St Peter's Church, Harborne

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St. Peter's Church, Harborne
Harborne St Peter PANOR.jpg
St Peter's Church, Harborne
52°27′16″N1°57′31″W / 52.454326°N 1.958538°W / 52.454326; -1.958538
Denomination Church of England
Churchmanship Broad Church
Website stpeterharborne.org.uk
History
Dedication St. Peter
Administration
Province Canterbury
Diocese Birmingham
Archdeaconry Birmingham
Deanery Warley and Edgbaston
Parish Harborne
Clergy
Vicar Rev Can Kate Stowe
Honorary priest Chris Butt
Laity
Organist/Director of music Simon Palmer

Saint Peter's is the ancient parish church of Harborne, Birmingham, England.

Contents

Background

There has been a church on the site since Saxon times and St Chad is even thought to have preached there. The base of an early preaching cross was found in the mid-1980s during work at the back of the church. The parish formerly covered what is now Smethwick (North Harborne), all of current Harborne and even parts of Quinton (Ridgeacre).

The present building is Victorian, dating from the 1860s [1] by architect Yeoville Thomason. [2] Elihu Burritt, who was living in Harborne at the time was on the committee that oversaw the restoration. The tower is far older and is all that remains of the medieval church. It is believed to date from the 14th century. The sanctuary was rebuilt during 1974/5 after a fire. It is a Grade II listed building. [2]

Burials

There are also 40 war graves of Commonwealth service personnel, 22 from World War I and 18 from World War II. [5]

List of Vicars

Curate - W. Harding (November 1826 – March 1827) [6]

Clock

A new clock was installed in 1877 which struck the hour and chimed Westminster quarters. [7] It was constructed by Leeson and Sons of Coleshill. [8]

In 1899 the clock was brought to a halt by an infestation of bees. A deposit of honey was attached to the works connected with the south dial. Mr Leeson procured some gunpowder which was fired to silence the bees and then he removed a ½cwt of honey. [9]

Bells

The bells were purchased from the church of Bishop Ryder in Deritend and installed by John Taylor & Co. The ring of eight was dedicated on 2 March 1963. The tenor bell weighs nearly 13 cwt and the ring is in F#.

Organ

The organ dates from 1975, replacing a previous instrument destroyed in a fire. The organ specification was designed by George Miles, the church organist, and can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register. [10]

List of organists

References

  1. ↑ The Buildings of England, Warwickshire, Nikolaus Pevsner
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Parish Church of St Peter (Grade II) (1219775)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 17 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Meet Bob Brettle, the bare-knuckle boxing landlord; back in time". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham, England: Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  4. ↑ Hoban, Sally (16 September 2006). "Jewel in the Crown; One of the Most Prolific Makers of Arts and Crafts Jewellery Lived and Work in Birmingham". The Birmingham Post .[ dead link ]
  5. ↑ CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty record.
  6. ↑ Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813 to 1912, in the parish of Harbourne, in the county of Stafford
  7. ↑ "Harborne Parish Church Clock" . Birmingham Mail. England. 1 May 1877. Retrieved 2 November 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Henry Leeson" . Harborne Herald. England. 12 July 1879. Retrieved 2 November 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ↑ "Bees in a church clock. Singular occurrence at Harborne" . Birmingham Mail. England. 8 August 1899. Retrieved 2 November 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ↑ "NPOR [L00011]". National Pipe Organ Register . British Institute of Organ Studies.
  11. ↑ "A presentation at Harborne" . Birmingham Morning News. England. 24 March 1874. Retrieved 2 November 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ↑ Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 21 March 1874
  13. ↑ "Local News and Jottings" . Birmingham Mail. England. 14 March 1904. Retrieved 10 January 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Organist's Funeral" . Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 11 October 1927. Retrieved 10 January 2021– via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ Who's who in Music. Shaw Publishing Ltd. First Post War Edition. 1949-50
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