St Peter's Church and churchyard occupied an area between Liverpool's Church Street and School Lane, its grounds bounded to the east and west by Church Alley and Church Lane (Church Lane has since been built over and no longer exists). It was consecrated in 1704, for some time acted as a Parish Church, and in 1880 became Liverpool's pro-cathedral. The last burial took place in St Peter's graveyard in 1853.

In 1868, to accommodate the widening of Church Street, some 327 marked graves were exhumed. During this process it was estimated that the remains of at least 2,000 individuals were discovered, although due to the muddy nature of the ground little remained but fragments in most cases. The contents of every grave were re-interred at Anfield Cemetery, as was the earth that had contained them.

With the beginning of work on the new Liverpool Cathedral on St James's Mount in 1904, plans were made for the demolition of St Peter's; proceeds from the sale of the land to go towards the cost of the new cathedral. With the Lady Chapel of the cathedral complete in 1910, the final service took place at St Peter's in 1919, and demolition work commenced in 1922.

Alongside the demolition in 1922, the remaining burials were removed and re-interred in the cemetery at Rice Lane Walton. Registers showed there had been a total of 43,847 burials at St Peter's, including those already removed in 1868.

Following the demolition and the further widening of Church Street, a new flagship store was built by F.W. Woolworth in 1923, opposite the site of their first ever shop on the other side of Church Street. The building still exists and now forms the Church Street frontage and entrance to the Liverpool One retail and leisure development. All that remains to show that the church was there is a bronze cross set into the pavement, in the approximate location of the church's entrance (not, as is often mis-stated, the altar).

Main sources: Journals of the Historic Society of Lancashire & Cheshire, Vol 74 (1922) "Reliquiae of St Peter's Church, Liverpool" and the Liverpool Mercury, February 18th 1868.