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Brandon Free Methodist Church,
Jacobs Wells Road,
Brandon Hill, Bristol, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church 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 1898, but we understand it was closed in 1950.

This is a small building, fitting neatly in between other buildings, just a short distance down from the junction of Jacobs Wells Road with Constitution Hill. It has a single bay front with a wide porch, lit by two small lancets, above which is a large 4-light window, joined into two by stonework at the top, studded with 2 small rose windows, and a quatrefoil - most unusual.

A band of contrasting stone above the window has the date A.D. 1898.

It is listed in Kelly's Directory of Bristol of 1902 as "Brandon Free Methodist Church"; and in 1914 as "United Methodist Church", between #21 and #29.

The following notice of cancellation in The London Gazette of 10th October 1950 (p.5044) no doubt relates to its closure:

NOTICE is hereby given that the Building formerly known as BRANDON METHODIST CHURCH situated at Jacob's Wells Road, Clifton in the registration district of Bristol in the county borough of Bristol which was duly registered for marriages pursuant to the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV, cap. 85 is now no longer used as a Place of Meeting for religious worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was so registered, and that the registry thereof was therefore on the 3rd day of October 1950 formally cancelled by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales. Dated 5th October 1950.

It is currently (2014) in use as a Japan Arts Centre, which is apparently a Martial Arts School.

Denomination

Now or formerly Free/United 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 ST5769972828. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Brandon Free Methodist Church, Brandon Hill, 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 Brandon Hill, Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• 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.