History of the church (taken from www.stpeters-sheringham.org.uk)
By Norfolk standards St Peter’s is a very recent creation. In a region graced by so many medieval churches, it is rare to find one from the Victorian era, but just as with many of those churches, St Peter’s came about through the generosity of a local family, the Upchers. They took their responsibilities for the local community seriously, and provided a school, helped the local fishermen and labourers and their families, provided and supported a lifeboat and encouraged the development of (Lower) Sheringham.
It was as a result of their efforts that in 1842 a Chapel of Ease was built, which a few years later was enlarged to allow the seating of about 500 people. Services finished in 1897 with the opening of St Peter’s, the former chapel continuing to be used as a church hall until the Parish Hall in Waterbank Road was opened in 1956. The old chapel was eventually demolished in March 1969 making way for a modern block of flats, Temple Court.
The Upchers donated the land on which the church is built, and also contributed generously to the cost of the building itself, which was designed by St Aubyn and Wadling of London and built by Bardell Brothers of Kings Lynn.
It was on St Peter’s Day 1895 that the foundation stone was laid by Mrs Upcher, and the building was consecrated exactly two years later, on St Peter’s Day, 29th June 1897. Whilst it was being built, new houses were also going up on nearby plots, sold by the Upchers in response to the new demand for land.
St Peter’s was built as the daughter church of All Saints, Upper Sheringham, and it wasn’t until 1953 that it became the Parish Church of Sheringham following a boundary change when All Saints became linked with Weybourne.
The church is of red brick, faced with knapped flints, and roofed with slates. There are crosses on east and west gables, and a figure of St Peter in the niche over the outer doorway of the south porch worked by a local stonemason. The building cost £8000 and could supposedly seat more than 700.
Over the years many changes were made. In 1910, the choir and clergy vestries on the north side were built. In 1928, the decorated wooden screen behind the altar was added and two years later oak panels were added to the north and south sides of the chancel. In 1931-2, the low screens at the top of the chancel steps were added and in 1933, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit was dedicated.
The overall impression on entering St Peter’s is one of enormous spaciousness and light, with the wide nave extending into the side aisles. It has never had pews (many of the chairs still in use today were made in the local workhouse from trees, which grew on the Upcher estate) and this adds to the sense of space.
The interior is bold in design, an impression generated by the ridge of the roof, which is carried in one continual line throughout from east to west, with the roof of the chancel being the same height as that of the nave.
There is a plain stone font, and the pulpit and lectern are made from oak, a theme continued in the chancel with its richly carved woodwork. The floor of the nave is of oak blocks and the chancel and porches have splendid mosaic floors.
After almost 50 years of service, the old church hall in Waterbank Road had become a major drain on parish finances. It was sold in 2003, and the proceeds put towards the building of a beautiful new one adjoining the church. This was opened and dedicated by the Bishop of Norwich in 2006.
In order to find the cache you need to visit the church, and in particular the church extension. There is free parking close by, but in the summer the town is very busy and you may need to resort to one of the town’s car park’s when there is a small charge.
Outside this new building you will find a stone laid in the ground. This was laid by the Lord Bishop of Norwich, The Right Reverend Percy Mark Herbert. You need to look at the date and extract the numbers as follows:
A B 1CDE
Where A is the day, B is the Month, and CDE are the last three numbers of the year.
You need to substitute the information from that into the coordinates below:
N52 56.DB(C-E) E001 1A.E(C-D)B
The final cache location is situated a 15 minute walk away or a short drive. There is limited parking at the final location. You are looking for a camo’d tube. You will need to bring your own pen, and tweezers will be helpful to extract the log.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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