A modest but thoughtfully designed modern church with some interesting fittings by a local sculptor. It was designed as an integral part of a small housing development and makes a positive contribution to the townscape.

The church of St Peter and St Paul was designed in 1982 to replace an old Methodist chapel which formerly served the parish. The church and hall were located next to the existing presbytery and the development was undertaken in conjunction with the adjacent housing development called The Cloisters. The architect was D. J. Montague of Derby and the contractors for the whole project were Finsons (Builders) Ltd.

Description

The church is a modern building with walls faced with red brick laid in stretcher bond and a pitched roof covered with Roman tiles. The building is diamond-shaped in plan, with an upstand at one end whose sloping glazed roof forms the skylight over the sanctuary.  At the other end the building is attached to a parish hall. The walls of the church are almost windowless, apart from the gable end facing over the hall.

Internally the walls of the church are plastered and whitened. The ceiling is also whitened, with the principal beams of the ridge-roof exposed. The sanctuary is placed in one angle of the diamond, top-lit from above. In the opposite angle is an enclose gallery space above the entrance lobby. The fittings include wooden benches made for the church, a stone altar carved with a sheaf of corn and a large figure of the Risen Christ on the east wall, both by the local sculptor Carmel Cauchi, who was also responsible for the glass doors under the gallery engraved with the figures of St Peter and St Paul.

Heritage Details