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Bible Christian Chapel,
Bailey Hill,
Yorkley Slade, Viney Hill, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel did NOT have a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1858, but we understand it was closed in 1992.

The growth of industry, coal mining, and iron works, and the absence until the early 19th century of the established church favoured the spread of Nonconformity in the Forest of Dean, and eventually chapels were opened in most settlements.

The Bible Christian movement, one of the more fundamentalist sects, was especially active. The movement reached the Forest from Monmouth, and a mission was established in Drybrook in 1826, with preachers holding open-air and cottage services . Its first chapel, "Bethel", was established in Drybrook in 1836.

According to the Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp.117-118 (Forest of Dean - Nonconformity), a small society (led by Henry Jones) was established in Yorkley Slade by 1850. There is no corresponding return on the Religious Census of 1851 covering the area (HO 129/577 - Monmouth), but perhaps this is unsurprising, as the VCH account describes it as "revived by Henry Jones in 1858", prior to the building of a chapel in 1862.

An account of Yorkley Slade 60 Years ago (believed to be written in the 1960s, so referring to c.1900), in the collection of Genealogy Pages for the family of Albert and Marjorie Morse, records that Bible Christian Chapel, the Nag's Head Inn and Johnson Bros Stores were the main buildings of the Slade at that time.

By 1922 it was labelled on a Map of that date as a United Methodist Church, and in 1932 it became part of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, showing as "Yorkley Methodist Church" on later maps. However, in common with many churches on the circuit, attendance declined, and it was closed in 1992.

Since then the building has transferred to private ownership, and today it is an attractive dwelling house.

Denomination

Now or formerly Bible Christian.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Chapel was located at OS grid reference SO6436506918. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Bible Christian Chapel, Yorkley Slade, Viney Hill shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Viney Hill shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Yorkley Slade, Viney Hill, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (null) (verified 2018-11-06)
• Preserving the writings of Cameron (“Cam”) Riley Johnson (1886-1976), selected webpages from the collection of Genealogy Pages for the family of Albert and Marjorie Morse (null) (verified 2018-11-20)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.