From 1904 the Cannonesses of St. Augustine were at Tower House (now St. Augustine's Conference Centre), the Catholics living in Westgate were allowed the privilege of attending Mass at the sisters beautiful chapel, instead of going to the parish church of SS Austin & Gregory in Margate. By 1935 the numbers attending mass at the convent, swelled in summer months by the many visitor, was so great that it was clear, as Bishop Peter Amigo stated in his canonical visitations, that the people of westgate needed their own church and parish.

In 1937 the new parish acquired Westgate House with its five acres of land, sited on the main Canterbury Road and in the centre of the parish. Work began on adapting the main house for use as a temporary church. Seven rooms were made into one large open space giving a two-storey sanctuary, a transept, and two galleries, with seating for one hundred and fifty people. On Sunday, 4 July, the Right Reverend Adrian Taylor, Abbot of St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, opened the church with a celebration of Pontifical Mass.

With the outbreak of war in 1939 the local population dwindled. Mass was still said at the temporary church, but only once on Sundays and one during the week. As the church was serviced by the monks from Ramsgate the church stood desolate most of the time. Bombs and and mines exploding in the vicinity of the building shook down ceilings, broke windows and roof slates; the drainage system froze cracking the pipes and directing rainfall into the building. So began the long fight to overcome rapidly spreading dry-rot.

In 1958 when an end to the mortgage and its interest payments could, all be it vaguely, be seen. A generous donor paid off the remaining debt and the way was now clear to start a fund for a desperately needed new church. At times there was over three hundred people using the church; adding to the problems caused by the deteriorating fabric of the building.

Another act of providence – when the need was greatest – was the sale of two acres of the land in which the church stood. The price gained was almost half the cost of a new church.

An architect, Mr. John Clague, of Canterbury, was appointed. The parish priest was consulted and stated his requirements for a church in which the services and sacraments could be performed with reverence. Special attention was to be paid to making the building weather-proof, especially regarding the problems of sea air oxidising metal surfaces and to the chill winds which can frustrate attempts to heat a large building. The nave of the new church building was to be 90 ft long by 42 ft wide. A Lady Chapel and sacristy rooms were sited either side of the nave with a baptistry and repository each side of the main entrance, above these was a gallery where the organ is now located.

Construction of the new building began in February 1963 and advanced at a smooth pace. On 7 July, 1963, the structure was advanced enough for Right Reverend David Parry, Abbot of St. Augustine's Abbey to lay the Foundation Stone.

The Church of St. Peter was formally opened for worship on 11 May, 1964, by His Lordship Cyril Cowderoy, Bishop of Southwark. The total cost of the building, including site work was, according to contemporary records, £44,000.

The parish in 1964 was still served, like all the Thanet parishes, by Benedictine priests who, while living in the parish, were part of the Benedictine community of Ramsgate Abbey. Reverend Father L. Dunstan Prangell, OSB, was parish priest at the time the new church was opened. He was still at St Peter's when the new presbytery was built in 1981.

The parish was handed over to the Diocese in 1984 and Fr. James Hurley succeeded Fr. Aidan McArdle OSB. On 1 January, 1988, Fr. Michael Chapman became Parish Priest and he retired in 1995. Fr. John Slater was appointed to the parish and began his appointment on 1 October, 1996.

Westgate House – the temporary church

The sanctuary of the temporary church

Bishop Cyril Cowderoy's opening Mass

The Lady Chapel of the new Church

PARISH PRIESTS WHO SERVED IN WESTGATE