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Northleach House of Correction,
Fosse Way, GL54 3JH,
Northleach, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We don't know whether 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 1792, but we understand it was closed in the 1930s.

There is an excellent account of the history of Northleach House of Correction on the Historic England website. Briefly, it describes how it was built by the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, George Onesiphorus Paul, "as part of a pioneering 18thC movement of prison reform". He was also responsible for the building of a new gaol in Gloucester, and four other houses of correction, at Lawford's Gate, Bristol, Littledean, and Horsley. The Northleach building was designed by William Blackburn. There were various extensions during the 19thC, including a women's cell block added in 1844. In 1857 its status changed to a house of remand and in 1859 the local Petty Sessional Court moved to the site

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/341/1/8/9) for Northleach House of Correction in Hampnett Parish describes a place of worship providing "pews, seats and forms, all free". Attendance on 30th March 1851 was estimated as 66 worshippers, at both morning, and afternoon service, compared with averages of 57 over previous months. The return was completed by Charles Thorp, Chaplain to the House of Correction, who remarked that "there is no Chapel as a distinct building from the House of Correction, what is uses as a place for celebrating Divine Worship is a large room neither consecrated nor licensed by the Bishop of the Diocese, fitted with a Pulpit only - containing two Pews for the Governor and Matron, three seats for the Turnkeys, and fixed forms for the prisoners."

It is understood from the above-mentioned Historic England website that the chapel was situated on the first floor of the main building, above the central bays. The site also notes the cells were no longer in use by the 1930s, and were demolished 1936/7, and that the site continued to be used by the police, and for court services until its closure in the 1970s. It is currently (2017) in use as the Cotswold Discovery Centre, featuring a museum, refreshment facilities, and amongst other items of historical interest, the Lloyd Baker Rural Life Collection.

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 was located at OS grid reference SP1089714942. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Northleach House of Correction, Northleach shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Northleach 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 Northleach, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• “The public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment”… Historic England (null) (verified 2018-11-11)

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.