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Congregational Church ('Union Chapel'),
Bristol Road,
Cambridge, Slimbridge, 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 1807, but we understand it was closed by 1977.

This place of worship is recorded by Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Gloucestershire (1986) by name as 'Union Chapel', said to have been built in 1807, and extended to the rear in 1876.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/333/3/4/12) records "Union Chapel" in the parish of Slimbridge as a separate building, erected in 1807, used exclusively as a place of worship and Sunday School by a congregation of "Independants". There were free sittings for 100, and 50 "other" sittings, but evidently a lot of worshippers would have been left standing on March 30th, as Mary Anne Lees, its Manager, who completed the return, estimated the congregation to be 1040 in the morning, 100 in the afternoon, and 1040 again in the evening; plus (in the morning) 47 Sunday Scholars. She gave her address as "Mrs Lees, Cambridge near Dursley, Gloucestershire".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 10th July 1934 (p.4466) recorded its registration for marriages:

A Separate Building, duly certified for religious worship, named UNION CHAPEL, situated at Bristol Road, Cambridge, in the civil parish of Slimbridge, in Dursley registration district, in the county of Gloucester, was, on the 4th July, 1934, registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to 6 & 7 Will. IV, c.85. Dated 5th July 1934.

A notice of cancellation, for "UNION CHAPEL, Bristol Road, Cambridge, Slimbridge", was published in the Gazette of 8th December 1977 (p.15385). Curiously the date of the original registration was given as 4th July 1904.

The position noted by the Grid Reference below is as shown on Old Maps, for example OS 1884 1:2,500. It is not visible from the road, and now appears to be in private ownership. On OS 1886-1889 1:10,560, it is recorded as "Indept. Bapt.", not Congregational. It is still marked as "Union Chapel" as late as 1975-1978 Maps, but not in 1980. None of the Maps show it having a burial ground.

There is another (Mount Pleasant) Union Chapel in Falfield, to the south, on the road towards Bristol. It is also a combination of Independent and Congregational, and still open.

Denomination

Now or formerly Independent/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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SO7465803308. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Congregational Church ('Union Chapel'), Cambridge, Slimbridge shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Slimbridge 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 Cambridge, Slimbridge, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

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.