B&A History
“How long have you been coming to B&A” – a common question at our Sunday gathering; easy to answer for some, but for others who have been about the area for longer, it needs some unpacking. So this is a brief overview of how several churches in the area came together to form “B&A Church” (Bishopston and St. Andrews).
Two hundred years ago Bristol ended at St Paul’s and it was all fields between the edge of the city and the village of Horfield. As building of new homes progressed up Gloucester Road, there was a building of churches to support the growing population. This is a (very) brief history of those churches who have, in various ways, become B&A Church.
Time chart of the churches which became B&A
St Michael and All Angels’
St Michael and All Angels’ church was built in 1858 on “Pigsty Hill” on the east side of Gloucester Road. On the other side of Gloucester Road, land was purchased for the church to build and maintain schools, later to become the church halls.
Over the years the church building expanded, but unfortunately the expansion didn’t take into account the structural requirements of a large building, and due to dangerous subsidence the church building was no longer safe and in 1991 the last service was held in the “old” building. The building was demolished and the site on the east of Gloucester Road is now occupied by the Oaks Sheltered Housing development. The congregation moved first to the “Gospel Hall” on the other side of Pigsty Hill while the church halls site was developed and moved into “160a” Gloucester Road in 1999, and the newly refurbished rear hall which formed the Main Worship Space in 2002.
St Bartholomew’s
St Bartholomew’s church, built in 1892 occupies a site on the edge of St Andrew’s park. The start of what is more properly called the church of St Andrew with St Bartholomew was actually St Andrew’s which stood at the bottom of St Andrew’s Road Montpelier. In 1956 the Parish of St Andrew’s joined with St Bartholomew’s. Later it was decided to close St Andrew’s and the site is now a play park though some of the foundations can still be seen.
Over the years St Bartholomew’s has been blessed by Christians joining from other churches, including St Werburgh’s, David Thomas Memorial (URC) church and more recently a “graft” of members of Christ Church Clifton living in the St Andrew’s area.
Church of the Good Shepherd
With the ongoing building work in the Bishopston area, a new building was erected in 1927. This was originally a simple building made of timber and asbestos sheets. The current stone building was built in 1958 at the top of Kings Drive. Originally operating as a “Daughter Church” of St Michael’s, “equality” was reached when the Bishopston Team Ministry was formed, and then as one of the three churches making up the Parish of Bishopston and St Andrew’s.
Emmanuel Church, a Church of England church plant, originally from Christ Church Clifton, started worshipping at the Church of the Good Shepherd, at 11 am following the 9:30 service of Good Shepherd. In 2017 the PCC of B&A Parish voted to pursue the sale of the Church of the Good Shepherd as part of the building strategy for the parish. The building was sold to Emmanuel Church who retain “The Church of the Good Shepherd” as the name of the building.
Horfield Baptist Church
Horfield Baptist Church, or more specifically 279 Gloucester Road, is the other side of the B&A story. The church was originally set up in 1882 by 26 members of Broadmead Baptist Church who started to meet in a local house. In 1889 a mission hall, known as the “Tin Tabernacle” was built on Gloucester Road. The current buildings complex at 279 Gloucester Road started with the building of the Brynland Hall built on Brynland Avenue in 1895. The main worship area opening onto Gloucester Road was built in 1900, and in 1921 the Memorial Building, incorporating the upstairs Griffin Hall. At the time this created the largest Baptist church building in Europe.
A new home for B&A
The vision for B&A has been to have a visible presence on Gloucester Road. However in the early 2020’s we were holding most of our Sunday activities at B&A Park Site while our mid week missional activities and administration took place at B&A Gloucester Road; our experience was that this split didn’t fully work. In 2023 we were presented with the God given opportunity to swap buildings with Horfield Baptist Church. They now occupy 160a Gloucester Road while we moved into 279 Gloucester Road, initially for our missional activities and in September 2023 our worship and Sunday activities as well.
Map of the parish of Bishopston and St Andrew