The Reverend Alexander Morden Bennett

The Reverend Alexander Morden Bennett became the first vicar of St. Peter’s Church in 1845. A man of deep religious conviction and with great vision and drive, he possessed a strong sense of mission and dedicated himself to the wellbeing of his parishioners., Morden Bennett's first priority was building a church school, and the foundation for this was laid in 1850. Predicting that Bournemouth would become a large and important town he commissioned the brilliant architect George Edmund Street to design a new church that would match the beauty of the town. Bennett worked tirelessly towards his dream of creating what was then one of the grandest structures in the south of England, beautiful and big enough to cater for larger congregations., Alterations and extensions continued from 1855-1879. During that time Morden Bennett roamed the growing town and commissioned additional churches to meet the needs of the new boroughs as they developed., In December 1879 St Peter's Church, as we know and love it today was finally complete. Sadly, one month later Bennett died.