what became Mersey Square.
Riots by mill workers damaged the windows of this school in June 1852 and the homes of Irish immigrant workers on nearby Rock Row were wrecked.
From 1878 and the arrival of the Rev Edward Reeve the keeping of saints days and wearing of embroidered holy vestments made St Peter’s increasingly ‘High Church.’
The church retains a fine collection of these, statuary and lamps.
All did not run smoothly, as in 1908 a member of the congregation issued a writ against the vicar for refusing her Holy Communion!
Also in 1968 there were plans to demolish the church, sell the land and rebuild it on a housing estate, successfully opposed by the worshippers.
Originally built in a Georgian style with Venetian windows on the tower, the nave windows were replaced with Victorian plain and stained glass and an extension was added in 1888.
My ancestor, William Fowden, paid for the organ in 1788 and was the first organist.
The original clock by John Whitehurst is said to be the oldest in Greater Manchester and is inside the church. The bell still rung was cast in Gloucester inscribed “Prosperity to this town – 1768.”
Few live in St Peter’s town centre parish nowadays, but the church has a thriving Fairtrade cafe open most weekdays and a people-friendly welcoming vicar, the Rev Ken Kenrick who, though officially retired, still does services.
On Sunday, June 3, at 3.30pm he will celebrate 250 years of worship with the Bishop of Wakefield, the Mayor and anyone else who wishes to come. »»Back copies of Stockport Heritage Magazine from the earliest issues can be seen online at www.stockportheritagemagazine.co.uk and in Stockport Heritage Trust Centre, Market Place.