St Peter’s Church, Winchester - a worthy lighting solution by Anthony J Smith (Glos) Ltd

The Roman Catholic Church of St Peter in Winchester is a Grade Two-listed building dating from 1926. It was built in the Gothic revival style to replace a chapel built in 1792 by Dr John Milner, which is believed to have been the first Catholic church to be consecrated since the Reformation. Now known as Milner Hall, it acts as a church hall.

In the 1990s the lighting in the church was replaced and with further alterations being added in 2003 St Peter’s was left with a variety of spotlights and floodlights that did not provide an adequate level of lighting.

Jenny Robinson, the property and finance administrator, remarked: “Over recent years this had become more of a problem with increasing numbers of complaints from the parishioners and clergy alike.”

Finally, in 2012, the property committee agreed that a solution to the problem had to be found. They turned to Anthony J Smith (Glos) Ltd.

Jenny Robinson continued: “When we started investigating a good long-term solution to our problems we contacted several potential suppliers and felt that Anthony and his team understood and interpreted our desires exactly. Being a listed church we were required to gain a Faculty through the Historic Churches Committee and having Anthony J Smith (Glos) Ltd on board certainly helped with the process, as they are well respected by the HCC.”

Anthony J Smith (Glos) Ltd have a long-established reputation for providing tailored solutions for church buildings of all denominations and their installation teams have a wealth of experience in the careful and considerate installation of cabling in these most challenging and important buildings.

The company’s Neil Blake explained: “As with all of our clients, energy efficiency and length of lamp life, together with flexibility in use, were at the top of the concerns at St Peters, together with needing to provide a solution that sat comfortable within the architecture. The only option was a bespoke solution meeting the exacting needs of both the congregation and the individuality of the architecture.

“The wiring in the main nave of the church, including the aisles, chapels, chancel and sanctuary were unsuitable to be adapted further, so a new installation of fireproof cabling was carried out, as was the installation of a new mains distribution system. Other areas, such as the narthex, sacristies and tower also required updated lighting to be installed, although for these spaces the wiring was tested and deemed suitable for re-use.”

Outside the church the lighting of the entrance steps had fallen into disrepair, so a series of Victorian-style lamps on period posts was installed that now light up the whole of the piazza.

Jenny Robinson commented: “The finished result not only provides the right quality and quantity of light, but also the flexibility of the new system means that the ambiance and feel of the interior can be modified to suit all sorts of occasions.”

Canon Paul Townsend, the parish priest, added: “The finished result is fabulous – the lighting is so in keeping with the rest of the interior that in some ways we have already forgotten how poor the previous lighting was.”

• For more information visit the website at www.anthonyjsmith.co.uk.