Saint Peter's Anglican Church

Saint Peter's Anglican Church stands in Cape Town, built of stone between 1878 and 1881. Its walls follow plans by Sophy Gray, architect and wife of Bishop Gray, a man who planted churches across South Africa.

Before the stone came a small wooden mission church named Saint Andrew. The coloured and white communities together persuaded Bishop Gray to build it on a plot the government provided. The timber went up so fast that Gray himself remarked on its lack of perpendicular walls. In 1875 a gale destroyed it, and the congregation answered with stone. A building committee under Bishop West Jones then directed the work to Sophy Gray's plans. The community met the cost in money and in labour, and the finished church received its consecration in 1881.

Inside, you find stained glass windows from the mid-twentieth century, funded by donations and crafted by artists in Johannesburg. They carry figures and scenes from the Bible. A pulpit of local hardwoods stands in memory of Bishop Gray. The carving complements the interior without overshadowing the speaker. And each Christmas the church unveils a hidden scene: Dawn Leggat's nativity, life-size figures of paper and cardboard.