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Beckford Hall Chapel (Private),
Beckford Hall,
Beckford, 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 the 17th century, though it is now closed, but we don't yet know when.

This place of worship first came to my notice in the Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 8: Cleeve, Deerhurst and Tibblestone, and the lower divisions of Tewkesbury and Westminster (1968), pp.250-262 (Beckford). It was originally a private chapel of the Wakeman family, who became lords of the Manor of Beckford in 1583. The Hall, dating from the 17th century, was built on the site of the former Beckford Priory, which had become Beckford Manor at the Dissolution. The Chapel was built originally for private use of the family, but in the time of William Wakeman, who died in 1836, "the chapel was open at stated times for public worship, and Beckford was the centre of a mission numbering 50 people". After 1840 however, Beckford Roman Catholics were attending the oratory at Overbury, and later the Roman Catholic church at Kemerton.

Beckford Hall again became a Roman Catholic centre for a period after it was purchased by Henry Ashton-Case, a retired Army Captain, in 1883. "Captain Case", as he was known by the villagers had converted to Catholicism in India in 1876, and he was responsible for building (or rebuilding) of the present Chapel. "The estate at that time extended right to the top of Bredon Hill, and the family was much esteemed and loved by all the tenants and villagers, who to this very day hold their memory in tender reverence".

From 1936 it was held by the Salesian Society, and became a theological college; however it has since been converted into apartments.

The above quotations are taken from an excellent account of the priory's foundation, and its subsequent reversion to a manor house, entitled "Beckford Priory and Hall", which was compiled by Father David J. de Burgh, S.D.B. ("Salesians of Don Bosco"), when he was resident at Beckford, c.1956. This was available online in 2014, when I first began my research, but alas, the website it was on has now disappeared. Now, in 2018, I've discovered a copy on another website, so anyone who is interested is invited to try a Google Search to locate it!

Denomination

Now or formerly Roman Catholic.

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 SO9765235933. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Beckford Hall Chapel (Private), Beckford shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Beckford 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 Beckford, 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 8: Cleeve, Deerhurst and Tibblestone, and the lower divisions of Tewkesbury and Westminster (null) (verified 2018-11-06)
• “A religious congregation of Brothers and Priests” - Salesian Society (null) (verified 2018-11-04)

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.