Church Guide

St Peter & St Paul is one of three Anglican parishes in the town, and is the original parish church of Fareham. Tradition has it that it was founded by St Birinus and his monks, who reputedly landed at Portchester and converted this part of England to Christianity, going up the Meon Valley and converting the pagan Meonwara! 

Christians have worshipped in this church for over one thousand years. The original chancel now forms the beautiful Lady Chapel. It was here that the Great Seal of England was exchanged in 1346 at the command of King Edward III before his expedition left for France and the Battle of Crecy.

The most recent change was in the early 1970s when the church was reordered to meet liturgical trends. The churchyard is closed for burials and is maintained by Fareham Borough Council.

The estimated population of the parish in 2011 was 14,200 but that is expected to increase significantly. It covers an irregularly shaped area of about eight square miles from the borders of Portchester in the east, to the River Meon in the west. It includes a large part of the town centre and to the north, part farmland. It includes the villages of Wallington, Funtley and Knowle.

The church possesses the only peal of bells in the town and these are rung on Sunday mornings. The church has a 3 manual pipe organ.

A Guide to the Church written by Alan Sturgess in 1995 is available at the bottom of this page. The Songs of Praise available above was recorded in about 1980.  Several other live and recorded broadcasts have been made from the church.

A copy of the latest church accounts filed with the Charity Commission is also downloadable below.

Also available is a guide to the St Francis, Funtley church (now converted to a private house) and a Studio TV service in 1982 which tells some of the church history.