Saint Peter and the Guardian Angels
Rotherhithe London

We are a small but distinctive and diverse Catholic Church in the quaint village of Rotherhithe, on the edge of King's Stairs Gardens. The church has a history dating back to 1902, surviving the bombings of both First & Second World Wars. Today we are a thriving community of 250-300 parishioners, led by Fr. Graham Preston.

Our Mission Statement

We are a Catholic Community where Christ’s love and forgiveness is at the centre of all that we say and do.

We recognise that we are not perfect, and like any family, there will be disagreements and occasionally conflict amongst us, but we will always try to resolve our problems.

Remembering that God is never in unkindness, never in harsh words, whether written or spoken, but always in love and forgiveness.

We rejoice in the great diversity of our community and the richness that diversity brings to our Church life. Above all we strive to make everybody welcome and seek to respond to the challenges of our Christian faith together as sisters and brothers in Christ, supporting each other in times of adversity and celebrating together in times of joy, always relying on God’s love and mercy.

 

Download Saint Peter and the Guardian Angels vCard with Mass Times
Click here to contact the church  

Download Priest Fr. Graham Preston vCard with bio
Click here to contact Fr. Graham Preston  

https://stpeterandtheguardianangels.com/  

 

Closest Tubes:

Bermondsey/Canada Water (Jubilee)
Rotherhithe (Overground)  

Free parking 4 hours / 2 hours, Mon-Fri 8.30am-6.30pm.
Unrestricted at all other times.  

Food Bank available
Open from Tuesday to Friday 10.00am to 4.00pm  

St Vincent de Paul Society
Legion of Mary Group  

Disabled Access Available  

In the mid-1800s a Catholic parish church existed in Dockhead, but there was no Catholic church in the Rotherhithe area. The East End Missions has been established to extend Catholic reach into the eastern areas of London that had no churches present and in 1858 a chapel was created in the rooms of a large house in Rotherhithe Street, whilst the adjacent Church of Immaculate Conception was built, completed in 1861. It was bombed in 1942 and not rebuilt until about 30 years ago.

The first Parish Priest of St Peter’s arrived in 1891. Father Joseph Haynes was temporarily housed at Dockhead whilst he conducted mass in a chapel established in Paradise Street at the school of St Joseph in 1892. The Diocese purchased land adjacent to the school (now destroyed) and Father Haynes oversaw the build of St Peter and the Guardian Angels, for which funding was immediately sought.

The church was built in memory of Sir Peter le Page Renouf (1822-1897), a convert to the Catholic faith who finished his career as an Egyptologist (Curator of the Oriental Collection at the British Museum) but had previously been one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors for Schools. In this latter role he had visited St Joseph’s school frequently, and his wife, Ludovica de Brentano, Lady Renouf, helped to fund the church due to that connection, in the memory of her husband.

The church was built in a style reminiscent of the Romanesque by architect Francis William Tasker (1848-1904) and cost £6000.00. It is built of London stock brick with six tall round-headed windows and an inset arched and gabled entrance formed of good quality yellow stock brick and decorative white and dark grey bricks. It has a timber roof supported on hammer beams. A large round window was set into its western end, a feature particularly favoured by Tasker and seen in other Churches built by him.

There is a choir gallery and a stone font that sits on five columns with various emblems. A small organ was added in 1922. Between 1925-1930 Father David Leahy was responsible for adding an eastern apse with a sanctuary that contains a baldacchino Arch in Sicilian marble. The Lady Altar was also added by Father Leahy, with a stone reredos featuring the Madonna and Child, St Joseph and King David. The Church was redecorated in 2013.

The sanctuary occupies the eastern bay of the main space and a shallow apse beyond this, with a giant white marble baldacchino. This has coffering in the underside of its arched top and Egyptian-style capitals, possible in honour of the donor (although he baldacchino was added 25 or so years later). Tis, forward altar, ambo and retaining walls are all of Sicilian marble. On the north side of the sanctuary is the Lady Altar with a stone Gothic reredos of Our Lady flanked by St Joseph and King David, and with marble cladding to the walls. Nearby is plaque to the donor.

The Stations of the Cross are framed canvas paintings by Luigi Morgari (1874 -1936).

The Statues in the Church were installed shortly after the Church was built.

Sacred Heart and plaque – was given in memory of Peter Joseph Dennien and Francis Joseph Dennien who died in the great war (1914 -18) The statue of St Joseph is by Mayer of Munich. Our Lady of Lourdes and Bernadette Statue of St Peter Statue of St Teresa of Lisieux Statue of St Anthony Statue of St Patrick.

The Portrait of the Holy Family is by anon.

No bombs fell near it from either airships or planes in the First World War, but during the Second World War, when the Surrey Commercial Docks were targeted, a bouncing bomb landed on its roof. There was no damage to the church itself but much of the surrounding area was destroyed.

Directly opposite the church in the early 20th Century were the Park Buildings, five storeys high, which opened in 1908 and were demolished in the 1970s. A little further down the road to the west was the Queen’s Head public house (which was demolished in 1973). The church now sits on the edge of King’s Stairs Gardens.