St Mary’s church is situated in the north-east of Bristol at the upper end of Fishponds. St Mary’s church is nestled within its own pretty churchyard and is adjacent to a small recreation area.St Mary’s was completed in its present form by the end of 1869 and is still serving its community more than 130 years later.
St Mary's is one of seven church's in the East Bristol Partnership. I will place links to the others as and when caches have been released in those locations.
A little history
St Mary the Virgin, Fishponds, Bristol begans in 1820 when Fishponds was part of Stapleton parish, Gloucestershire, which needed a second Anglican place of worship.
The Church of England already owned a small piece of land in Fishponds which it had bought in 1806 for £170 as an overflow to Stapleton churchyard. So a chapel of ease was built on this land and consecrated on St Aidan’s Day, 31st August 1821. It was known as Trinity Chapel. It has a nave, small chancel, tower and spire. At the west end was a gallery.
By the 1860s the parish situation had changed and it was decided and approved by Queen Victoria in Council that Fishponds should become a parish in its own right. Trinity Chapel thus became the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin as from 14th December 1869,
Various building work was carried out - and more information can be about this on their website.
In 1909 and 1911 the parish was made smaller by the formation of the parishes of All Saints and St John the Divine.
There are seven stained glass windows in the Sanctuary depicting six Old Testament Prophets with Our Lord as the central light. Three are from the original Trinity Chapel, two are in memory of John Cox MD and Charlotte his wife, one given by Thomas King Yalland in memory of his parents John and Mary, the seventh in memory of the Revd Canon Harold Reginald Barnard AKC given by his many friends.
The night of the 18th December 1992 the choir vestry was, to all intents and purposes, destroyed by an act of arson. As a result the choir vestry was rebuilt with an upper storey, both floors being used as Parish Rooms and the north west corner of the church was given two inside walls and is now used as the choir vestry.
(Thanks to St Mary's website for the above information).
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