St Peter’s shares with its neighbour, St Michael’s, the distinction of having a recorded foundation from before the Norman Conquest, in this case 1040. But St Peter’s boasts an even greater antiquity. A brass plate in the vestry (dating from the time of Henry IV, 1399–1415) claims a foundation in AD179 by a mythical King Lucius! Whatever building was here in 1666 perished in the Great Fire, and the present Wren building dates from 1677–87.
The street side of St Peter’s is hidden by shops, with only the doorway showing, a feature common in the nineteenth century but unique to this church today. However, there is a pleasant little churchyard in the back from which the south side of the building can be viewed, and the east side can be seen from Gracechurch Street. In medieval times this church had a number of chantries, and it was also used as a sanctuary for lawbreakers. There was a grammar school at St Peter’s from 1425 to 1666. A gilded statue of St Peter is on the churchyard gate.
St Peter’s, Cornhill, is the only church in the City to possess a Wren chancel screen in its original setting. The reredos is also from the time of Wren’s rebuilding. The organ dates from 1681, though considerably altered, and has the keyboard upon which Mendelssohn played in 1840 and declared it the ‘finest in London.’ His autograph may be seen in the vestry. Also in the vestry is a seventeenth-century long wooden table used by the Puritans for holy communion. The interior is somewhat dark due to stained glass left from the nine¬teenth century.