CHURCH PROFILE

ST PETERS CHURCH - GLOUCESTER

St Peter's Roman Catholic Church was designed by Gilbert Blount in 1858 and is Gothic in style

The local stone came from Painswick and the decoration of the Lady Chapel was by Hardmans, as was the stained glass window within the Chapel

The Stations of the Cross were carved by A. B. Wall of Cheltenham and are in sandstone.

New Lighting has been installed within the main body of the church and side aisles and this has allowed flexibility of lighting levels for the various services and concerts

SANCTUARY

The sanctuary area was redecorated during 2012, together with the restoration of the six angels on the ceiling. New gilding was carried out on the ceiling - with all the work being enhanced by new uplighting

The reredos containing six statues depicting various saints was also enhanced with the use of new lighting, together with the marble altar table

All of the light sources were chosen because of their ability to enhance the many colours within the sanctuary and together with the flexible switching and dimming arrangements they can be used to create dramatic ambiences to compliment the fine architecture of the church

COMPTON ORGAN

The organ in St Peter's was the outcome of collaboration by two talented people of the pre World War II era - these being the organ builder John Compton and Dom Gregory Murray, a monk from Downside Abbey

The organ is an extension type using electrical switchgear to obtain a number of different pitches from a single row of pipes and originally cost £1500

It lasted until 2004 and was then in a poor condition - with many solenoids not working and numerous leaks from the wind chests

Using advice from Dom Charles Watson (a priest and monk from Prinknash Abbey) and Dr John Rowntree, a decision was made to apply for a Heritage Lottery Grant and have the organ restored

Since this was the first Compton pipe organ in the country to be restored, English Heritage insisted that all the existing solenoids be re-used and after a successful faculty application, the work was carried out by Nicholsons of Malvern

New lighting was installed to illuminate and further embellish the painted organ pipes and Dr Roy Massey gave one of the opening recitals

The organ is now used for services and concerts and it is also used during the Three Choirs Festival recitals held every three years

EXTERNAL FLOODLIGHTING

The spire was added to the main body of the church in 1867 and was designed by Gilbert Blount with an open lantern - a particular style adopted by him

In 1957, extensive restoration of the spire was required but since then it has remained stable with no more work needed

During the spire restoration, the existing clock mechanism was given to the City Museum and the internal working mechanism was changed to an electrical system but the clock face was retained, with new gilding carried out

The final embellishment of the spire was the floodlighting which was provided by four narrow beam luminaires - with one unit fitted on a building across the road and switched via a radio signal

With the clock face illuminated internally, together with the spire floodlit, the presence of the church is now visible both day and night for people to see

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