St Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Liverpool facts for kids
St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church was once a church in Liverpool, England. It was built way back in 1788. Today, it's a popular restaurant and bar called Alma de Cuba, which means "the soul of Cuba" in Spanish.
The church was built by Father A.B. MacDonald from the Order of St Benedict. At that time, the area was mostly countryside! St. Peter's was a Catholic church until 1976. For a short time after that, it was used by the local Polish community. That's why some people still call it 'the Polish Church'.
Before it closed, St. Peter's was the oldest Catholic church in Liverpool. It's also a special building because it's a Grade II listed building. This means it's an important historical building that needs to be protected.
In 2017, a company bought the building. Later, in 2022, the business faced some money problems and the building was taken over by administrators.
Contents
A Look Back in Time
Here are some important moments in St. Peter's history:
- 1788: St. Peter's Church officially opened on September 7th. A newspaper reported that a "new Roman Catholic Chapel" opened with a special service.
- 1788: The first baptisms (a Christian ceremony) happened here on September 28th.
- 1789: The city gave Father McDonald a special lease for the church land. This meant it could be a place of worship for a very long time.
- 1814: Father Archibald Benedict McDonald, who founded the church, passed away. He was 78 years old and had been the church's leader for 26 years.
- 1817-1818: The church building was made bigger. They added a porch and a gallery (a raised area inside).
- 1817: St. Peter's Schools opened. This was the first Catholic school in the area.
- 1840: Father Vincent Glover died from a fever he caught while helping sick people. He had served the church for 22 years.
- 1845: The church had a major extension. They removed parts of the old priest's house next door to create the Sanctuary, which is the altar area.
- 1847: Many Irish immigrants came to Liverpool to escape a terrible famine. This led to a typhus epidemic. Father Appleton, the priest, died from typhus after helping the sick.
- 1854: The last burial took place in the church's vaults.
- 1856: Father Davey and 400 children marched in a "Peace Procession" to celebrate the end of the Crimean War.
- 1864: The Lady Chapel was built to remember Father Benedict Bonney.
- 1872: Father Scarisbrook became a Bishop for Mauritius in a special ceremony at St. Peter's.
- 1898: A new Lady Altar was put up to celebrate Father Anderson's 50 years in the Order of St. Benedict.
- 1920: Electric lights were installed in the church for the first time! The church was also redecorated.
- 1934: A survey showed that 2,823 Catholic people lived in the church's parish area.
- 1938: St. Peter's celebrated its 150th birthday! The streets around the church were decorated for this big event.
- 1940-1941: Father Louis Joseph D'Andria wrote letters about life in Liverpool during the Blitz (heavy bombing). These letters were later published in a book.
- 1976: The church was given to the Polish Community and was briefly known as Our Lady of Czestochowa.
- 1978: The church closed and was not used for a while.
- 1993: The church was officially "deconsecrated," meaning it was no longer used for religious services.
- 2003: Plans were approved to turn the old church into offices.
- 2004: Workers found the body of Father Bede Brewer and other monks in the church's crypt (an underground burial place).
- 2004: Father Brewer and six other monks were reburied at Ampleforth Abbey. The founder, Father McDonald, and 14 other people were reburied in Ford Cemetery in Liverpool.
- 2005: The Alma de Cuba bar and restaurant opened in the former church building.
- 2017: Alma de Cuba was bought by a new company.
The Blitz Attacks
St. Peter's was damaged several times during the Blitz, which was a period of heavy bombing in Liverpool from 1940 to 1941.
Father Louis D’Andria wrote letters about the damage. In one letter from December 1940, he described how doors were blown in, and there were holes in the roof of the sacristy (a room where priests prepare) and the Lady Chapel. A big stone even came through the skylight into the sanctuary!
In May 1941, Father D'Andria wrote that it looked like the church roof was on fire. He and other priests had to quickly move important items like church records to safety. The church was so badly damaged that it had to close for a while. Masses were held at a nearby convent instead.
The priests' house next to the church was also badly hit. The third floor was completely destroyed, and the second floor was partly damaged. Repairs were difficult to get done after the war.
Photographs taken by Father D’Andria in May 1941 show how much damage there was. The church's Guildhall, a separate building, was completely destroyed by a bomb in 1941.
During eight nights of bombing in May 1941, nearly 1,750 people in Liverpool were killed. About 90,000 houses were destroyed, and 75,000 people lost their homes. Many areas near St. Peter's were ruined.
The Church's Past
Before St. Peter's was built, Catholic churches in Liverpool had a difficult history. In the early 1700s, Catholic services were very quiet and hidden. The first Catholic chapel built in Edmund Street in 1736 was actually destroyed by an angry crowd in 1746.
While a new chapel was being built, Catholics met secretly in a house. They even had help from kind Presbyterian neighbors who helped them get into their temporary meeting place without being seen.
In 1783, the Benedictine Order took over the Catholic missions in Liverpool. Father Archibald MacDonald, a Benedictine, founded St. Peter's in 1788. At the time, the area where St. Peter's was built was very rural. Some people thought it was too far out of town, but Father MacDonald built it there anyway.
Inside the church, there were white marble memorials for priests who had served there. One memorial was for Father Archibald MacDonald, the founder. Others remembered priests who died helping the sick, like Father William Tarleton and Father James Appleton, who died of typhus fever.
A Story from the Past
There's a story about Father Basil Primavesi, who was the priest at St. Peter's from 1929 to 1937. One night, a big fire seemed like it would spread to the church. Father Basil, woken from his sleep, went down and placed a special medal of St. Benedict on the church wall. Then he went back to bed. Soon after, the wind changed direction, which helped the firefighters put out the blaze!
Important Note
Don't confuse St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Seel Street with another old St. Peter's Church (now gone) that Church Street in Liverpool is named after. That other church was the first church built in Lancashire after the Reformation.
Alma de Cuba Today
St. Peter's Church is now home to the Alma de Cuba restaurant and bar, which opened in September 2005. The name means "Soul of Cuba" in Spanish.
Alma de Cuba focuses on Cuban food and culture, but it also takes ideas from other Spanish and Latin American countries. It's not just a restaurant; it's also a popular place for live music and late-night fun, especially since it's close to Liverpool's lively Concert Square. Alma de Cuba has won awards like 'Best Bar' and 'Best Restaurant'.
Art and History Inside
When St. Peter's Church was turned into Alma de Cuba, much of the inside was kept as it was. This is because it's a Grade II Listed Building, and rules say you can't remove things if it would damage the building's history. So, many of the old parts, like memorial tablets and murals (wall paintings), are still there.
Behind the altar, there used to be a large picture of St. Peter. This picture was moved to the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Now, a big mirror is in its place at Alma de Cuba.
A statue of St. Peter that was in the church is now in the Crypt Chapel at the Metropolitan Cathedral. This statue is a smaller copy of the famous one in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Other statues were moved too. A statue of St. Benedict is now in Whitehaven, Cumbria, and a large pieta (a sculpture of Mary holding Jesus) is at St. Mary's Church in Chorley.
The words on the arch above where the large picture of St. Peter used to be have changed over the years. At one point, it said "I am the Good Shepherd," then "CHRIST THE KING." Now, it says "TU ES PETRUS," which means "You are Peter" in Latin.
Images for kids
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St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church
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Restaurant area on the first floor of Alma de Cuba
