St James' Presbyterian Church of England, Bristol

Last updated

The remains of the church in 2011 St James' Presbyterian Church, Bristol 2011.JPG
The remains of the church in 2011
Record of a christening a few hours before the church was bombed StJamesPresbyterianCofEBristoldaybombed.jpg
Record of a christening a few hours before the church was bombed

St James' Presbyterian Church (also known as Welsh Congregational Church) was a church in The Haymarket, St James, Bristol, England.

History

The church was built in 1859. [1] [2] It was destroyed during The Blitz in World War II. In around 1953, St James's Presbyterian in Romney Avenue, Lockleaze was built. [3]

In 1897, the church hosted a synod of the Presbyterian Church of England in order to commemorate Rev. William C. Burns becoming the church's first missionary to China when he arrived there in 1847. The moderator of the synod was Rev. H. L. Mackenzie, who spoke at length about his experiences over nearly four decades at the Presbyterian Church of England's Swatow Mission in China. [4] [5]

The remains of the Victorian-era St James' Church are just south of the current Bristol coach station. The church was bombed in the evening of 24 November 1940 [6] [7] [8] and partly restored as a chapel in 1957. The tower still remains but the nave has been converted to offices. [3]

In 1957, the church tower and lower doors were used as the walls of a courtyard for a small Welsh Congregational chapel designed by Eustace Button, who designed a number of churches in the area. This small chapel lay across the old church, with the old halls at the rear. The Eustace Button church was low with tip-up seats and a wide open-span ceiling. The Welsh congregation moved here from the Castle Street area where their chapel had been destroyed during bombing and not rebuilt. The Welsh Congregation closed the chapel in 1988 – the adjacent hall was in an appalling state of repair. The Victorian tower and doors were incorporated in the office development and the 1957 chapel and Victorian hall were demolished. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presbyterianism</span> Branch of Protestant Christianity in which the church is governed by presbyters (elders)

Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the presbyterian form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Many Reformed churches are organised this way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalized, is often applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that formed during the English Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Reformed Church</span> Christian church organisation in the United Kingdom

The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it had approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Cathedral</span> Church in Bristol, England

Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St Augustine, founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148. It became the cathedral of the new diocese of Bristol in 1542, after the dissolution of the monasteries. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland</span> Irish Christian denomination

The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland is a non-creedal Christian denomination, which maintains a great emphasis on individual conscience in matters of Christian faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, Liverpool</span> Church in Liverpool, England

The Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas is the Anglican parish church of Liverpool. The site is said to have been a place of worship since at least the 1250s. The church is situated close to the River Mersey near the Pier Head. The Chapel of St Nicholas was built on the site of St Mary del Quay, which in 1355 was determined to be too small for the growing borough of Liverpool. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redland, Bristol</span> Human settlement in England

Redland is a neighbourhood in Bristol, England. The neighbourhood is situated between Clifton, Cotham, Bishopston and Westbury Park. The boundaries of the district are not precisely defined, but are generally taken to be Whiteladies Road in the west, the Severn Beach railway line in the south and Cranbrook Road in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary le Port Church, Bristol</span> Building in Bristol, England

St Mary le Port is a ruined parish church in the centre of Bristol, England, situated in Castle Park on what remains of Mary le Port Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Church, Bristol</span> Building in Bristol, England

Temple Church, also known as Holy Cross Church, is a ruined church in Redcliffe, Bristol, England. It is on the site of a previous, round church of the Knights Templar, which they built on land granted to them in the second quarter of the 12th century by Robert of Gloucester. In 1313 the Knights Hospitaller acquired the church, following the suppression of the Templars, only to lose it in 1540 at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. By the early 14th century, the church served as the parish church for the area known as Temple Fee. From around the same time, the rebuilding of the church on a rectangular plan started. This was completed by 1460, with the construction of a leaning west tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churches in Colchester</span>

Colchester in Essex, England, has a number of notable churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avenue St Andrew's United Reformed Church</span>

Avenue St. Andrew's is a United Reformed Church in Southampton, England. Part of the church building is Grade II listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rushworth and Dreaper</span> English organ builders

Rushworth and Dreaper was a firm of organ builders, and later general instrument suppliers associated with Paul McCartney based in Liverpool. The manufacturer was founded in 1828 by William Rushworth, operating until 2002. Upon its liquidation, its archives were mostly destroyed, and the Victorian clock in the works tower was removed. The premises are now occupied by Henry Willis & Sons.

W. & G. Audsley was the architectural practice founded in Liverpool, UK, by Scottish Brothers William James Audsley and George Ashdown Audsley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church</span> Church in East Sussex, United Kingdom

St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church is a former Congregational church in St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the town and borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Considered "one of the most ambitious Nonconformist buildings in Sussex", the sandstone building of 1863 forms a significant landmark on one of the Victorian resort's main roads—despite the loss of its copper spire in the Great Storm of 1987. Unlike most churches of its denomination, it did not join the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972. It fell out of religious use in 2008 and had stood empty and was at risk of demolition. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance. Bought by a new owner in 2012 it was almost completely renovated, but was then sold again in 2019. The new owner plans to open the church to the public as an arts and antiques centre with a cafe in the tower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Luke's United Reformed Church, Silverhill, Hastings</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

St Luke's Church is a United Reformed church in the Silverhill suburb of Hastings, a town and borough in East Sussex, England. The congregation was originally independent before taking up Presbyterianism, and worshipped in a private house from its founding in 1853 until a permanent church was provided in 1857; this was one of the oldest Presbyterian places of worship in southeast England. The growth of the community has resulted in several extensions since then, and severe damage caused by the Great Storm of 1987 was quickly repaired—except for the loss of the building's distinctive spire. The church, along with most other Presbyterian congregations, joined the United Reformed Church when that denomination was formed in 1972. It is one of four United Reformed Churches in the borough of Hastings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Reformed Church, Stamford</span>

The United Reformed Church is a congregation in Stamford, Lincolnshire, based in a late-Georgian building situated on Star Lane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godalming Congregational Church</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

The building formerly known as Godalming Congregational Church was the Congregational chapel serving the ancient town of Godalming, in the English county of Surrey, between 1868 and 1977. It superseded an earlier chapel, which became Godalming's Salvation Army hall, and served a congregation which could trace its origins to the early 18th century. The "imposing suite of buildings", on a major corner site next to the Town Bridge over the River Wey, included a schoolroom and a manse, and the chapel had a landmark spire until just before its closure in 1977. At that time the congregation transferred to the nearby Methodist chapel, which became a joint Methodist and United Reformed church with the name Godalming United Church. The former chapel then became an auction gallery before being converted into a restaurant; then in 2018 the premises were let to the Cotswold Company to be converted into a furniture and home accessories showroom. In 1991 the former chapel was listed at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weybridge United Reformed Church</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

The Weybridge United Reformed Church situate at Queen's Road, Weybridge, near to its junction with York Road, is a Victorian Grade II Listed church building that is now no longer used as a place of worship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winchester United Church</span> Church in Hampshire , United Kingdom

Winchester United Church is a joint United Reformed and Methodist church in the centre of the city of Winchester in the English county of Hampshire. Built between 1852 and 1853 to the Gothic Revival design of architects Poulton and Woodman for a congregation which had its origins nearly 200 years earlier, it is "incongruously set within the northern part of the former county jail", which had recently moved to a new site. Since 1974 the congregation has been a joint United Reformed and Methodist one, as the city's two Methodist chapels closed, the congregations merged and worship was concentrated on the one site. Historic England has designated the church a Grade II listed building for its architectural and historical importance.

References

  1. "Welsh Congregational Church (partly Demolished), St James, Bristol". Churches Database. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  2. "Churches St James". About Bristol. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Welsh Congregational Church (partly Demolished), St James, Bristol". churchdb. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  4. "Two Mission Jubilees". Medical Missions at Home and Abroad. 1 February 1897. p. 243.
  5. Mellis, James (1 June 1897). "Synod of the Presbyterian Church of England". The Free Church of Scotland Monthly. p. 145.
  6. Bristol Record Office accession 44394
  7. Photo of the gutted nave by the Bristol Evening Post newspaper held in the Bristol Records Office
  8. Blitz over Britain by Edwin Webb and John Duncan, 1990, ISBN   0-946771-89-8. p. 86

51°27′31″N2°35′31″W / 51.4587°N 2.5920°W / 51.4587; -2.5920