St Werburgh's Church, Bristol, is a former church, now a climbing centre in the St Werburghs area of north-east central

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England. It has been designated on 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 Grade II*

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 area became known as St Werburghs when the church was relocated from Corn Street to Mina Road in 1879.

History

The original church of St Werburgh, of medieval origin, stood in Corn Street in Bristol. It has been suggested that the dedication to an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

princess,

St Werburgh Werburgh (also ''Wærburh'', ''Werburh'', ''Werburga'', meaning "true city"; ; c. AD 650 – 3 February 700) was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. Her feast day is the 3rd of February. Life W ...

, could give the church a pre-

Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

foundation.D Walker, Bristol in the Early Middle Ages, University of Bristol (Bristol branch of the Historical Association), 1971, p. 6 It was rebuilt by

James Bridges James Bridges (February 3, 1936June 6, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor. He is a two-time Oscar nominee: once for Best Original Screenplay for '' The China Syndrome'' and once for Best Adapted Screenplay fo ...

in 1758. The parish it served was quite small and the building caused the road to narrow, and larger horse-drawn carriages were causing congestion. An act of parliament was obtained enabling the closure of the church, with the last service being held on 12 August 1877. It was then demolished and the stones numbered before being transported to the new site approximately away in Mina Road. During the removal of the church 100 coffins and 40 chests of human remains were uncovered. These were reburied at Greenbank Cemetery. The original site was bought by the West of England and South Wales Bank and became a branch of

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the "Big Four (banking)#England and Wales, Big Four" clearing house ...

. Parts of the original building, particularly the tower, were re-used in the construction of the new church under the direction of the architect John Bevan. It was reconsecrated at the new site with the first service being held on 30 September 1879. The church held its last service on Remembrance Sunday in 1988,St Werburghs News25 years today since St Werburghs Church closed its doors
/ref> after which it was de-consecrated and converted into Bristol's first indoor climbing centre calle
Undercover Rock
The climbing centre includes top-rope climbs, bolted lead climbs, and a

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

area, all using hardboard walls built inside the original church structure. There is also a small cafe and viewing area. In 2016 Undercover Rock was taken over by another Bristol climbing centr
The Climbing Academy

Architecture

The church is built of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

in a Perpendicular

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, with an

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, west porch and south-west tower. The five-stage tower has an octagonal stair turret.

References

{{Culture in Bristol Former churches in Bristol Bristol, Church of St John the Baptist Redundant churches

History

Architecture

Archives

See also

References