History
St Peter’s has served the English at Château-d’Œx since 1899, and English services were held in the village from 1866. This page gathers what we have published about the church, about the people who came here, and about the other English churches of Switzerland.
St Peter’s, Château-d’Œx
- The history of St Peter’s: services in borrowed rooms from 1866, the church built in 1899, consecrated in 1902 and enlarged in 1911, and its memorial organ.
- Heritage 1866–1919: Janet Daenzer’s account of the parish, from its hotel-lounge beginnings to the First World War.
- St Peter’s original documents: the founding papers, among them the consecration document and the Bishop of London’s letter of commission of 1902.
- The 120th anniversary: photographs of 2 June 2019, with the Bishop in Europe, Robert Innes.
The First World War
In 1916 British prisoners of war, exchanged from German camps, were interned at Château-d’Œx to recover.
- British soldiers at Château-d’Œx, 1916: how the church welcomed them, and the centenary of 2016.
- Eyewitnesses to the internment: a sergeant’s letter, the British Minister’s despatch, the village newspaper and a fiancée’s journey out.
- Private Edward Ford’s postcards: a soldier of the East Surrey Regiment, and fourteen postcards that have come home to St Peter’s.
- The Château-d’Œx press archive: the newspaper reports of 1916–17, transcribed in full.
The English in the Alps
St Peter’s was one of many English churches in Switzerland. These pages tell why the English came and how they lived.
- How the English learned to love the Alps: how dread of the mountains turned to love, and why Victorian families stayed for their health.
- Wintering on the Swiss Riviera: why English invalids wintered at Montreux, and the Swiss who built the hotels and railways.
- Where did the English send their children to school?: the English schools of Vaud, 1845–1975.
- What did the English do all winter?: the English club, curling, skating, hockey and skiing, 1895–1929.
- The Colonial and Continental Church Society: the evangelical society that ran most of the English summer chapels in Swiss hotels.
- The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel: the society that served English chaplaincies in Switzerland from 1863.
The English churches of Switzerland
English Churches in Switzerland tells the story of the English churches from 1816, and lists every church that has a page of its own, canton by canton. Among our neighbours in Vaud:
- All Saints, Vevey, whose chaplain takes our Sunday service.
- St John’s, Montreux, opened in May 1877.
- Les Avants, a chapel that later took the name of St Peter too.
- Leysin, with its English chapel and sanatorium.
Contributing
The archive is being assembled gradually. If you have photographs, documents or memories of St Peter’s or of the Anglican community in the Pays-d’Enhaut, we would be glad to hear from you at info@stpeters.ch.
Questions answered
- When was St. Peter’s Château-d’Œx consecrated?
- On 27 May 1902, by Bishop Thomas Wilkinson, under a commission from Arthur Foley, Bishop of London, dated 10 May 1902. Both documents survive in the parish archive.
- How old is St. Peter’s, and when did the parish begin?
- The church was built in 1899 and consecrated in 1902. English services had been held in the village since 1866, in borrowed rooms. The parish celebrated its 120th anniversary on 2 June 2019.
- What happened at St. Peter’s during the First World War?
- In 1916 British prisoners of war, exchanged from German camps, were interned at Château-d’Œx to recover, and St Peter’s welcomed them. The newspaper reports of the time are transcribed in full in the Château-d’Œx press archive.
- Was St. Peter’s the only English church in Switzerland?
- No. The English built churches and chapels across Switzerland. English Churches in Switzerland lists them canton by canton, from Vaud and Bern to Geneva, the Valais and the Grisons.