Saint Peter's is the ancient parish church of Harborne, Birmingham, England.
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 1860sThe Buildings of England, Warwickshire, Nikolaus Pevsner by architect Yeoville Thomason. 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.
Burials
Bob Brettle, boxer David Cox, watercolourist - there is also a sanctuary memorial window to him. Thomas Baker, watercolourist. He is buried next to David Cox. Anne Chamberlain, wife of Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister. Sir Charles Haughton Rafter , Chief Constable of Birmingham City Police between 1899 and 1935. George Edward Hunt, jeweller
There are also 40 war graves of Commonwealth service personnel, 22 from World War I and 18 from World War II. CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty record.
List of Vicars
Curate - W. Harding (November 1826 – March 1827)Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813 to 1912, in the parish of Harbourne, in the county of Stafford Rev Thomas Smith 1858-? The Ven. Ralph Creed Meredith 1919–1920 Canon Richardson Ven. Sidney Harvie-Clarke, Archdeacon of Birmingham Angus Greer McIntyre 1971 Michael Counsell 1976–1989 C.J. Evans (Fr.Jo) 1992–2008 C.S. Ralph 2010–2013 Graeme Richardson 2014 – September 2019 Rev Can Kate Stowe 2020 - Present
Clock A new clock was installed in 1877 which struck the hour and chimed Westminster quarters. It was constructed by Leeson and Sons of Coleshill.
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.
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.
List of organists Charles P. Heritage 1865 - 1874 Roland Mellor Winn 1874Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 21 March 1874 - 1904 Franklyn Mountford 1904 - 1927 (formerly organist at St James’ Church, Handsworth and St. John's Church, Truro) W.E. Robinson George Miles 1946Who's who in Music. Shaw Publishing Ltd. First Post War Edition. 1949-50 - 1988 Ian Ledsham 1993 - 2000 Victoria Gravenor 2001 - 2004 David Friel 2005 – 2023 Simon Palmer 2024 -
References