We have 6 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of John Williams/Phil Draper

St Nicholas's Church,
Westgate Street,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

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 the 12th century, but we understand it was closed in 1975.

St Nicholas's Church dates back to the 12th century, and was formerly one of Gloucester's most prosperous churches. The parish was established before the 13th century, and by 1203 the church was called "St Nicholas of the Bridge at Gloucester".

The first general register covers baptisms, marriages and burials between 1558 and 1706. Occupations are given from 1695, including soldiers, stage-players, and debtors from the Castle (the Gaol); and in 1693 and 1696 the baptism register has memoranda about building 'the great glasshouse', 'waterworks' and lime-kiln. There is a list of 'Dissenters Children', 1702-1710 at the end of the register.

Many of the monuments inside the church commemorate Gloucester's more important citizens, such as the altar tomb of Alderman John WALTON (d.1626) and his wife Alice. On either side of the chancel are 16th century "squints", providing the congregation with a view of the Sanctuary. The Royal Arms of Charles II is above the south doorway.

Of less worthy repute was Robert PEACOCK - the "sham curate". He'd been posing as the curate to Talland Church, in Cornwall, under the name 'Reverend' Thomas Whitmore, but he absconded with plate and valuables belonging to the church, after it was discovered that he was heavily in debt. He run to ground in Worcester, where he was tried and convicted as a forger, and subsequently was hanged at Gloucester prison on 3rd September 1814. He was buried in St Nicholas's graveyard the following day.

The graveyard was to the north of the church, but has now been cleared and is occupied by shops and housing; however it can still be seen on Old Maps, for example the 1884 Town Plan, 1:500. The remains were exhumed prior to its clearance, and re-interred in the Old Gloucester Cemetery ("B Ground") on Tredworth Road. A record of the exhumations is now kept at Coney Hill Cemetery, where the records for all Gloucester's Cemeteries are kept.

The church is situated in Westgate, opposite the Folk Museum, and now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT), but is still in use from time to time for exhibitions, etc. It also remains consecrated, as do all churches in the care of CCT. Our photographs show it from different directions, with the last image on the page showing an illustration of St Nicholas's Church as it was at the time of Revd. Thomas Dudley Fosbrooke's An Original History of the City of Gloucester (1819). [Other Sources: John Williams, The Churches Conservation Trust leaflet for St Nicholas, I. Gray & E. Ralph, Guide to the Parish Records of the City of Bristol and the County of Gloucester (1963), and the History section on Talland Bay website]

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 SO8290018771. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Nicholas's Church, Gloucester shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Gloucester 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 Gloucester, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Preserving “irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology and art from 1,000 years of history” - The Churches Conservation Trust (null) (verified 2018-10-07)
• “The Cornish Bay that makes memories” - “Porth Talan” - Talland Bay (null) (verified 2018-11-19)

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.