Building MPM1541 - CHURCH OF ST PETER

Church of St Peter built 1882-3, designed by Alfred Arthur Hudson. The predecessor to St Peter's Church was a temporary iron mission chapel built in 1871 by St Jude's, Southsea to serve the expanding suburb of Somerstown, a largely working-class district to the east of Portsmouth city centre. This was replaced in 1882-3 with a permanent church of 750 seats by the local architect Alfred Arthur Hudson (1852-1930), whose initial, much more ambitious design for a 1000-seat church was pared down at the insistence of the Church Commissioners. The cost of the new church was largely met by public subscription and a few large individual donations. Furnishings were gradually added over the succeeding decades, including a major re-fitting of the sanctuary area, supposedly by Italian craftsmen, in 1905. The original gas lanterns gave way to electric lighting during the 1920s. The old mission chapel continued to serve as a church hall until it was replaced in 1923-4 by the St Peter's Institute (not included in the listing).

Historic England, The National Heritage List for England (Index). SPM35.