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St. Peter's Church
St. George Town Bermuda

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St. Peter's Church
St. George's

The Church of St. Peter's is noted for being the oldest Anglican church in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere as well as the oldest continuously used Protestant church in the New World.

It's a surprisingly steep walk up the wide stairs from the Duke of York Street to St. Peter's Church, one of St. George's premier historic sites.

This is a much expanded version of the original St. Peter's made of wood with a thatch roof in 1609 by Englishmen voyaging to Virginia who shipwrecked in Bermuda in 1609.

St. Peter's, with the oldest part of the church dating to 1620, immediately became a Bermuda landmark. Capt. John Smith of Jamestown fame who drew a map of Bermuda in 1624 features the church with the island's other prominent buildings.

It did not last long and St. Peter's had to be rebuilt many times, eventually constructed of limestone walls and a limestone slate roof supported by Bermuda cedar.

There is plenty to see both inside and outside St. Peter's. The interior, with striking exposed Bermuda cedar beams, contains numerous plaques commemorating many of St. George's most famous residents.

The cemetery, long since full, surrounds the church and includes and old section reserved for slaves prior to Emancipation throughout the British Empire in 1834.

St. Peter's cemetery is open almost anytime during the day; the church when the entrance door is open.

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