Old St. Peter's Church, the Parish Church located in the heart of St. George's, is
reputedly the oldest continuously operating Protestant church in the New World, and is one of
the oldest official buildings in the English-speaking world beyond the British Isles.
St. Peter's represents the commencement of ministry in Bermuda in the year 1609, though the
oldest part of the church as it stands today was completed in 1620 (an even earlier structure
believed built in 1612 out of timber and 'palmeta leaves' was destroyed in a storm). On August 1,
1620, the first Parliament in the New World was held here (at least one report dates the
inaugural meeting in 1616). The church was rebuilt in 1713-14, after the 1712 hurricane which
also destroyed several other churches, and additions were completed in 1814 and 1832.
The font of the church (approximately five hundred years old) actually predates the wreck of the
Sea Venture (1609); the Bishop's throne dates from the 18th century; the altar is the
oldest piece of woodwork in Bermuda; and even the woodwork in some of the family pews is
estimated at over two hundred years old. Many other artefacts in the church are also antiques
with their own histories.
St. Peter's churchyard is the oldest in the islands, and in its graves lie the remains of a who's
who of gentry and commoners, governors and slaves, privateers and statesmen of Bermudian, British
and American birth. No other church in Bermuda contains more Island heritage.
