Belper: St Peter's Church to mark 200th anniversary

The anniversary service will be held at St Peter's Church at 15:00 GMT

A special service is being held at a church in Belper to celebrate 200 years since the start of its construction.

St Peter's Church was one of dozens of to be built by the government after victory at the Battle of Waterloo.

The foundation stone, thought to contain items from the time, was laid by the Duke of Devonshire in 1822.

Efforts to find the original stone ahead of the anniversary have not been successful but a new time capsule will be hidden during the service.

The foundation stone for St Peter's Church was laid on 31 October 1822 and the church was opened two years later.

Rev Anne Stratton, who has been at the church since 2010, said it had been the "heart of the community" throughout its 200 years.

"It's very important, it stands up on the hill, people can see it from a long way away, so people do see it as their church," she said.

Efforts to find the foundation stone ahead of the anniversary have not been successful

Rev Stratton said the original foundation stone was reported to have been hollowed out and filled with a glass vessel containing coins from the time.

The church has gone to extreme efforts to find the stone - including cavers going into the tunnel under the nave - but its whereabout is still unknown.

The anniversary service will be held at the church at 15:00 GMT.

It is expected to be attended by Bishop Libby Lane, local MP Pauline Latham and other dignitaries including the current Duke of Devonshire.

He will be recreating proceedings by his ancestor by helping to insert a new time capsule into the wall behind the altar.

This will be marked with a plaque for future generations to find.