Family festival and more as St Peter's Church in Berkhamsted celebrates its 800th anniversary

St Peter’s church in Berkhamsted is hosting events this May and June in celebration of its 800th anniversary.

The community celebrations include historical days out, spiritual events, photography skills and music.

The festivities will continue in June when the church will also come together to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on June 5.

On June 26, a festival afternoon will see St Peter’s covered in flowers with entertainment and activities for all with miniature train, face painting and teddy zip wire.

Mark Grego, churchwarden at St Peter’s, said, “Everyone who lives in Berkhamsted should feel pride that our church is 800 years old! We live in a town that has enjoyed a rich history for eight centuries with St Peter's witnessing so many historical events alongside being special in the lives of ordinary people of those who inhabited Berkhamsted before us."

He continued: "Everyone is welcome to join in the anniversary celebrations! We’re encouraging people to come and wander round the interior especially if they’ve never stepped inside, join us for one of our many celebratory events - there’s something for everyone from historical talks to a festival afternoon to music concerts - or weekly services or simply come to enjoy the stillness.”

A special talk about the history of Berkhamsted will take place on May 3 at the church, with tickets being £6 from EventBrite.

Speaker Julian Hunt will trace Berkhamsted’s history from 1086.

As part of these celebrations, a town-wide photography competition sponsored by EIC Insurance Services has started. Either ‘Berkhamsted’ and/or ‘Celebration’, the competition has three categories each with £100 prize money.

One for infant and juniors, one for secondary schools and an open competition for people living in an HP4 postcode.

All entries are requested to be submitted electronically to berkophotocomp@gmail.com with ‘Photography Competition’ in the subject field and the filename for each image should indicate whether the theme and include the photographer’s name.

All entries must be received by Friday 10th June and the winners will be announced on the festival afternoon.