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The Salvation Army Bristol Citadel,
6 Ashley Road, BS6 5NL,
Montpelier, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church 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 1880, and we understand it is still open.

Bristol's Salvation Army headquarters is a modern building, dating from 1987, but its origins can be dated to more than 100 years previously. John Latimer, in The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (1887), records that "a new religious denomination styled the Salvation Army" rose to fame in the summer of 1880, which gained many adherents amongst the poorer classes. An old circus near North Street was hired by the local leaders, and opened as a chapel on the 21st of August.

I understand from the History of Bristol Citadel, on their website, that "The Circus" in question was situated in Backfields, at the end of Upper York Street. Built in the mid-eighteenth century as a circular riding stable, it was later in use by "various circus proprietors and boxing promoters, and it often attracted large crowds" - a tradition which continued, "despite the change of ownership and use, and congregations of about 1,200 regularly filled the old circus".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 18th August 1922 (p.6114) records its registration for marriages:

A Separate Building, duly certified for religious worship, named SALVATION ARMY CITADEL, situated at Ashley-road, in the civil parish of Bristol, in the county borough of Bristol, in Bristol registration district, was, on the twelfth August, 1922, registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to 6th and 7th Wm. IV, c.85. Dated 15th August 1922.

A similar notice, for its replacement - "THE CITADEL, Ashley Road, Bristol", was published in the Gazette of 25th March 1987 (p.4009), in place of the Salvation Army Citadel on the same site now disused.

There may be more information on the Salvation Army's Bristol Citadel website.

Denomination

Now or formerly Salvation Army.

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 is located at OS grid reference ST5920174088. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• The Salvation Army Bristol Citadel, Montpelier, 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 Montpelier, Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• You may want to visit Bristol Citadel 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.