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Redfield Methodist Church (now The Hindu Temple),
163B Church Road / Gilbert Road,
Redfield, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church had 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 1815, but we understand it was closed in 1974.

This Methodist Church must have occupied a commanding position in its day, as it was built on a large plot on the north-west corner of junction of Church Road (then Redfield Road) with Gilbert Road, which extended as far back as the junction of Gilbert Road with Albion Street. The Bristol Town Plan of 1885-1886 shows a rectangular building on the west side of the plot, with the longer side facing Church Road. There was a large burial ground at the rear, with a path through the middle, and surrounded by trees. On later Maps the Chapel appears to have become a Sunday School, and a larger building, occupying the footprint of today's Church has been built, closer to the eastern (Gilbert Road) boundary of the plot.

This may be the replacement referred to by Phil Draper, on his ChurchCrawler website, opened in 1884, and built on the site of an 1815 structure, and site of minister's house. The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/330/3/1/2) for "Redfield Chapel" evidently refers to this, describing a building erected in 1815, used exclusively as a place of worship with free sittings for 200, and 246 "other" sittings. The average number of worshippers was 150, and 60 Sunday Scholars. The return was completed by Charles Clay, its Minister, of "Kingswood near Bristol".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 6th August 1867 (p.4371) recorded its original registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Redfield Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, situate at Redfield, in the parish of St. George, in the county of Gloucester, in the district of Clifton, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 30th day of July, 1867, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 2nd August 1867.

The Church is now closed, and the building is in use as the Hindu Centre (Bristol). A corresponding notice published in the Gazette of 21st November 1974 (p.11558) recorded its closure as "REDFIELD METHODIST CHURCH, Redfield", and on 30th August 1983 (p.11441), "SANATAN DEEVYA MANDAL, 163B Church Road, Redfield" was registered for marriages. Meanwhile, the former Sunday School building appears to have been sold separately, and has been replaced with a more modern building, in use by another organisation entirely.

It is not known what has happened to the burial ground, but from Google Satellite view, it appears to have been cleared.

See also "Sanatan Deevya Mandal" - Hindu Temple, "established in 1979 in Redfield, East Bristol in a late Victorian gothic building whose original use had been a Methodist Chapel" - on the Victoria County History website ("VCH Explore" in 2014).

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan Methodist.

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 Church was located at OS grid reference ST6139773495. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Redfield Methodist Church (now The Hindu Temple), Redfield, 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 Redfield, Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Church officiando's “Bible” - Phil Draper's ChurchCrawler (null) (verified 2018-10-16)
• “Work in Progress”, or “VCH Explore” interface to Victoria County History (null) (verified 2018-10-12)
• 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.