St. Peter’s is a grand stone built church situated in a beautifully tended garden on the crossroads in the middle of the town. Its fine spire, tower and clock make it a clear landmark.
Built in the 1860s, at the same time as Christ Church, Ince and St. James’s, Poolstock, St. Peter’s marks a real change in the design of Wigan’s churches from simple chapel-like buildings for listening to sermons to grander churches built for more elaborate services.
The architect of the three churches was Edward Paley, a well-known Lancaster architect. The small and long established All Saints church in nearby Chapel Fields Lane was no longer large enough to accommodate the growing population of the area so the decision was taken in 1856 to build a new church. The necessary money was raised partly by public subscription, but the principal benefactors were the Pennington family of Hindley who owned both Lowe Mill and Worthington Mill just up Market Street. Alfred Pennington appears to have been the main donor giving £3,700 out of the £9,500 the church cost in total.
It is an imposing building, tall and lofty, with aisles either side of the central nave and a deep chancel where the main altar is situated. The tops of the columns in the nave are richly carved and the faces of angels and the Apostles are to be found between the arches. Furnishings, such as the font and lectern, were given by or in memory of the Pennington family.
Two items of note. A striking window in memory of Bernard Hastings Bezer who died aged nine in 1881. The window is special as it was designed and made by a French stained glass manufacturer form Evreux in Normandy called Duhamel-Marette. There are few other examples of the firm’s work in the UK. Eerily the little boy’s face is depicted twice in the window where he is shown as the Christ Child.
1980’s silverware. Not something that we usually refer to, but the unusual processional cross is made of four keys, the symbols of the church’s saint, St. Peter. It’s so different, modern and it caught our eye immediately.
The church surely has the best organ case in the Wigan area. The famous Schulze organ was paid for by the Pennington family and, though it no longer plays, the pipes have been lovingly repainted and restored by parishioners.
A nice detail about the church is that we have the names of and parishioners’ tributes to the vergers and cleaners. The first verger was Mrs Brown, assisted by her husband. Continuing a rare example of naming females in church affairs, another verger was Mrs Wood, known as Little Annie, of whom it was said “Cleanliness and meticulous application to detail in all her church work mark her out as a verger par excellence.”
At the very heart of Hindley, St. Peter’s with its tall spire and clock, has served the town for 160 years and is well worth a visit.
Organ case
Mill owning Pennington family links – font and lectern
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