St. Peter's Church, Greenhill, SHEFFIELD

The Parish of St Peter was created in the mid 20th century to provide for the expanding population of Greenhill, Lowedges and Lower Bradway. This area was previously in the Parish of St James, Norton. The Parochial Church Council at St James decided in April 1930 that it would be right for a church to be built in Greenhill. Fulfilment of this plan was delayed by the Second World War.

From the 1890s various places in Greenhill, particularly the Old Village School, had been used for Anglican services and a Sunday school. Plans were drawn up in early 1951 for a dual-purpose hall which opened in 1954. This hall was used for both worship and social/community activities until the middle of the 1960s. During that period St Peter’s advertised itself as “the Church that meets in the Hall”.

St Peter’s was built in 1964-65 and consecrated by the Rt Rev Geoffrey Francis Allen, Bishop of Derby on 22 May 1965. (At that time Greenhill and other parishes in the south of Sheffield were in Derby Diocese.) The Church was designed by the Sheffield firm of Oxley and Bushey, with Peter Sargent as architect in charge. William Drabble and Sons Ltd were the main contractors. The total cost, excluding the organ, was £55,000.

The Parish Centre, in similar style to the Church, was added in 1994. This replaced the previous Church Hall which was demolished at the beginning of the 1990s with view to replacement by the Parish Centre. Because the Parish Centre abuts on to the Church there were also some alterations to that building.

On 18 February 1999 the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport added St Peter’s, in Grade II, to the list of buildings of special architectural or historical interest. St Peter’s is “included as an early example of liturgical planning, bringing the communicants and celebrant closer together while solving the problems faced by churches which were entirely in the round”. The listing schedule concludes by describing St Peter’s as “a most handsome and lavish church of its date, with fixtures and fitting of exceptional quality and completeness.

The Church is basically circular in plan and centred on a 93ft high square spire clad in Westmoreland slate. That spire, which is immediately above the sanctuary, is prominent as both a local landmark and a sign of God’s love.