St Peters Close SP2, St Peters Road SP1

Both St Peters Close in Wilton and St Peters Road in Salisbury are part of estates where the road names are themed around saints.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia ¹, there were twelve Saint Peters:
# Sts. Peter Baptist – a 16th century Franciscan who died in Japan
# St. Peter Chrysologus – Bishop of Ravenna from 433 AD
# St. Peter Damian – 11th Century Bishop of Ostia, and a Doctor of the Church
# St. Peter de Regalado – a Friar at Aguilera in the 15th century
# St. Peter Fourier – a scholar and Church reformer from Lorraine. He died in 1640
# St. Peter of Alcántara – 16th Century Spanish Franciscan. Patron saint of Brazil.
# St. Peter of Alexandria – bishop of Alexandria from AD300 until his maryterdom in AD311.
# St. Peter of Arbues – worked under Thomas Torquemada as provincial inquisitor in the Kingdom of Aragon. Killed in 1485.
# St. Peter of Sebaste – 5th Century Bishop of Sebaste in Armenia.
# St. Peter of Verona – born in 1206 to Manichaeen parents, he preached against the Manichaeens, but was murdered by some Manichaeens who he had offended in 1252.
# St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles – apostle, first pope
# St. Peter Urseolus – 10th Century Doge of Venice

However, with due respect to all twelve of these saints, it seems more than likely that both St. Peter’s Close and St. Peter’s Road are named after Saint Peter the Apostle.

Saint Peter was the first pope – ‘the rock upon whom Jesus founded His church’. He was also “keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven” ² – he is typically portrayed holding keys.

The Cross Keys Chequer in Salisbury would probably have been named after a pub called the Cross Keys, which would have symbolized Saint Peter – inn-keepers were careful to align themselves with the Church or the state – and would also have been easy to paint on or make as a pub sign.

Footnotes

1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Volume 11 [↩]
2. Matthew 16:19 [↩]