Default Image Place of Worship has been
Demolished.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

Brunswick Road Baptist Chapel (Demolished),
Brunswick Road,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel 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 1821, but we understand it was closed in 1972.

The foundation of Brunswick Road Baptist church has been traced to 1813, when a group of seven Baptists, who had recently settled in Gloucester, began meeting in a room in New Inn Lane. The group included George Box DRAYTON, a surgeon, from whom the room was let. Its first minister was Thomas FLINT, who resigned in 1817, as he was discouraged by small congregations. After some disagreements of policy amongst the surviving members, Drayton himself took over as minister in 1819, and in 1821 he built at chapel, at his own expense in Parker's Row (now Brunswick Road).

This seems to have prospered under his ministry as when he resigned in 1824, the congregation numbered 200; however in succeeding years, its fortunes rose and fell. In 1847 it was however rebuilt to provide additional accommodation, and again in 1872. In 1884 the Baptists built Raikes Memorial Hall and schoolroom alongside the chapel.

By the 1960s, chapel membership was in decline, partly as the result of the move of population to new suburbs, and partly as a response to a reevaluation of 19th century beliefs, and in 1972 the chapel was sold and construction of the Brunswick Baptist Church, in Southgate Street was begun. The latter opened in 1974, and both the Brunswick Road chapel, and later, the Raikes Memorial Hall were demolished, the sites being used for an extension to a shop.

An account of the Brunswick Baptist Church is recorded elsewhere in this database. [Source: the Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 4: The City of Gloucester (1988), pp.319-334 (Protestant Nonconformity)]

Denomination

Now or formerly Baptist.

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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SO8332018352. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Brunswick Road Baptist Chapel (Demolished), 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.

• The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 4: The City of Gloucester (null) (verified 2018-11-06)

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.