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Cotham Chapel / Christ Church,
Redland Road, BS6 6AG,
Cotham, Bristol, 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 1878, but we understand it was closed in 1989.

John Latimer, in The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (concluded, 1901) records that Cotham Wesleyan Chapel, which had opened in September, 1878, was destroyed by fire on the morning of October 24th, 1896. "A new steam fire-engine, recently purchased by the Corporation, was employed with good effect, but only the vestry and school-rooms were saved". The fire was allegedly started by a man named Moore, who had first stolen some chisels from a neighbouring shed, and had then used them to break into one of the chapel windows and to break open some cupboards in search of plunder; however the charge of arson could not be proved, so he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for the theft. The chapel was rebuilt in the following year, to reopen on October 20th, 1897.

Phil Draper's ChurchCrawler records that the first building was small, with a spire; and the rebuilding was to a design very similar to that at Bishopston. In 1966/7, the congregation united with that of Cotham Grove Baptist Church, and Arley Chapel (Congregational) the following year, becoming a United Church, with the new name of "Christ Church"; sadly however by 1989, it too was forced to close.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 8th May 1990 (p.8835) recorded its closure:

The Registrar General, being satisfied that CHRIST CHURCH, Catham [Cotham], in the registration district of Bristol in the Non-Metropolitan County of Avon is no longer used as a place of worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was on 2nd March 1880 registered for marriages in accordance with the Marriage Act, 1836 (as amended) has cancelled the registration. Dated 9th February 1990.

Its original registration, as "Cotham Wesleyan Chapel, situated at Redland-road, Cotham" was recorded in the Gazette of 5th March 1880 (p.1912).

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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference ST5874974489. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Cotham Chapel / Christ Church, Cotham, 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 Cotham, 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)
• 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.