Around the outside of the church there are several pews.  These pews have been retained following an agreement with Historic England to keep them on show.  They are examples of the kind of seating provided for those attending church services during the period around 1850 to 2024 when most of St Peter’s pews were replaced by the current Trinity wooden chairs. Similar pews were also almost certainly in place prior to 1850. St Peter’s pews extended on both sides of the central aisle, and at one point right up to the Chancel screen, and were mainly of Victorian Gothic-style introduced into the church around 1850.  However, the ones that you can now see are of a later date and are of historic importance simply because they are probably associated with the benefactor who remodeled the church in the 1890s thereby introducing these pews. These pews are less ornate than the pews installed around 1850, and while they are of historic importance they are not of any art-historical importance.

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The photograph was taken in 2018 and shows the pews either side of the central aisle. Pews, including the plainer ones introduced in the 1890s, were also located in the North and South aisles.  Some of the pews either side of the central aisle had to be bolted to the then concrete floor because of safety concerns, as these pews could tilt over unexpectedly. The pews that can be seen in this photograph are of Victorian-Gothic style installed around the 1850s.   According to Dr Charles Tracy (Church furniture specialist) (2014), prior to the 1850s it is most likely that the nave would have been fitted out principally as a preaching space with a mixture of parochial and Georgian box pews.  Further, according to Dr Tracy, there can be no doubt that St Peter’s used a pew rent system in order to prevent overcrowding.

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St Peter’s pews were very largely replaced by wooden chairs in 2024 following consultation with church users and statutory external bodies.  Although the pews presented an impressive frontispiece to the congregational space and gave the church a Victorian air, they were very heavy and largely immovable. This meant that they presented an impediment to the use of the nave for community events and activities which had become more important to St Peter’s and the local community than previously.  Replacing them with easily movable, stackable chairs provided the solution to this increasingly pressing problem.  In making the decision to remove the pews and replace them with chairs, any harm done to the Victorian church had to be carefully weighed against the benefit to today’s church and its future as a community asset. The diocesan Chancellor, whom is the judge of the consistory court of the St Albans diocese, accepted that the benefit outweighed any harm, and therefore approved the removal of the pews. ​