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Buckingham Chapel,
Queen's Road, BS8 1LQ,
Clifton, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel does 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 1847, and we understand it is still open.

Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire (1986, p.62) records Buckingham Chapel as "stone and slate, built 1842 to designs by R.S. Pope in French Gothic style of the late 13th century". It is certainly quite spectacular - John Latimer, in his The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (1887) is rather more explicit, saying "the architecture of the building showed a marked improvement upon most of the so-called Gothic erections of the period; and the richness of the front excited much admiration". The Chapel's website describes how its design and erection owes much to a happy cooperation between the congregation and the architect, in meeting the stipulations of the land owner. The latter set two conditions. Firstly he stipulated there was to be no regular Sunday-school meetings, and secondly, it should be designed "suitable to the dignity of the neighbourhood". Possibly with the latter in mind, the architect agreed to waive his fees, on condition that the money be dedicated instead to the ornamental part of his design! Building began in 1842, and it was opened on 2nd June 1847.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/330/1/1/9) records the meeting place of "Buckingham Chapel" having free seating for 200 and 600 "other" sittings". The estimated congregation on March 30 was 160 to morning service, 50 in the afternoon, and 200 in the evening, with the remark that "on the given day to take the attendance, there was a very unusually thin congregation in consequence of an epidemic prevailing". The land owner's caveat was obviously adhered to as there was "no school". The return was signed by Richard Morris, Minister of the Chapel, whose address was "11 Buckingham Place, Clifton".

The congregation was said to be "Particular Baptist", but according to Buckingham Chapel website, "Buckingham has had a somewhat ambivalent relationship with the Baptist Union throughout its history". Consequently, members were to approve a resolution to withdraw from the Union, and since April 1972, it has remained an independent Baptist church (their notice board says "Free Evangelical Baptist").

The following notice in The London Gazette of 25th June 1852 (p.1798) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named Buckingham Chapel, situated at Buckingham-place, in the parish of Clifton, in the city and county of Bristol, in the district of Clifton, in the county of Gloucester, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious, worship, was, on the 22nd day of June 1852, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of the 6th and 7th William IV., cap. 85. Dated 23rd June 1852.

Denomination

Now or formerly Particular Baptist.

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 is located at OS grid reference ST5741573242. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Buckingham Chapel, Clifton, Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bristol 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 Clifton, Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• You may want to visit Buckingham Chapel website for present-day information.
• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

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.