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St Mary Magdalene's Church,
Mariners Drive, BS9 1QJ,
Stoke Bishop, 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 1860, and we understand it is still open.

Kelly's Directory of 1897 describes Stoke Bishop as a tithing and suburb of Bristol, 2 miles north-west from Bristol. It is within a short distance of Clifton Down station, and has also a station at the north-west corner of the parish, called "Sea Mills", on the Bristol Port and Pier railway. It was created a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1860 from Westbury on Trym, but at the time remained in the civil parish of Westbury on Trym.

The church of St Mary Magdalene, consecrated in 1860, is described as an edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of apsidal chancel, clerestoried nave of six bays, aisles, vestries, organ chamber, south porch, and a tower with spire at the south-west angle, containing a clock and 6 bells. There are several stained windows. The chancel was extended in 1855, and a chapel built on the south side, and the church now affords sittings for 600 persons.

The parish records date from 1860. The living was then a vicarage, in the gift of the trustees, and had been held since 1895 by the Rev. Josiah George Alford M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and surrogate.

Curiously, Kelly's account does not mention the rather significant additions of 1871. The tower and spire were erected that year, at the same time that the west porch was added, and the nave extended. This information, and images of the Church in the 19th century are available on St Mary's Stoke Bishop website. There is also an image of its first vicar, David Wright, who served from 1860-1895. He is buried in the churchyard - "his grave is marked by a find celtic cross".

Note: the ancient parish of Westbury on Trym was abolished in 1904 to become part of the civil parish of Bristol, established in 1898; thus in the present day it constitutes part of Bristol City and County.

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 ST5595675506. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Mary Magdalene's Church, Stoke Bishop shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Stoke Bishop 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 Stoke Bishop, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• You may want to visit St Mary's Stoke Bishop website for present-day information.

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.