Default Image We do not have a
Photograph at present.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

The Tabernacle URC,
3 Parsonage Street,
Dursley, 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 1760, and we understand it is still open.

The Tabernacle URC is a Grade II Listed Building - see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

Meetings of Presbyterians or Independents began about 1702 by the Rev. Joseph Twemlow of Cam Meeting, and a meeting house was built in Water Street about 1718. Preaching by George Whitefield in the mid 18th century resulted in the formation of a separate Calvinistic Methodist society, for which the first 'Tabernacle' was erected about 1760. This new society attracted members from the early meeting house, which eventually closed. It was for a time used as a school, but at the time of the RCHME study, published as Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire, in 1986, it was said to be a roofless shell.

The present Tabernacle was built in 1808, on a new site. Monuments inside the chapel include (1) John DANDO, 'hatmaker' (1775) and Susanna his widow (1791); (2) Hanna RUDDER (1808); (3) John TROTMAN, 'Card Board maker' (1839) and Ann his wife (1836); (4) Rev. William BENNETT (1830); (5) William SMITH (1829); (6) Richard TROTMAN, 'Baker' (1810); (7) Isaac DANFORD (1788) and Rachael his widow (1802); (8) William KING (1803). [Source: Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire (1986)]

Some information on the Tabernacle URC is also available in the Dursley Glos Web collection, on its "Dursley Churches" webpage. The site also has some very useful information about the Dursley area in general, and a nice collection of photographs, both old and new, so well worth a visit.

Note: Kelly's Directory of 1923 records that the chapel has (had) a burial ground of 1 acre; also that William KING (listed above) "originated the first Sunday-school in the town, and suggested to his friend, Robert RAIKES, the establishment of Sunday-schools in Gloucestershire".

Denomination

Now or formerly Congregational.

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 ST7540398240. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• The Tabernacle URC, Dursley shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Dursley 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 Dursley, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• A Local History Guide to the town of Dursley, and surrounding area of Cam and Uley, by Andy Barton - Dursley Glos Web (null) (verified 2018-11-22)

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.