Tower former St. Peter's Banden church Church Square 5

In 959 AD, Heraclius was appointed the next bishop of Liège by Otto's brother Bruno (archbishop of Cologne). Bruno granted Heraclius rights over various domains to provide the diocese of Liège with (tax) income, on condition that he would establish St. Peter's churches there. After all, Bruno had a fondness for Saint Peter. He had one of Saint Peter's 'original' bands brought from Rome to Cologne and had existing churches in his diocese dedicated to Saint Peter, as well as founding new ones. Presumably, Son also got a small church in the^10th century.

Shortly after 1400, the small church in Son, which had since been rebuilt in stone, was extended with a small choir. Fifty years later, a new, taller church would be built to replace it. To finance this, in 1445 the Son council obtained permission from Duke Philip the Good to sell 12 acres (+/- 12 hectares) of communal land. The buyer of that land was Adam Marcelis, known as Luwe. The tall replacement for the small, low church in Son was built between 1446 and 1459; the richly decorated tower (including marlstone) was not completed until 1526, with a spire that collapsed during a severe storm in 1800. It was not until 1887 that a new, somewhat lower spire was erected on the instructions of Pastor Dobbelsteen, still considerably higher than the current spire since 1975.

Architect Pierre Cuypers did good business with design commissions for neo-gothic churches in places such as Veghel (1855), Eindhoven (1858) and Ospel (1865). From 1887, Geldrop, Lierop and Uden would also receive a large new church, recognizable by the large dome between nave and choir, designed by architect Carl Weber. 

In this explosion of religious expression in the second half of the^19th century, the jealous Sonse pastor Dobbelsteen wanted to get rid of what he considered to be the outdated and gloomy appearance of the church here. From 1860 onwards, the interior was completely stripped; the ancient low choir (dating from well before 1445) was raised, pillars were decoratively carved, and the roof beam construction was covered with cross vaults made of wood, plaster, straw, and lime. The entire church was painted in white, gray, green, and red; decorated with a large number of wooden statues of saints; a large, richly decorated high altar; a beautiful carved wooden pulpit; a Mary altar and a Cornelius altar. Not exactly fireproof, but a feast for the eyes and still able to accommodate 250 worshippers—which was sufficient for the population at that time.

After the devastating fire on December 29, 1958, and the demolition of the nave and choir in 1966, only the tower remained, which was restored in 1974-1975.

Since then, the tower has housed a carillon of 50 bells, which is played several times a week by a carillonneur. Every quarter of an hour, the automatic playing mechanism sounds.

Behind the tower, the pavement shows the outline of the church.