St Peter-in-the-Forest is a 19th-century

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, sited adjacent to a small portion of

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...

History

The building was founded in 1840 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to St Mary's Church, Walthamstow, at the instigation of the vicar, William Wilson, who also established two other daughter churches for the rapidly growing town. The new church was designed by the architect John Shaw Jr. and built of London stock brick in the Italianate style. It became a parish of its own in 1844. The church served the nearby Forest School until a school chapel was built in 1857. The

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

, the right to appoint a vicar, was originally held by the vicar of St Mary's, but in 1859 was given to Edward Warner, who had donated £1,000 for a vicarage house and whose son would develop the Warner Estate; it remains with the Warner family to the present. St Peter's was assigned a cemetery in 1845, and extended in westwards in 1887, so that the tower now stands at the centre of the south aisle rather than in the southwest corner. The interior was remodelled by Martin Travers in 1936–37. In 1945, a

V-2 rocket The V2 (), with the technical name ''Aggregat (rocket family), Aggregat-4'' (A4), was the world's first long-range missile guidance, guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the S ...

landed nearby causing substantial damage to the north side; this was repaired in 1951 when an entrance lobby and vestries were also added. Further work in 1958 altered the chancel, sanctuary and added a west window depicting

Christ the King Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where Christ is described as being seated at the right hand of God. Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one o ...

. A fire in 1975 damaged some original internal fittings. The church was given Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

status in 2009 because it was considered "of special architectural interest for its pleasing Italianate Romanesque design by the notable architect John Shaw Junior". However, it later appeared on the

Heritage at Risk Register An annual ''Heritage at Risk Register'' is published by Historic England. The survey is used by national and local government, a wide range of individuals and heritage groups to establish the extent of risk and to help assess priorities for acti ...

. In 2017 it was announced that St Peter's had been awarded £117,500 by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

for restoration and improvement of the building to make it more suitable for use by the local community.

References

External links

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Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Churches bombed by the Luftwaffe in London 1840 in London {{Coord, 51.587203, N, 0.006266, E, display=title