St Peter's Church, known as Bolton Parish Church, stands on Churchgate in the town centre on a site that has held a place of Christian worship since the medieval period. The current building dates primarily from the 1860s — a Victorian Gothic reconstruction that replaced an earlier structure — though it incorporates fragments and elements from the older church. The exterior, in Perpendicular Gothic style, is built from the same warm sandstone that characterises much of Bolton's Victorian civic architecture.
The interior is spacious and well-proportioned, with a high nave and good Victorian stained glass. The church serves as something of a pivot for the historic town centre, its tower visible from several approaches and the churchyard providing a quiet space surrounded by the commercial streets. Samuel Crompton, the inventor of the spinning mule who lived and worked in Bolton, is commemorated here; his baptismal record is among the church's historical documents, and a plaque marks his connection to the parish. The church is open during the day and functions as both an active parish and a heritage site.