This church was consecrated on Saturday June 28th 1890 by the Bishop of Exeter. The cost of the site and building, over £2,000, was defrayed by the then Rector of Bideford, the Rev. Roger Granville. At the conclusion of the service, a public luncheon was served at the Royal Hotel, and then the new cemetery at East the water was consecrated.
One of the greatest benefactors of the new church was Mr.C Strachan Carnegie of ‘Clevelands’, Northam (cousin of Andrew Carnegie who endowed Bideford LIbrary, and who opened the new library in 1906). The stone from the building was obtained from a quarry at Cornborough and was built by Mr Glover of Abbotsham. The church was built on the site of an allotment and a tollgate.
As the years passed the town of Bideford grew in size and the church was no longer able to accommodate them, and a larger meeting place was needed.
Sadly for numerous reasons St Peter’s Church has not been in use for some time and now the sale of the building has been completed. Many people will have very happy memories of their church at East the water.
Mike Davy.
Do you have any memories of St Peter’s Church? Please share them with us.
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There are several photos of the church on the geograph website:
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355751
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355750
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355749
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355748
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355746
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6355745
I was in the choir as a small boy in the late ’40s, when I was about 12 years old or so, and then went on to learn the rudiments of serving in the sanctuary. The organist/choirmistress was a lady whose name I cannot remember at the moment, (would recognise it if someone came up with it) but if you were unlucky enough to sit in the choir stalls on the organ side, you could get poked in the back by her stick! The Rev. Beddoes was the Curate in charge, the Churchwarden that I remember was Mr. Sollis. The head choirboy was Bob (?) Skinner and we always used to go to Bude for the choirboys outing because 3 or 4 boys belonged to one or other of the rowing club and fancied themselves on the hire boats on the Bude Canal! The choir initiation ceremony was to jump off the rectangular brick building that adjoins the church – a frightening height when you were up there!
As one of the many descendants of Roger Granville, I’m interested to know who bought St Peter’s East-the-water, and what they plan for the church.
Regards,
Emma, Christchurch, NZ