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St John the Baptist's Church ("St John on the Wall"),
Quay Street / Broad Street, BS1 2EZ,
Bristol, 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 before 1357, but we understand it was closed in 1984.

"St John the Baptist (Broad-street) is a small neat structure, founded by Walter Frampton, who was mayor of the city, and whose remains were interred in the church in 1357. The spire is built upon one of the ancient gateways of the city. In the archway are two ancient figures of the reputed founders of Bristol - Brennus and Belinus. The living is a rectory, with that of St Lawrence annexed, in the patronage of J.S. Harford, Esq., and trustees; annual value, £150." [Extract from Webster & Co.'s Postal and Commercial Directory of the City of Bristol, and County of Glamorgan, 1865]

Available parish registers cover the periods 1558-1982 (baptisms), 1558-1983 (marriages) and 1558-1872 (burials), so evidently it had a graveyard. The Bristol Town Plan of 1884-1885 shows no graveyard adjacent to the church, but two (disused) graveyards in the area are marked. One was on the corner of the junction of John Street and Tower Lane (opposite St John's Almshouses), and the other in a block bounded by All Saints Street, Pithay, Duck Lane (now Fairfax Street), and Nelson Street. The former belonged to St John's - details of St John on the Wall Burial Ground may be found elsewhere in this database.

Because of St John's unusual position, set into the City Walls, as it were, it was also known as St John on the Wall". Another medieval Church, dedicated to St Lawrence, once stood on the other side of the gateway (St Lawrence on the Wall), but it was demolished before the days of extant parish registers.

St John's is believed to have closed in 1984, and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, and a Museum.

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 ST5874773158. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St John the Baptist's Church ("St John on the Wall"), Bristol shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bristol 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 Bristol, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• See St John on the Wall Burial Ground elsewhere in this database.
• See St Lawrence on the Wall elsewhere in this database.
• Preserving “irreplaceable examples of architecture, archaeology and art from 1,000 years of history” - Churches Conservation Trust (null) (verified 2018-10-07)

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.