PETERBOROUGHPARISH CHURCH - OPENING NEW DOORS

St John’s was built between 1402 and 1407 and consecrated as Peterborough’s Parish Church on Sunday 26thJune 1407. It became known to locals as The Church in the Market Place. The 600th anniversary of its consecration was celebrated by a series of events and activities that illustrated the versatility of this church building as a venue for music, drama, art exhibitions and educational activities as well as worship.  Our vision that St John’s is better equipped to host an ever wider range of activities as part of an appropriate and relevant ministry in the heart of Peterborough in the 21st century has started to be realised. Toilets, a new kitchen and servery; new crèche and a meeting room have been installed in the south west corner and works are underway in the north west corner to provide a Sunday School room, Parish Office/Welcome area, and new Choir Vestry.

St John’s, as the historic parish church of Peterborough, and as a large Grade One listed building set in the heart of the city, can have something of a flagship role within the City Centre, as part of the City of Peterborough’s Historic Quarter. A residential population is to be restored to the city centre, whilst the scope for week-day ministry and mission in the heart of the thriving city is boundless.

We have been actively engaged with the City Council concerning the exterior surroundings to the building - and now the new St John's Square to the west of the church is complete - a haven within a bustling city centre. Railings on the south and west sides of the church have been removed to enable the church to be viewed as an integral part of a renewed and vibrant city centre. To enhance this, the west and south entrances to the church are to be made more attractive and accessible with the addition of glazed doors.

Each of the rooms on the north west and south west have separately available heating and are suitable, therefore, both individually and in combination, for use both for church purposes and, where appropriate, for use by the wider community and for commercial hire.

We envisage the development of a seven-day a week life for the building to generate new worship expectations, and opportunities for both community and commercial growth, which will lead to subsequent east-end reordering in the years to come.

Our plans were drawn up by Julian Limentani, our architect, to achieve 21stcentury facilities in a Church that remains at the heart of the city – serving the growing population of Peterborough city centre for the next 100 years and beyond. We urge you to support these plans, as we proceed to the next stage in developing the east-end and to make the body of the church more versatile.