St Peter's Church, Bournemouth

St Peter's Church, Bournemouth
St Peter's Church from the South, showing the massive Tower and Spire which reaches a height of 202 ft.
50°43′14″N 1°52′32″W / 50.7205°N 1.8755°W / 50.7205; -1.8755Coordinates: 50°43′14″N 1°52′32″W / 50.7205°N 1.8755°W / 50.7205; -1.8755
Denomination	Church of England
Website	Official website of St Peter's
History
Dedication	Saint Peter
Architecture
Status	Parish Church
Architect(s)	G.E. Street
Style	Gothic Revival
Completed	1879
Specifications
Height	Spire 202 feet (62 m)
Materials	Purbeck stone with Bath stone dressings
Administration
Parish	St Peter with St Stephen
Deanery	Bournemouth
Archdeaconry	Bournemouth
Diocese	Winchester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Rector	The Revd Dr Ian Terry
Laity
Organist/Director of music	Duncan Courts
Organist(s)	Neil Sissons

St Peter's Church is a Church of England parish church located in the heart of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is a Grade I listed building and was completed in 1879 to a design by G.E. Street as the founding mother church of Bournemouth. The building incorporates work by some of the finest Gothic Revival architects and artists, including Street, George Frederick Bodley, Ninian Comper, Arthur Blomfield and Edward Burne-Jones, with stained glass and frescoes by Clayton and Bell. The chancel has been described as 'one of the richest Gothic Revival interiors in England'.

The 202-foot (62 m)-high spire is a landmark in the town centre, where it forms part of the Town Centre Parish, together with the churches of St. Stephen and St. Augustine.

St. Peter's was built over a period of twenty-four years from 1855 at the instigation of the vicar, the Reverend Alexander Morden Bennett, to replace an earlier building. G.E. Street was commissioned to create a finer church to match the beauty of the town. It was constructed between 1854 and 1879 on the foundations of the 1840s predecessor. (G.E. Street later designed the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand in London.)

The church, which sits opposite Beales department store in the heart of the town centre, was the founding mother church of Bournemouth. The 202-foot (62 m) spire is a landmark across the town centre and beyond. It has unusual paintings, notable stained glass and alabaster.

The team rector is the Reverend Dr. Ian Terry, who joined the parish in September 2009. Ian and his family had been previously based in Hereford for seven years, where he was Diocesan Director of Education and Honorary Team Vicar in the West Hereford Team.