The fascinating past of the 18th century church that’s now one of Liverpool’s most unique pubs

A Liverpool historian has investigated the history of one of the city’s oldest churches, revealing some fascinating facts about the building that is now St Peter’s Tavern.

The former St Peter’s Church on Seel Street has had several previous lives, including as a church for Liverpool’s Polish community and as bar and restaurant Alma de Cuba.

In November last year it reopened as St Peter’s Tavern, the latest restoration by The 1936 Pub Company which has also been behind the transformation of The Monro on Duke Street and The Vines on Lime Street.

The emphasis was on keeping as many original features as possible including the famous altar and artwork around it.

It’s now firmly back as a popular pub venue again but thousands of drinkers who’ve been through its doors will have no idea of its past life.

Local historian Jonathon Wild, who’s written several in-depth Liverpool histories and campaigned to save abandoned buildings in the city from demolition, delved into its history and discovered a very different past to its present.

Dating back to 1788, he says it was built to accommodate the city’s growing Catholic community before Seel Street even had that name.

“A map from 1785 shows Bold Street, Parr Street, and two parcels of land owned by Mr Thomas Seel,” explains Jonathon. 

“When the church was built in 1788 it was the only building on the street, there was nothing else at all around it, only fields.

“But when it first opened there were lots of complaints that it was too far out of town because anything beyond the top of Church Street was considered to be out of town then.”

Jonathon says the church’s first incarnation was much smaller than the one people will be familiar with now.

“If you go in and walk to where the altar is, that was a brick wall at one point. They extended in the early 1800s into the presbytery next door so when you walk to the altar in St Peter’s Tavern you’re actually walking to what was the house next door to the church.

“Originally the entrance where you go in now was a window and there was no upstairs, the first floor gallery was added later.”

St Peter’s Church was hit by bombing during WWII, blowing out its stained glass and leaving holes in the roof and Lady Chapel.

But, unlike St Luke’s Bombed Out Church, the damage wasn’t so severe it couldn’t be repaired. 

As congregations started to dwindle after the war years, the church was transferred to the Polish Community in 1976.

It was eventually deconsecrated in 1993 and locked up until three years later when it reopened to welcome a VIP guest.

“Mother Teresa was the last person in there for a special service,” explains Jonathon. “They opened up the church for her in 1996 when she visited the building across the road, 55 Seel Street, which is run by an order of nuns. 

“That was the last time it was used, then it was closed until Urban Splash bought it in 1999 and started work on it in the early 2000s.

“They originally intended to turn the church into offices, so a lot of the interiors were taken out then and went to other places. The organ went to a different church, and the font is now in the Metropolitan Cathedral.

“There were also 27 coffins in the basement that nobody knew about, they were the fathers who’d run the church for a number of years. When they died they were put into the basement, which was a crypt. 

“When Urban Splash took over, they found those coffins and most were taken to Ford Cemetery.”

Instead of offices, the church was turned into Alma de Cuba, which went on to become a celebrity favourite in Liverpool, later taken over by Signature Living.

When The 1936 Pub Company announced it was taking on the site last autumn, it pledged to return as many features back to their original condition as possible including the altar.

“The original crypt is still there, the altar is original and the paintings around it are too,” says Jonathon. “The memorial tablets are still in the Lady Chapel and a lot of the woodwork is still there.”

Jonathon says, although it’s far from its origins as a church, the sensitive restoration has given a fitting new life to the building.

“So many churches were demolished because religion was out of fashion and the congregations were far smaller. It got to a point where there was no use for it as a church anymore and people were thinking, what are we going to do with this building? Fortunately, Urban Splash took it on and they kept the structure intact. 

“I love it in there now because obviously it’s never going to be a church again, but we’ve lost so many buildings of significance and I’m just thankful this has been saved.”

Discover more Liverpool history here.