We have 1 Image Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Alf Beard

St John the Evangelist's Church,
Elberton, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

This Church has (or 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 the 14th century, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1897 records that Elberton is a parish and village, near the road from Sodbury to the Old Passage, 3 miles south west from Thornbury terminal station of a branch of the Midland railway, 10 north west from Chipping Sodbury and 10½ north from Bristol. It describes the church of St John the Evangelist as a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch and a central embattled tower with pinnacles and spire containing one bell "of an early date". There is a stone coffin in the south aisle, and hagioscopes (squint windows) in each of the tower piers, and the entrance to the rood loft remains.

The parish records date from 1763, and in 1897, the living was a vicarage in the gift of the Bishop of Bristol, and had been held since 1880 by the Rev. Arthur Mansfield M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford.

Further details of St John's are provided on the British Listed Buildings website, where for some reason, Elberton buildings are recorded under the heading of "Aust". In fact St John's Aust, and St John's Elberton do have some similarities, as both have a tower with a staircase turret; however Elberton is larger, with north and south aisles, and as will be seen from our photograph, also has a spire.

The Listed Building account of Elberton St John mentions that there are pair of 17th century carved oak sanctuary chairs in the chancel, which came from Aust church (!), and a single Jacobean Box Pew; the remainder date from the church's restoration in 1858.

You may also wish to visit the Olveston & Aust Community Website for useful information about the parish, and surrounds; and where you can compare the appearance of the two "St John's" for yourself!

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

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 ST6023988188. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St John the Evangelist's Church, Elberton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Elberton 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 Elberton, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• For the Civil parishes of Olveston and Aust - Olveston & Aust Community Website (null) (verified 2018-11-05)

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.