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Gloucester, Gloucestershire

Historical Description

Gloucester (popularly Gloster), a city and a parliamentary, municipal, and county borough, the head of a poor-law union and county court district, a port, and the seat of a bishopric. The city stands on the river Severn and on Ermine Street, 7 miles SW of Cheltenham, 17 NW of Cirencester, 26½ S of Worcester, 32 SE of Hereford, 37½ NNE of Bristol, and 114 by rail from London. The Severn is navigable past it, a ship-canal gives aid to its commerce, a canal connects it with the Thames, and the Bristol and Birmingham branch of the M.R., and the South Wales branch of the G.W.R., give it communication with all parts of the kingdom.

History
Site and Structure
Public Buildings
The Cathedral
Ancient Monasteries
Parishes and Churches
Schools and Institutions
Trade &c.
The Borough


Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyGloucestershire 
HundredDudstone and Kings Barton 
Poor Law unionGloucester 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The Cathedral registers date from the year 1661.

The register of St. Aldate dates from the year 1571, but is not continuous.

The register of St. Catherine's dates from the year 1687.

The register of St. John the Baptist dates from the year 1560.

The register of St. Mary-de-Crypt dates from the year 1653, and contains the entry of the baptism of Mr. Raikes and various entries relating to his family.

The register of St. Mary-de-Lode dates from the year 1557.

The register of St. Michael's dates from the year 1553.

The register of St. Nicholas dates from the year 1558.

The register of St. Luke's dates from the year 1841.

The registers of All Saints' date from the year 1875.

The register of Christ Church dates from the year 1823.

The register of St. James' dates from the year 1841.

The register of St. Mark's dates from the year 1847.

The register of St. Paul's dates from the year 1884.

The Gloucestershire Parish Registers are available online at Ancestry, in association with Gloucestershire Archives.


Churches

Church of England

All Saints, Lower Barton Street

All Saints' church, in Lower Barton street, erected in 1875, is a building of stone in the Decorated style, erected from designs by the late Sir Gilbert Scott R.A. at a cost of about £8000, a considerable portion of which was given by the family of the Rev. T. Hedley, first vicar of the parish, and consists of chancel with south aisle, nave of four bays and aisles; there are five stained windows: in 1887 a large vestry or church room was added on the north side: there are 701 sittings.

Cathedral of Holy Trinity

The Cathedral of Holy Trinity was from 1022 till 1539 the church of the Benedictine mitred abbey of St. Peter, which had replaced an establishment of secular canons founded about 821 by Beornulf of Mercia. It is a magnificent structure, embracing, in varied and elegant designs, combined with singular ability and taste, examples of the different styles of ecclesiastical architecture which prevailed between the latter part of the 11th and the early part of the 16th century: it consists of a nave of nine bays with aisles and south porch, transepts with eastern apsidal chapels, choir of five very unequal bays, with aisles and eastern semicircular ambulatory, opening on either side into polygonal chapels, a cruciform lady chapel projecting eastwards from the ambulatory, and a superb central tower of two storeys, containing 8 bells and the clock bell, called "Great Peter," which used to be rung up for service by six men standing in the choir, but this practice was discontinued by order of the Chapter April 2nd, 1857: on the north side are the cloisters, reached at the south-west angle by a narrow passage or slype, and attached to the eastern alley is the rectangular chapter house, between which and the north transept is the abbot's, or lesser, cloister. The early Benedictine minster, having been completed, was consecrated October 7, 1058, but, in consequence of serious injury by fire in 1088, was rebuilt by Abbot Serlo, and consecrated anew July 15, 1100: in 1122, and in four subsequent years, fires again occurred, but on September 16, 1237, the church was dedicated to St. Peter by Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester: between 1228-43 the vaulting of the nave was finished, and the misereres of the choir executed by the monks' own hands: the south aisle of the nave was built in 1318 by Abbot Thokey, during whose abbacy the body of King Edward II. which had been refused interment by the abbeys of Malmesbury, Kingswood and Bristol, was reverently brought hither from Berkeley, and buried in the church: this event led to a great increase in the revenues of the abbey, and enabled the abbot to begin a series of works which now form some of the most interesting portions of the fabric: under Abbot Wigmore (1329-37) the Norman walls of the south transept, or St. Andrew's aisle, were cased with tracery in the Earliest Perpendicular style: the vaulting of the choir, with the stalls on the prior's side, was carried out by Adam de Stanton (1337-51), and the succeeding abbot, Horton, erected the lower part of the tower, the stalls on the abbot's side and the presbytery: be also cased the north transept, or St. Paul's aisle, and in 1375 began the cloisters: the west front, south porch and two western bays of the nave were the work of Abbot Morwent (1420-37): the central tower, continued on Horton's work by Abbot Seabrooke (1450-7), was finished by Robert Tully, afterwards Bishop of St. David's: the lady chapel, begun by Henley, abbot, 1457-72, was completed by Abbot Farley before 1498, and the cloisters were finished by Walter Frocester, abbot, 1381-1412: the sedilia and tiling date from 1455-76: the ground plan of the Norman church, with the addition of the lady chapel and cloisters, still remains to a great extent as in the early part of the 12th century, and the various portions of this date belong either to the church erected by Abbot Serlo or to the reconstructions eftected after the fire of 1122; but the most remarkable architectural characteristic of the building is the extremely skilful and unique manner in which the Norman portion of the transepts and choir have been recased and altered, affording the finest existing specimen of very Early or "anticipative" Perpendicular.

The nave consists of nine bays, all of which, with the exception of the two westernmost, are Norman to the top of the triforium, which has two arches in each bay, subdivided into four smaller ones: the lofty circular piers, thirty feet in height and six in diameter, support bold round arches enriched with zigzag ornament; the existing groined vaulting was erected and the clerestory reconstructed after the fire which destroyed the Norman wood roof, but some traces of the original Norman clerestory still remain: the Early English vaulting springs from Purbeck marble shafts, and is plain quadripartite, with a central rib, and bosses at the intersections: the two western bays are Perpendicular, and were the work of Abbot Morwent, who entirely removed the Norman west front, which had two towers or turrets, rebuilt in the Early English period: the westernmost bay is wider and its arch higher than the other; there is no triforium to either, but the clerestory is continued and the vaulting enriched with lierne work and bosses of foliage: the great west window of nine lights is a memorial to Dr. James Henry Monk, Bishop of Gloucester from 1830 to 1836, and of the united sees of Gloucester and Bristol from 1836 to 1856, and was erected in 1858 at the sole expense of the late Rev. Thomas Murray Browne, hon. canon of Gloucester: the space below the window is occupied by a plum doorway, with panelled arcading on either side, and above a string of quatrefoils. The north aisle corresponds architecturally to the nave, but its Late Norman window openings, with their zigzag mouldings and side shafts, are filled with Perpendicular tracery, continued on the wall below, along which runs a stone bench; at either end of this aisle is a fine processional doorway opening into the cloisters; that at the west end, which has a crocketed canopy and panelling, being for the monks, and the other, in the easternmost bay, for the abbot: the ribbed vaulting of this aisle is Norman: at the west end is a stained window, erected in 1862, and depicting the story of the British King Lucius, who is traditionally said to have been buried in the church of St. Mary de Lode: the remaining windows, all of which are stained, include two of ancient date, lately restored. The south aisle was recast, refaced and groined in 1318, in the Early Decorated style, by Abbot Thokey, but the interior and some portion of the interior Norman wall, with its half piers, remains: all the windows are stained, and of these one represents the coronation of Henry III. in Gloucester cathedral, and another, various scenes from the closing years of the life of Edward II.; the two western bays are the work of Abbot Morwent, and include the south porch, which is of two stages, with six canopied niches above the doorway, angle turrets and a pierced embattled parapet of rich workmanship.

In the transepts, both within and without, the original outline of the Norman work is complete, and the eastern transeptal chapels, rising into the triforium, unite with the choir aisles: the open screen work or traceried panelling which now covers the walls was added in the 14th century, but whereas at Winchester the walls were re-cased anew with Perpendicular masonry, here they were allowed to remain intact, and the later work was laid upon them, the forms of the arches being changed from round to pointed, although in the triforium the Norman arches remain: this change, it appears, was first begun in the south transept, for the character of the work there is distinctly of the Transitional period between Decorated and Perpendicular: below the windows runs an open arcade, and at the south-west angle is a Norman staircase turret leading upwards to the triforium: on the south side are two doorways, now blocked, one of which has mutilated figures of armed warders at the sides: the eastern entrances to the presbytery and crypt are pierced through a screen, and over the latter is a bracket for an image and two lights, shaped like a mason's square and supported by two figures of workmen: the roof has plain lierne vaulting without bosses: the north transept, by the angularity of its mouldings, and the greater richness of the roof, up to which the mullions are continued, shows that at the time of its refacing the development of the Perpendicular style was complete: against the north wall is an Early English structure, in three arched compartments, with a doorway in the centre and windows on either side, enriched with foliage and shafts of Purbeck marble: the interior is groined, and is said to have been used as a reliquary or treasury: on the east side seven steps lead up to a chapel with a Perpendicular reredos, and on the south side, under the tower arch, is a screen of the same date inclosing what was once a chapel, but is now a vestry; both transeptal chapels have double piscinae; the north transept has also a fine memorial window erected by Lord St. Aldwyn to Caroline Susan (Elwes), his first wife, who died August 14, 1865: a handsome clock was placed in the north transept in 1905 by the Price family in memory of the Rev. Canon Bartholomew Price D.D. late master of Pembroke College, Oxford: St. Andrew's chapel, on the south side, is beautifully decorated with frescoes, designed and chiefly executed by the late T. Gambier Parry esq. of Highnam Court, to whose memory the large window on the west side of the south transept was filled with stained glass in 1889; below this window is a monument to the late Barwick Lloyd Baker esq. of Hardwicke Court, and founder of the first reformatory for boys; on the north side is a brass to His Honor the late Judge Sumner M.A. d. 1885.

The choir, as in most Norman churches, extends one bay into the nave, and is separated from it by a heavy organ screen, erected by Dr. Griffiths in 1820; the organ, built by Harris in 1670, was improved by Willis in 1847, and again renovated in 1889 at a cost of £1,000: the whole of the choir walls are overlaid with traceried panelling and screen work, covering, but still preserving, the outline of the Norman arches and rising to the vault, which is supported on clustered shafts disposed at intervals, and spreads out into a lierne grained roof of exquisite lightness and grace: the arches of the tower are filled with drop tracery, and the vaulting being much higher than the roof of the nave, admits of a western window, through which the setting sun finely illuminates the elaborate vaulting of the choir: on either side of the window are niches, and over the arch a legend. The choir stalls, sixty-two in number, are of Perpendicular date, with rich projecting canopies, the northern range being the work of Abbot Staunton, and those on the south side of Abbot Horton: the carved misericords represent knightly deeds, the foresters' craft and grotesques: on the south side are four sedilia, which, together with the heraldic tiling of the sacrarium, which displays armorial bearings of the Plantagenets, Clares and Despensers, are probably of the early 16th century; the east end of the original Norman choir was semicircular, but in order to insert the great east window the two easternmost bays were removed and the walls made to slope outwards, and the window, 72 by 38 feet, the largest in England, consequently extends beyond the side walls which appear to contain it: the exquisite stained glass inserted in 1348-50, represents the coronation or the Virgin, and the introduction in the lower lights of the arms of lords and knights connected with this county who served in the French campaign of 1346, leads to the inference that it was presented by Thomas, first Lord Bradestone, a knight banneret, and governor of Berkeley Castle, who died in 1360: the stone work of the whole window was repaired in 1862 at a cost of £1,400, and the glass releaded at a further expense of £600, under the superintendence of Mr. Winston: the windows of the choir clerestory are of the same date as the east window, and partially contain figures and canopies: the floor is of marble and encaustic tiles, and is illustrative of subjects from the Old Testament; a reredos, the gift of the Freemasons of the Province, was erected from designs by the late Sir G. G. Scott R.A. in 1873; it is divided into three principal compartments, in which are groups of figures representing the Nativity, the Entombment and the Ascension of Our Saviour; figures of Moses, St. Peter, St. Paul and David occupy the minor niches at the sides of these compartments, and in the small niches above are nine figures of angels bearing the emblems of Our Lord's Passion; and about 1894 it was splendidly coloured and gilt: the magnificent altar cloth was worked and presented by several ladies in the county: the north choir aisle is Norman, of the same date as the choir, the low massive piers of which are here well seen, but the windows are insertions of the Perpendicular period; at the north-east angle of this aisle is an apsidal chapel, converted into a memorial to Abbot Boteler (1437-50), and inclosed by a Perpendicular screen; it has an elaborate reredos of the same date, with niches and canopies, containing figures of the Apostles', and shields of arms of benefactors to the monastery, all enriched with colour; at the west end of the aisle is a stone lectern: the south choir aisle resembles the preceding in its general features, but the corresponding south-eastern chapel retains a larger proportion of its original Norman work; the triforium of the choir, reached by staircases at the north-west and south-west angles of the transepts, originally extended completely round the choir; it is of Late Norman character, modified by alterations made during the Decorated period: the apsidal chapels of the transepts, and those of the east end of the choir aisles, have all correspending chapels in the triforium above them and as there are precisely similar chapels in the crypt, there are here, as it were, three churches one over the other: the chapel over that of the south transept has Decorated windows and a double piscina and canopied brackets, of the same period: the south-east and north-east triforium chapels are both Norman, with later windows, and in that adjoining the north transept is a beautiful double piscina: at the back of the ambulatory is the vestibule of the Lady chapel, constructed out of the eastern Norman chapel, which, on the conversion of the choir and the erection of the great window, was allowed to remain almost entire, both in the triforium and below; it is vaulted and has cruciform pendants; in place of the removed eastern triforium, there is now a passage, running across the window and carried on two bridges: the wonderful acoustic properties of this passage, which drew forth the admiration of Lord Bacon, have procured for it the name of the "Whispering Gallery," since the lowest whisper, or the slightest movement, is distinctly heard from one end to the other, the total length being 75 feet, width 3 feet, and height 8 feet; in the centre, above the vestibule, it opens into a chapel, which formed part of the eastern triforium chapel, altered on the erection of the Lady chapel, into which it looks.The crypt, which dates from 1089-1100, and is entered from the south transept, extends under the whole of the choir. its aisles and chapels, and under those of the transepts; it was first restored in 1847 by Mr. F. S. Waller, when the first restorations were begun by Dr. Francis Jeune, canon and treasurer, and subsequently Bishop of Peterborough, 1864-8, and consists of a central rportion, encircled by massive piers and arches, and surrounded by an ambulatory opening into the various chapels; the central portion is divided longitudinally by two rows of small columns, from which springs the groining supporting the floor of the choir; the vaulting of the ambulatory is enriched in some parts with zig-zag mouldings, and springs from semi-circular pillars, built round the earlier piers: all the chapels have remains of altars and piscinae; the walls, about 10 feet thick, are pierced by small splayed windows, now glazed, and the interior has teen cleared of soil and the original floor of rough concrete laid open.

The monuments in the cathedral include a mutilated effigy of an abbot, probably Foliot; the superb canopied tomb, with alabaster effigy of King Edward II. murdered at Berkeley Castle, Sept. 21, 1327 (tomb repaired by Oriel College, Oxford, in 1737, 1789 and 1798); chantry, containing effigy of Abbot Seabroke, ob. 1457; effigies of a knight and lady, brought from Llanthony Abbey, believed to represent members of the Brydges family, early 15th century; 7-panelled altar-like chest or cenotaph of oak, with recumbent oaken effigy, to Robert Curthose, eldest son of the Conqueror, who died in 1134, and was buried in the chapter house: chantry, with effigy of Abbot Parker, ob. 1539; altar-tomb, repaired in 1648, to Thomas Fitzwilliams, 1579; monument of Elizabethan character to Richard Pates, 1588; a high tomb, with effigy, crowned and carrying the model of a church in the left hand, under a canopy of Perpendicular date, to Osric, the reputed founder of the abbey, 681, erected, it is said, in the time of Abbot Parker (1515-39); (this tomb was opened about 1894 and the legend of its being a cenotaph refuted, the coffin with some remains being found within it); altar-tomb, with effigy, to Bishop Godfrey Goldsborough, 1604; memorial to Thomas Machen, alderman, of Gloucester, ob. 1614; high tomb, with alabaster effigies, to Alderman Blackleech, 1639, and Gertrude, his wife; monument with effigy to Elizabeth (Williams) daughter of Bishop Smith, 1622; another to Bishop Nicholson, 1671; life-sized statue to Sir John Powell kt. judge, 1713; monument by Sievier, to Sir John Onesiphorus Paul, 1820; one by Rickman, to the Rev. Richard Raikes, son of Robert Raikes, founder of Sunday schools, 1823; a statue by Sievier, to Dr. Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination, 1823; one by Flaxman, to Mrs. Morley, 1784; and others to John Jones, registrar to several bishops, alderman and thrice mayor, 1630; and John Bower, 1615, and family; and in the north aisle of the nave is a memorial to Canon Tinling, d. 1897: several portions of the cathedral retain remains of ancient decoration in colour; the capitals of the piers in the choir display the white hart lodged, the badge of Richard II.; in the trirorium is a panel painting of the "Last Judgment," of the 16th century.

The cloisters (135I-1412), begun by Abbot Horton and completed by Abbot Frocester, are the very finest in England, both for extent and the elaborate character of the tracery which adorns them; the north and south alleys are 144 feet in length, the east and west aisles being 147 feet; the general width about 12 feet and the height 18 feet; the walls are panelled and the spacious window filled with Perpendicular tracery; in 1897 the north and west alleys underwent a thorough repair; the magnificent fan-vaulted roof, the earliest existing specimen in the country, is covered with panelled graining, highly enriched; each alley is divided into ten bays or compartments, and in the southern alley are the "Carols," a series of arched and embattled recesses, twenty in number, running below the main windows; these were intended as places for writing, illuminating or study, and each has a small window of its own: on the north side are the lavatories, which are also fan-vaulted and project into the cloister-garth; under the windows runs a long trough for water, once supplied from Robins Wood hill, and opposite, in the cloister wall, is a recess for towels: in the east walk are memorial windows to the Rev. H. Burrup, John Plumptree D.D. a former dean of Gloucester, Archdeacon Timbrell, Dean Rice, the Rev. Thomas Evans D.D. Miss Mary Davies, Dr Claxson, Dean Luxmoore, Archdeacon Wetherell and the Rev. Canon Bankes. The Dean's garden, within the cloisters, was laid out afresh about 1897, and replanted by Dean Spence-Jones. The original monastic well of the 14th century and other early medireval work also within the cloisters has now been uncovered. The chapter house, entered from the east walk, is a rectangular Norman structure, erected 1088-95, and consists of four bays, three of which are Norman, and the easternmost Perpendicular; the Norman portion is arcaded, and the roof forms a pointed arch, with bold vaulting ribs dividing each bay: at the west end is an enriched Norman doorway and windows: Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford, ob. 1173; Walter de Lacy, a Norman knight, and Richard de Clare, the famous "Strongbow," second Earl of Pembroke, ob. 1176, were buried here; between the chapter house and the north transept is a slype or passage, over which is the library, of Late Perpendicular date, 86 by 18 feet, with a roof of dark oak; it contains a transcript of "Abbot Frocester's Lives of the Abbots of Gloucester" from the foundation of the monastery to 1381; a register of documents made by the same abbot, and another register compiled by Parker, the last abbot: at the northeast angle of the cloisters is a doorway leading to a groined Early English passage, which opens into the cloister of the infirmary, around the cloister garth, or Dean's garden; six arches of the hall, the west doorway and some fragments of the south side remain; adjoining the cathedral, and partly built over the Norman slype leading from the cloisters, is the Deanery, anciently the Prior's dwelling, and containing several Norman and Early English chambers: the stone vaulted room over the slype, at present used as the Dean's library, is a splendid example of Early Norman work: there is also a staircase with a large stone lantern, and on the north a timber-framed building of the 15th century; the western gate-house is Early English, and a Late Perpendicular gateway, which formed the entrance to the abbot's lodge, remains in Miller's Green, now called Palace yard.

The general outline of the Cathedral, owing to the depression of the nave below the line of the choir, is not favourable to effect, but the unrivalled beauty and elegance of the majestic central tower, "a pharos to all the hills," amply redeem every defect, while at the same time the variety produced by the splendid Perpendicular choir, the chapels of the transepts and choir aisles, the half-detached Lady chapel, with its projecting chantries, and the numerous lofty pinnacles, is unusually picturesque: the whole building, except the transepts, is embattled, the bays being divided by buttresses, which, save in the choir, terminate in pinnacles, rising above the parapet; the turrets at the angles of the transepts are Norman, with two tiers of arcading near the top and spirelets of later date: the east end, above the great window, is finished with panelling and a graceful open parapet and pinnacles: the tower is of two stages, divided by a band of quatrefoils, and is lighted by richly crocketed windows in each stage; the upper stage is finished with a bold string-course, and a pierced embattled parapet, and at the angles rise square open pinnacles of singular lightness and grace; it forms a square of about 40 feet, the total height being 225 feet: the Cathedral is, internally, 408 feet in length, the exterior limit reaching 423 feet; the nave is about 83 feet wide by 67 high; the choir, on the other hand, being 86 feet in height with a breadth of about 34 feet; the whole transept is 128 feet long: extensive repairs and restorations were effected during the period 1873-90, at an expenditure of about £13,000, under the direction of the late Mr. F. S. Waller, from the designs of the late Sir G. G. Scott R.A. and funds, estimated at £10,000, were raised for further restoration.

Christ Church, Brunswick Square

Christ Church, in Brunswick square, is an edifice of brick in the Classic style, consisting of chancel and nave and a western turret containing 2 bells, recast during the restorations of 1899-1900: the chancel, originally a small apse, was enlarged in 1865; in 1884-5 the whole church was restored, the flooring re-laid, the interior re-pewed, 14 new windows inserted, and a pulpit of stone and alabaster provided, at a total cost of about £1,500, and in 1899-1900 the chancel was extended, a barrel-vaulted roof constructed throughout, and a new west front, comprising two large rooms, built at a total cost of £2,300: there are 523 sittings.

Good Shepherd Mission Church, Derby Road

The Good Shepherd Mission Church, in Derby road, is a chapel of ease for All Saints' parish, built in 1892 at a cost of £1,500, and will seat 300.

Mariners' Church, The Docks

The Mariners' church, in the Docks, is a building of stone in the Early English style, erected in 1849 by public subscription, and has ever since been maintained in substantial repair out of the fund raised by voluntary contributions from the merchants and others interested in the welfare of the Docks: there are about, 200 sittings.

Mission Hall, Llanthony Road

The Mission hall, in Llanthony road, connected with the Mariners' chapel, was opened in 1886, and has sittings for 300 persons.

St. Aldate, St. Aldate Street (parish church)

St. Aldate's church is in the street of that name; the original building stood upon the city wall, near the site of the present church, but was taken down and the materials used for erecting St. Michael's-at-the-Cross: the present church, erected about 1730, is a plain brick structure in the Early English style, consisting of nave, west porch and a turret containing one bell: the stained east window was the gift of Mr. H. Bruton, as a memorial to his deceased wife; and another window on the south side commemorates the Rev. Francis Bayly, a former rector: a new organ was provided in 1908, at a cost of £131: the church was restored in 1883-91, at a cost of £500, and again in 1907, at a cost or £286, and affords 200 sittings.

St. Catherine, Priory Road (parish church)

St. Catharine's church, Priory road, erected in 1867-9, in place of the earlier church, which belonged to the priory of St. Oswald, and was destroyed during the Civil War, is an edifice of brick in the Early French Gothic style, consisting of apsidal chancel, nave, transepts and aisles: the font of Caen stone, richly carved, was the gift of the Hon. Mrs. Mostyn: ten of the windows are stained, the chancel windows being the gift of the Misses Monk: the two west windows are memorials to the late Thomas Marling esq.: the rebuilding of the church was largely assisted by C. J. Monk esq. M.P.: there are 400 sittings. An enlarged vestry room was erected in 1889. This church was later replaced, in about 1916, by a new church at Wotton.

St. James, Upton Street

St. James' parish was formed in 1842 from the parishes of St. Catharine, St. Mary-de-Lode, St. Michael and Upton St. Leonard: the church, in Upton street, consecrated in 1841, is a plain edifice of stone in the Lancet style, standing north and south, and consists of chancel, nave, eastern aisle, north porch and a turret at the north end containing one bell: there is a reredos of marble with shafts of Bath stone: the church was restored and enlarged in 1879, at a cost of £2,550, when the aisle and chancel were added, and in 1891 a reredos was erected at a cost of £60: there are 600 sittings.

St. John the Baptist, Northgate Street (parish church)

The church of St. John the Baptist, Northgate street, rebuilt, with the exception of the tower and spire, in 1734, is an edifice of stone in the heavy Classic style of that period, consisting of nave, aisles and a tower with spire of the 13th century, containing 6 bells: a new organ was erected in 1892: Sir Thomas Rich kt. father of the founder of the Gloucester Blue Coat School, was a benefactor to the church, and is buried here, as also are some members of the family of Rudhall, famous as bell-founders in the 18th century: there are handsome monuments in the chancel to Major Price, 1678; and his daughter, and to the Naylors and other old families of the city; the communion plate of silver-gilt, and dated 1659, was presented by Sir Thomas Rich: the church was restored in 1882, at a cost of £650, and affords 350 sittings. The Rev. T. Stock, co-founder with Robert Raikes of the first Sunday schools, was rector here from 1787 to 1804.

St. Luke, St. Luke's Street, Southgate Street (parish church)

St. Luke's church, in St. Luke's street, Southgate street, erected in 1841, is an edifice of brick, consisting of chancel and nave: the east window, chiefly filled with mediaeval Flemish glass, represents incidents from the New Testament: the church was restored in 1875, at a cost of £1,500, and affords 450 sittings.

St. Luke the Less, Linden Road (parish church)

St. Luke's the Less church, in Linden road, was erected in 1910, and consists of chancel, nave and side chapel, and seats 512 persons.

St. Mark's, Kingholm

St. Mark's parish was formed Feb. 10, 1846, from the parishes of St. John the Baptist, St. Mary-de-Lode, and St. Catharine and part of the extra-parochial place of South Hamlet: the church, in Kingsholm, erected in 1847, is a building in the Early English style, consisting of chancel with south aisle, nave, aisles, vestry and a western tower, with spire, containing one bell; the chancel screen was added in 1896, in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the church: in 1900 the chancel aisle was fitted as a chapel: a memorial window at the west end was the gift of Mr. R. V. Vassar-Smith, and one at the east end was erected in 1895: there are also memorial windows to Mr. T. H. Washbourn (1902) and to Mrs. H. W. Bruton (1905); the chancel was raised, enlarged and improved in 1888 and 1891, at a cost of £1,310: the church affords 400 sittings: a new organ was provided in 1907 at a cost of upwards of £1,000 to commemorate the diamond jubilee of the church.

St. Mary-de-Crypt, Southgate Street (parish church)

St. Mary-de-Crypt, Southgate street, is an ancient cruciform building in the Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel with aisles of two bays, nave of three bays, transepts and a central tower with pinnacles containing 8 bells; it was erected by Robert Chichester, Bishop of Exeter, 1138-55, and derives its name from having two crypts beneath it: the chancel is separated from its aisles by handsome stone screens, and from the nave by a screen of oak: the whole interior is seated with old carved oak benches: in this church Whitfield was baptized; here he preached his first sermon, and here his son was buried: here also is the tomb of Robert Raikes, the founder of Sunday schools, who died at Gloucester 5th April, 1811, and that of Jimmy Wood, the eccentric banker: in the south vestry is a fine marble monument with life-sized symbolical female figures, by Scheemaker, to Dorothy Snell, d. 1746: in the north vestry is a monument, with kneeling effigy, to Daniel Lysons, ob. 1681; there are also memorials to Sir Thomas Bell kt. ob. 1567; and the Rev. John Grubb M.A. author of "St. George for England": in the north transept are brasses with effigies and incomplete triple canopy to John Cook and Joan, his wife, ob. 1544, founders of the school, now called St. Mary-de-Crypt school, formerly carried on in a building adjoining this church: a handsome reredos of Caen stone and Venetian mosaic, with figures of our Saviour, St. Paul, St. John, Nicodemus and St. Mary Magdalene, was erected about 1889; the church was restored in 1877, at a cost of £1,009, and again in 1908, at a cost of £3,000, and affords 400 sittings.

St. Mary-de-Lode, St. Mary's Square (parish church)

St. Mary-de-Lode (formerly called also S. Mary Ante Portam), in St. Mary's square, seems to have been the only parish church in the city from Roman times till after the Conquest; it is a building of stone in the later Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north and south porches and a low massive Norman tower containing 6 bells: the arch between the nave and chancel is much admired; S. Lucius, a British Christian king, and founder of the original church, is supposed to have been buried here: in the chancel is a 13th century tomb of an unknown priest, said to be William de Chamberlayne: much interest attaches to the site of this church, which, on the rebuilding of the nave in 1826, was found to have been previously occupied by a Roman building: the chancel has been carefully restored, and has a stained east window: there is a wooden 15th century pulpit of some interest, and 500 sittings.

St. Michael, The Cross (parish church)

St. Michael's church, at the Cross, is a modern building in the Decorated style, consisting of nave and south aisle with embattled parapet and pinnacled buttresses, and an embattled western tower of Late Perpendicular character containing 10 bells: there is a brass with effigies to William Henshawe, bell-founder, five times mayor (1503-20), and his wives, Alys, ob. 1519, and Agnes: there are several stained windows: the canopied reredos, of richly carved stone work, designed by Mr. F. S. Waller, was erected in 1883 at a cost of £1,000 by Mrs. Symes, a late resident, in memory of her parents: in the south aisle is a stone figure of a knight, and the ancient memorial tablets inserted in the west wall of the aisle are of interest: the communion plate was presented in the 17th century, and its aggregate weight is nearly 300 ounces: a handsome oak screen was erected in 1894: the church was restored about 1885, at a cost of £2,250, and has 400 sittings.

St. Nicholas, Westgate Street (parish church)

St. Nicholas, Westgate street, is an ancient building of stone in the Early Norman and Early English styles, with Perpendicular insertions, and consists of chancel, nave of six bays, aisles, west porch and a fine western tower with truncated embattled spire containing 6 bells and a clock, dated 1612: in the south aisle, near the chancel, is an altar tomb, with effigies, to John Walton, alderman, 1626, and Alice, his wife: the south doorway has a fine Norman arch, and the door retains a fine specimen of a sanctuary knocker: in the walls which separate the chancel from the aisles on either side are four hagioscopes: the church, the floor of which is now several feet below the street level and approached by steps, was restored in 1866: there are about 800 sittings.

St. Paul's, Stroud Road

St. Paul's parish was formed in 1884 from the ecclesiastical parishes of St. Luke & St. James: the church, in Stroud road, was erected at a cost of £7,600, and is built of Painswick stone, with Bath stone dressings, in the Early Geometric style, consisting of chancel, lofty nave, aisles, transepts, western and south-east perches and a turret containing one bell: there are 500 sittings.

Baptist

Baptist Chapel, Corn Exchange
Strict Baptist Chapel, Berkeley Street

Brethren

Ebenezer Gospel Hall, King Street
Plymouth Brethren Chapel, Cromwell Street

Congregational

Tyndale Chapel, Lower Barton Street

Methodist

Primitive Methodist Chapel, Barton Street
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Melbourne Street
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Stroud Road
Ryecroft Methodist Chapel, Faulkner Street
United Methodist Chapel, Stroud Road
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Southgate Street
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Lonsdale Road

Presbyterian

Whitefield Memorial Chapel, Park Road

Society of Friends

Society of Friends Chapel, Greyfriars
Society of Friends Mission Room, Sherborne Street

Roman Catholic

St. Peter ad Vincula, London Road

The Catholic church, dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula, built about 1789, and rebuilt in 1868, from the designs of Mr. Gilbert Blount, architect, is an edifice in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles extending the whole length of the church, and a tower, with spire about 159 feet in height, containing a clock and one bell. The interior was decorated in 1885.

Unitarian

Barton Street Chapel, Barton Street



Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Gloucester from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Gloucestershire is available to browse.


Maps

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Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Gloucestershire online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of the county of Gloucester, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.

DistrictGloucester
CountyGloucestershire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtGL1
Post TownGloucester

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