The Church of St John the Baptist in Bristol, also known as St John on the Wall, is a historic church in the care of heritage charity the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. The upper church and its medieval vaulted crypt is located at the lower end of Broad Street and is built into the old city's medieval walls.

Design and construction

The church was built in the 14th century (and heavily modified in the 19th century) with the tower and steeple over St John's Gate, the last remaining city gateway. The church is very narrow as it is built into and alongside the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

. Consequently, it is also known as ''St John's on the Wall''. The rood stair entrance high up on the wall shows where the earlier great rood screen would have stood. Similar rood stair entrances can be seen at St Peter's, St Philip and Jacob, St Stephen's and

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

.M Q Smith, The Medieval Churches of Bristol, The University of Bristol (Bristol Branch of the Historical Association), 1970. Beneath the church is a vaulted

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

, which was dedicated to the

Holy Cross Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: * the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus * Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity * True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified * Feast o ...

. A conduit has supplied water from

Brandon Hill Brandon Hill () is the highest mountain in County Kilkenny, Ireland, with an elevation of and prominence at . The South Leinster Way, a long-distance trail, meandering through the Barrow Valley and traverses Brandon Hill. The village of Gra ...

since 1374, and the course of the pipe is marked in places by small plaques set into the pavements.

Monuments and artwork

Among the monuments in the church are those of Walter Frampton (died 1357), three times Mayor of Bristol and a great benefactor of the church, and a brass commemorating Thomas Rowley (died c. 1478), whose name was used by the 18th-century teenage poet

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Alth ...

as a pseudonym under which to write his forgeries of medieval poetry. On the south side of the gate, there are statues of the legendary founders of Bristol,

Brennus Brennus or Brennos is the name of two Gaulish chieftains, famous in ancient history: * Brennus, chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne; in 387 BC, in th ...

and

Belinus Belinus was a legendary king of the Britons (historic), Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius and came to power in 390 BC. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus. ...

, facing up Broad Street; it is possible that they are actually older than the fabric of the gate. The interiors of the two arches either side of the main gateway are now covered in commissioned

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

murals. The burial ground of St John's survives; it is visible from John Street and the entrance gate is in Tailors Court which is accessed from Broad Street. The burial ground is closed to the public.

Current usage

St. John on the Wall is cared for by

The Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

, the national heritage charity. It is open daily for free tours and interactive visitor displays telling the story of medieval Bristol. St John on the Wall hosts a small programme of free family events, gigs, exhibitions and concerts. It's recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The church was

vested In law, vesting is the point in time when the rights and interests arising from legal ownership of a property are acquired by some Legal person, person. Vesting creates an immediately secured right of present or future deployment. One has a vest ...

in the Trust on 25 June 1985.

promotes 'The Crypt' as an atmospheric art space for hire as a live music venue and art gallery. It can also been used as a filming location'Maiden' by Heg & the Wolf Chorus
published 26 March 2014 in 2022 the church was closed due to fears that the spire was becoming unstable.

Congregation

After the bombing of St Mary le Port Church in 1940 the congregation of this historically evangelical, Protestant and Calvinist church, and their rector,

William Dodgson-Sykes William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

, moved to St John on the Wall Church, where the congregation remained, in gradually declining numbers, until the building was closed for worship by the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

in 1984, (after a protracted struggle by the congregation). The remaining congregation then moved to the Chapel of Foster's Almshouses, and joined the

Church of England (Continuing) The Church of England (Continuing) is part of the Continuing Anglican Movement. It was founded in 1994. Since 2008 the church has regularly exhibited at the Christian Resources Exhibition at Esher, Surrey and elsewhere in England. It publishes a ...

in 1995. The C of E (Continuing) no longer lists a congregation in Bristol - some of the congregation joined with the new Free Presbyterian Church (Ulster) congregation in

Horfield Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Bishopston lies directly to the south. Monk ...

, Bristol.

References

External links

*
St John on the Wall, Bristol, at Churches Conservation Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bristol, John the Baptist

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

14th-century church buildings in England

Churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust Former Church of England church buildings Bristol, Church of St John the Baptist, Bristol, Church of St John the Baptist,