St Peter's Church, Chester

St Peter’s Church stands on Eastgate Street in the centre of Chester, just north of Chester Cross. It occupies the site of part of the Roman Praetorium and some of its stonework survives from that period. A church has stood here since 907, when Ethelfleda built one on the spot. The present building dates mainly from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, with later changes in the 17th, 18th and 19th. The tower once had a spire that was rebuilt several times before being removed in the late 18th century after lightning damage. The church is built of red sandstone and its plan is roughly square. Seven steps lead up to the south door at the level of Watergate Row. The west tower rises just above the roof line, has a clock and two-light bell opening, and is topped with a crenellated parapet, crocketed pinnacles and a slate pyramid spire. Inside, a continuous nave and chancel run the length of the building, with four aisles and galleries over the outer aisles and at the west end. The baptistry sits beneath the tower and the best-preserved medieval wall painting in Cheshire covers the niche that once held a Virgin and Child statue. Three medieval corbels on the south wall show an angel, a woman and an old man. A marble font from 1662 stands near the tower, and a 15th-century brass of a lawyer is fixed to a pier in the south aisle. The east window’s stained glass is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne from 1863, while Clayton and Bell made the southeast window and Trena Cox the west window. The organ has two manuals and was built by Whiteley, and six bells hang in the tower, five cast in 1709 by Rudhall of Gloucester and one in 1921 by John Taylor and Company.