ST.PETER'S CHURCH 🎧

ST. PETER’S CHURCH OFF YORK STREET

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DIASPORA TRAIL

ST. PETER'S CHURCH

St. Peter’s Church / Their Majesties Chapel located in the historic town of St. George's.
St. Peter’s Church is held amongst history chronicles to be the oldest, constantly used Anglican Church in the western hemisphere. The current church was not the first house of worship on the site. It replaced a storm demolished structure in 1612 which was constructed from wooden posts and a roof of palmetto leaves. Inside, visitors marvel to see the altar from the original structure that was built in 1615 under the supervision of Richard Moore, Bermuda’s first Governor. This is the oldest piece of woodwork in Bermuda. Treasures in the vestry include a very fine collection of communion silver from the 1600's. The oldest part of the church is the area around the triple-tier pulpit. When you enter the architecture structure the decor of this church gives you a reflection back in the 1600's.

The Bermuda Parliament first met at the St. Peter’s Church in 1620, thus establishing the assembly as the 3rd oldest Parliament in the world. Outside in the churchyard, there are two graveyards: one toward a walled area to the west of the church. This was for burial of the black slaves and reserved eastward was for whites. In 1698, St. George's had a population of one-third blacks who were mostly brought in from Africa as slaves. St. Peter’s Church remains an important site on the African Bermudian Diaspora Heritage Trail of Bermuda which traces the legacy of slavery in Bermuda. In 1713, St. Peter’s Church was expanded. The tower and wings were added in the 19th century. Regular service is still held on Sunday mornings promptly at 11am. And 400 years after the General Assembly first met in St. George’s in 1620, the Convening of Parliament and Throne Speech led by the now leader Premier David Burt of the Bermuda Government returned to the east end of the island to mark the 400th anniversary.