St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church is a former church in Seel Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, that was transformed into a restaurant and bar called Alma de Cuba ("the soul of Cuba"). On 14 November 2024, the building reopened as St Peter's Tavern.

Until its closure, St. Peter's was the oldest Catholic Church in Liverpool. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

In September 2024 it was announced that the building had been acquired by The 1936 Pub Company that intended to renovate and reopen under the name St Peter's Tavern.

History

Some milestones in St Peter's history include:

7 September 1788 - opening of St Peter's. 11 September 1788 - The 'Liverpool Advertiser' reports that "On Sunday last, a new Roman Catholic Chapel in Seel St. was opened with high Mass: and a sermon by the Rev. Mr. McDonald." 28 September 1788 - first baptisms performed, with the first entry: "Was baptised Mary, daughter of John and Mary Goosse; Sponsors, Paul Hewit and Margaret Yates". 1 April 1789 - perpetual lease granted by the City Corporation, "to Father McDonald and successors, of the site of St. Peter's Chapel, so long as a place of worship." A separate lease granted for the house and schools, at an annual ground rent of twelve pence. 29 July 1814 - Death of Fr Archibald Benedict McDonald, O.S.B.. On the Founder's Monument was inscribed: "In the vaults of this chapel are deposited the remains of the Rev. Archibald MacDonald, who departed this life on the 29 July 1814, aged 78 years. The founder of this chapel, and for a period of 26 years its liberal, intelligent and revered pastor, to whose memory the Catholics of Liverpool erect this monument. - R.I.P." 1817/1818 - The church is enlarged. The enlargement includes the porch and the gallery, and possibly encompassed part of the Presbytery. 1817 - The opening of St Peter's Schools in Seel Street, the "first Catholic School founded". In fact the school probably transferred from a smaller school founded opposite the church in 1789. 1840 - Fr Vincent Glover, O.S.B., died of fever on 6 August, contracted whilst attending the sick. Fr Glover had served the Parish for 22 years. 1845 - A major extension to the church takes place. Next to St. Peter's Church stood the house in which the priests had lived for over 60 years. The main part of the floors were removed and the wall between the church and the house was taken down. The result created the Sanctuary (the Altar area of the current church). The front room of the house then became the Sacristy (apparently currently used by the Alma de Cuba restaurant as a storeroom). The extension was carried out under the auspices of Fr James Francis Appleton, O.S.B., the Parish Priest at the time. 1847 - In 1846 and 1847 hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants landed in Liverpool to escape the famine, and they swarmed to the poorer quarters of the town. An epidemic of typhus began ("the Great Plague") and at a Vestry Meeting on 8 June 1847 it was reported that 57,701 cases of typhus had been dealt with (compared with 420 cases in the corresponding period of the previous year). Fr Appleton, O.S.B., died of typhus fever contracted whilst administering to the sick on 26 May 1847.A Century and a Half - Notes on St. Peter's (Seel Street) 1788-1938, published 1938 The English Benedictine Congregation History records that "[He] was gradually recovering when contrary to Doctor's orders he very injudiciously took some Whisky which acted like poison on his constitution and terminated his life."Fr Francis Appleton's entry in the English Benedictine Congregation History 1854 - The last burial takes place in St. Peter's vaults. 1856 - Fr Davey, O.S.B. and '400 children' walk in the "Peace Procession" to celebrate the end of the Crimean War. 1864 - The Lady Chapel was built in memory of Fr Benedict Bonney, O.S.B.. 1872 - Fr Scarisbrook, O.S.B. was consecrated Bishop of Mauritius at St. Peter's. 1898 - The Lady Altar is erected to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Fr Anderson's entering the Order of St. Benedict. 1920 - Electric light installed for the first time in the Church and Church redecorated. Funds for this refurbishment were raised by sources including an "extraordinarily successful" Grand Bazaar held 14–16 October 1920. The cost of this work entailed "an outlay of several hundred pounds". This work was undertaken during the period when Fr Basil Primavesi, O.S.B., was Parish Priest. 1934 - Data from the 1934 Parish Census states that there were 622 families in the parish, with a total of 2,823 Catholic "souls" (i.e. people).Liverpool Records Office document number 282/PET/4/5 – "St Peter’s Seel Street, Parish Census Records (1934)" 1938 – On 19 June 1938 St Peter's celebrated its 150th anniversary. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Downey, and hundreds of people attended the event. The streets around St Peter's were extensively decorated to mark this big event as is illustrated by the photos taken by Fr D’Andria and which are now held in the Liverpool Records Office.Photos held in Liverpool Records Office showing decorations to the streets around St Peter’s. References to the photos include photos around 352PSP/32/296/25 et al The photos show that there were very extensive decorations in Pitt Street, the Lydia Ann Flats, and other streets including Seel Street, Sparling Street and Slater Street. 1940-1941 - Fr Louis Joseph D'Andria, O.S.B., writes a series of letters to Fr Kevin Byrne, O.S.B., Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey about life in Liverpool during the Blitz. These letters are subsequently published in the year 2000 by the North West Catholic History Society in a book. Fr D'Andria left St Peter's after the heavy bombing of May 1941.Obituary to Fr Louis D'Andria, O.S.B. Fr D'Andria was active in collecting historical and contemporary material from the St Peter's and the surrounding districts from his arrival in the Parish in 1930. These materials were deposited at the Liverpool Records Office upon his death.The D'Andria Collection of materials in Liverpool Record Office D'Andria was a keen photographer, and at some stage the photos taken by D'Andria of the church and the surrounding districts were separated from the main D'Andria Collection and integrated into the Record Office's general collection of photographs of Liverpool."Coping With The Blitz - St Peter's, Seel Street, Liverpool 1940-41". Letters from Louis Joseph D'Andria O.S.B. to Kevin Herbert Byrne O.S.B. Published by North West Catholic History Society, 2000, and edited by John Davies. . Some more detail is given in the section on The Blitz below. 1962 - Fr Martin Rocheford, O.S.B., deposits the pre-1837 Parish Registers at the Liverpool Records Office.List of St Peter's, Seel Street documents held at The Liverpool Record Office and Local History Service 1976 - transferred to the Polish Community and for a short time was known as Our Lady of Czestochowa. 1978 - The Parish is closed and falls into a period of disuse. 1978 - The Parish records are deposited in the Liverpool Records office by Fr Everest. The Parish Registers were transferred to St. Vincent de Paul's RC Church. 1993 - The Church is deconsecrated. 20 November 2003 - A press release is issued stating that funding has been approved to convert the Grade-II listed building of St Peter's Church into high-specification offices by Urban Splash. Funding is received from the EU (£260k), the North West Development Agency (£190k) and Urban Splash itself (£450k).The Government News Network North West - Press Release November 2003 on development of St Peter's 7 January 2004 - The BBC report that developers have discovered the body of Fr Bede Brewer, O.S.B. in the crypt of St Peter's. Dom Bede Brewer was one of the founding members of Ampleforth College in 1802, and President of English Benedictines.BBC News Report on Fr Brewer's remains being transferred to Ampleforth Abbey The Liverpool Echo also indicate that Ampleforth Abbey was keen to reclaim all of the monastic bodies in St Peter's crypt.Liverpool Echo report on return of Fr Brewer's remains to Ampleforth Abbey - 6 January 2004 2004 - Fr Brewer was reburied at Ampleforth Abbey in July 2004Fr Bede Brewer's entry in the English Benedictine Congregation HistoryYorkshire Post report on return of the bodies of Fr Bede Brewer and other Benedictine Monks to Ampleforth along with the remains of 6 other monks. In total there were 22 bodies in the crypt of St Peter's (8 monks and 14 lay people). In addition to Dom Bede Brewer, the monks reburied at Ampleforth Abbey according to the Yorkshire Post were monks James Calderbank,English Benedictine History Reference for James Calderbank O.S.B. Denis Allerton,English Benedictine History Reference for Denis Allerton O.S.B. Benedict Glover,English Benedictine History Reference for Benedict Glover O.S.B. Francis Fairclough,English Benedictine History Reference for Francis Fairclough O.S.B. Gregory RobinsonEnglish Benedictine History Reference for Gregory Robinson O.S.B. and Joseph Glover.English Benedictine History Reference for Joseph Glover O.S.B. However, St Peter's founder, Fr McDonald, was the first buried in St Peter's crypt and his coffin was not clearly labelled (unlike the seven other monks). Due to this fact and other pressures (such as time) it was not possible to positively identify Fr McDonald's remains, and so he was reburied along with the remains of 14 lay people in Ford Cemetery in Litherland, Merseyside.Private communication with the Archivist at Ampleforth Abbey 2005 - a bar and restaurant, Alma de Cuba, opens in St Peter's Church. 2024 - The former Alma de Cuba reopens as "St Peter's Tavern" by The 1936 Pub Company, owned by Rob Gutmann who had founded Alma de Cuba.https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/opening-date-announced-new-pub-30326080 Opening date announced for new pub in former Alma de Cuba after major transformation

The Blitz St Peter's was damaged a number of times during the Blitz of 1940–1941. One example of the damage can be found in Fr Louis D’Andria's letter of 22 December 1940 to the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey (Fr Kevin H Byrne, O.S.B.). Referring to the previous night D’Andria wrote: ‘To the Guild Room – doors blown in, big balk of timber across the entrance, stairs covered with sticky chemicals and heaps of rubbish…. To sacristy where sacristans were carrying on as usual despite a hole in the sacristy roof, and other damage. In the church Frs. Bruno and Chad were in the gallery examining a hole in the roof on the street side of the organ. Two more holes in the Lady Chapel, and a big stone in the sanctuary which had come through the skylight’.

In D’Andria's letter of 6 May 1941 he recounts events of Sunday 4 May 1941: ‘So it seemed the fire would spread to the church and the house. Bruno said we must clear out so we took the registers etc. into the road….I saw our roof definitely on fire.’

In his letter of 9 May 1941 D’Andria tells Fr Abbot (i.e. Fr Byrne, O.S.B.): ‘Church has notice ‘closed till further notice. Mass on Sunday at [Notre Dame Convent] Mount Pleasant.’ Suggest carrying on at St Peter's but Bruno said it was impossible.’ The Church Notice Book recorded that ‘The church was too wrecked a condition for Mass after the first raids of the first week of May.’ D'Andria went on to quote his Rector, Fr Francis Bruno Dawson, O.S.B. who announced 'No Church, no congregation, no house, no school, no good staying here.'

Masses were eventually restored, with one weekday Mass from 25 May 1941 at 08:00, rising to two Masses the following week, and by 12 June (The Feast of Corpus Christi), three Masses were said."LRO 282 PET. St Peter’s Seel Street Notice Book, 1939-1943. 11, 18, 25 May, 1, 8 and 15 June 1941."