St Peter's Project
from April '08 parish Grapevine
Do you want a church building that is hospitable – with all modern conveniences - and that is accessible? Do you want a building that is more flexible so that it can be used for more than one hour per week by the local school and local community?
If so, you will be interested in the plans for St Peter's. These plans have been on the table for a while now. We have been working with the Diocesan Advisory Committee to fine tune them, and they are now ready to be submitted for the ecclesiastical version of planning permission. They have the full support of the Diocesan Advisory Committee, the Parochial Church Council and St Peter's Focus Group.
Please have a look. Copies of the exisiting and proposed floor plans are attached to this page. Please scroll down to take a look.
We will be delighted to hear from those who can improve our proposals – and will help to make St Peter's more accessible, more hospitable and more flexible. We will also welcome comments from those who want to object to the proposed scheme, particularly if they have alternative ways of resolving the problems of access. Objections will be considered by the Chancellor and weighed against the merits of the scheme as he perceives them before he decides whether planning permission (a faculty) is to be granted. He will need to receive comments by April 29th and they should be addressed to the Registrar, Diocesan Registry, Friars, White Friars, Chester CH1 1XS. Those making representation are asked to state whether they are resident in the parish, or whether they are on the Electoral Roll of Tarvin Parish.
In terms of building projects this is a modest scheme but in terms of what we have been used to as a parish this is a major project. The last major project in the parish was taking on the lease for the Parish Rooms and restoring and refurbishing them. The only project at St Peter's has been a "toolshed". Parishes across the country are tackling far greater challenges than this and this should give us grounds for optimism.
This is Fred Gardner's artistic impression of what St peter's will look like if/when the proposed changes go ahead. Proposed changes include Benefits will include
St Peter's Church was built in 1834 as a Chapel of Ease. Today we would call this a "church plant". Tarvin Parish - then a very large geographical area - was responsible for building churches at Duddon and Kelsall.
The building has been very well maintained and has changed little over the years. In 1899 a stained glass window was installed depicting Jesus the Good Shepherd. This window was supposed to have been flanked by stained glass windows of the patron saints of the parish, Peter and Andrew. This obviously proved to be a step too far, and it wasn't till the Millennium celebrations that the two side panels were installed. Figurative art was no longer popular and instead the windows speak of "healing" and "joy". Members of St Peter's were involved in the refurbishing of the War Memorial Hall during the 1990's and this is used by several community groups for such activities as indoor bowls, taikwondo and table tennis. The aim of the SPACE PROJECT is to provide a faciltiy for future generations which can be used as a meeting place and as a space for all ages for learning, creativity and culture