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St. Peter's Church, Harborne
St. Peter's Church, Harborne
	52°27′16″N 1°57′31″W / 52.454326°N 1.958538°W
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	stpeterharborne.org.uk
History
Dedication	St. Peter
Administration
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Birmingham
Archdeaconry	Birmingham
Deanery	Edgbaston
Parish	Harborne
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Rev Can Kate Stowe
Honorary priest(s)	Marlene Parsons; John Russell;
Laity
Organist/Director of music	David Friel

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 1860s^[1] by architect Yeoville Thomason.^[2] 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.^[2]

Burials

Bob Brettle, boxer^[3]
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^[4]

There are also 40 war graves of Commonwealth service personnel, 22 from World War I and 18 from World War II.^[5]

List of Vicars

Curate = W. Harding (November 1826 – March 1827)^[6]

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

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.^[7]

List of organists

Roland Mellor Winn 1874^[8] - 1904^[9]
Franklyn Mountford 1904 - 1927^[10] (formerly organist at St James’ Church, Handsworth and St. John's Church, Truro)
W.E. Robinson
George Miles 1946^[11] - 1988
Ian Ledsham 1993 - 2000
Victoria Gravenor 2001 - 2004
David Friel 2005 – 2023
Simon Palmer 2024 -

References

^ The Buildings of England, Warwickshire, Nikolaus Pevsner
^ ^a ^b Historic England. "Parish Church of St Peter (Grade II) (1219775)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
^ "Meet Bob Brettle, the bare-knuckle boxing landlord; back in time". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham, England: Birmingham Post & Mail Ltd. 11 March 2007. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
^ Hoban, Sally (16 September 2006). "Jewel in the Crown; One of the Most Prolific Makers of Arts and Crafts Jewellery Lived and Work in Birmingham". The Birmingham Post.^{[dead link‍]}
^ [1] CWGC Cemetery Report. Breakdown obtained from casualty record.
^ Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813 to 1912, in the parish of Harbourne, in the county of Stafford
^ "NPOR [L00011]". National Pipe Organ Register. British Institute of Organ Studies.
^ Huddersfield Chronicle - Saturday 21 March 1874
^ "Local News and Jottings". Birmingham Mail. England. 14 March 1904. Retrieved 10 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ "Organist's Funeral". Birmingham Daily Gazette. England. 11 October 1927. Retrieved 10 January 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Who's who in Music. Shaw Publishing Ltd. First Post War Edition. 1949-50