St. Peter's is in the fortunate position of being a vibrant and growing church. An analysis of church attendance for the year up to November 6th 2009 shows that about 25,000 people attended services and other activities at St Peter’s, and about one third of these are aged under 16 years. On Sunday mornings the family service is regularly attended by 130 to 150 adults and children and there are currently four age groups in our young church. Existing facilities are totally inadequate to provide for both children and adults, including in particular, no toilets on the church site. The proposed facilities in the church extension are therefore absolutely essential to retain and grow the congregation still further.
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Ford House - click to enlarge
In our consultation with the parishioners of St Peter’s and the wider village in the second half of 2008 we reported the results of a questionnaire which showed:
- There is a high level of support for the concept of a church extension (62% of all respondents and 82% of parishioners were supportive)
- Architecture, visibility and size of an extension are key concerns
- A combination of traditional and contemporary architecture is most favoured
- A building over two floors on a smaller footprint is preferred
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- It makes best use of spaces for the building process.
- It gives a result, in terms of facilities, that is closer to what was imagined when the proposal for an extension first emerged.
- Financially it is the best option - A simple sale of Ford House would only generate enough money to build the church extension, but the current proposal should generate enough money to rebuild Ford House and retain it for church use, build the church extension, do important work on the Norman Chapel and Hearse House and hopefully have some money left over to support other initiatives in the wider community.
- The intention is not just to build for our needs and this generation, but to build for the generations to come, so it will be of the highest quality.
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One of the key advantages of the holistic scheme is that the Ford House site will provide all the site storage for the Church extension enabling the highest standards and least intrusive work practices to be applied.
As we look on a village high street with so many empty shops, it is vital to have thriving activities in the heart of the community. The new offices in Ford house will progressively become a hive of activities and with the Church Centre (as the church extension will be known), they will increase footfall through the village, as hopefully will the new houses behind Ford House.
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Norman Chapel - click to enlarge
“We are now content with the principle of the scale mass and location of the proposed extension”
English Heritage
“We welcome the re-use of the Norman Chapel and the Hearse House as part of the scheme
and appreciate the Holistic approach”
English Heritage
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“The Diocesan Advisory Committee has been hugely impressed with the vision of the Prestbury scheme and the care and professionalism with which the parish team have developed their proposals. They have taken very great care in consulting widely with the local community, council, heritage societies and church authorities. This has allowed them to develop a truly landmark scheme which should satisfy strong parish needs as well as respect the sensitive and historic nature of this Grade I church and its surroundings.”
Paul Broadhurst DAC
“This scheme has my full support. It will be a great blessing to the parish and community of Prestbury, and will be of great support to the worship and work of St Peter's Church”
Bishop Peter
"A good church is a focus for the community in the literal sense of the word - a place which keeps the common life warm and alive."
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
