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Churches of the British Isles

Gallery: Churches of Gloucestershire

by Peter Kessler, 15 July 2020

South Gloucestershire Part 1: Churches of Thornbury & Hanham

Church of St Mary, Thornbury, Gloucestershire

The Church of St Mary, Thornbury, is on the north side of Castle Street, looking down the Church Road junction and the southern leg of Castle Street. A Norman church here is first mentioned in 1106, but only the north and south doors and font remain. The present chancel belongs to the Decorated period and was built around 1340, with a south aisle being added some decades later. Apart from the chancel the church was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style around 1500-1540.

Ebenezer Methodist Chapel / Pound Chapel, Hanham, Gloucestershire

Ebenezer Methodist Chapel was inside the 'v'-shape formed by the junction between Chapel Road and the High Street in the centre of Hanham (on the left here). It was built in 1888 by a Free Methodist congregation (formed in 1850) on a plot of ground that had formerly been used for the 'pounding' of straying cattle in the area, giving it the nickname of the Pound Chapel. It was demolished in 1962 and its footprint was used to extend the road junction here (see below).

Hanham Free Methodist Church / Hanham Methodist Church, Hanham, Gloucestershire

Dominating the right-hand side of the photo is Hanham Free Methodist Church, built in 1851 to replace the Pound Chapel (see above) which became the school room. At the Bible Christian union of 1907 it became United Methodist, and then Hanham Methodist Church after 1932. In 1901 it lost its decorated frontage (see the 'before' shot above for comparison), and the gardens were cut back for road widening. The High Street Methodists moved here in 1965, closing their chapel.

Photos on this page kindly contributed by Sam Weller and Aztec West, all via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.

 

 

     
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