St Peter's Church, Ealing

St Peter's Church, Ealing is an Anglican parish church in Mount Park Road, North Ealing, in the Diocese of London, regarded by John Betjeman as being amongst "the noblest churches we possess". Held to be one of the premier architectural works in Ealing, the Grade II* Listed building is noted for its combination of Arts & Crafts and late-Victorian Gothic as well as its west front and great west window. In addition to Sunday and weekday services, the church and adjacent hall serve as a hub for various community activities and events.

“Notable for its unusual fusion of free Gothic style used in a highly original manner, St Peter’s occupies no small place in the last great age of church building” – Sir Roy Strong.

Replacing an iron church which had stood on the site for 10 years, St Peter’s was built between 1892 and 1893 to accommodate the growing suburb of North Ealing. The original iron church had been dedicated to St Andrew and it was originally proposed to give the same name to the new church. However, when the Presbyterians started to build in Mount Park Road in 1889, the vestry felt 'that this Church should set the example of giving way in face of a threatened dispute about the Saint's name' and with commendable tact abandoned the 'Scottish' saint in favour of St Peter.

The new building was designed by John Dando Sedding, the architect of Holy Trinity, Sloane Street but, following Sedding’s death, it was built under the direction of his pupil and successor in practice, the noted designer and architect Henry Wilson. The foundation stone was laid in 1893 by Princess Helena, Queen Victoria's third daughter. The building was consecrated the same year by Frederick Temple, Bishop of London and later Archbishop of Canterbury.

Sedding’s plans for the church were complimented by The Builder magazine as “a piece of real originality in design, which is refreshing to come across after seeing so many repetitions of old forms, Classic and Gothic”. Pevsner notes the “admirable use of Gothic forms – especially the curvaceous forms of late Gothic – to produce a building of great originality”.

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