England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bristol St Philip & St Jacob

The Parish

The city of Bristol lies in the extreme south of Gloucestershire forming part of the border with neighbouring Somerset. Bristol is located roughly 120 miles west of London and sits on the River Avon at the point where it ceases to be navigable and is served by numerous major roads of which the A4 leads to London and the A38 to Birmingham. Bristol has a long and distinguished history, the pre-Roman Britons named it Caer Briton and the Romans adopted it as Abona. It is as one of England's most significant ports that Bristol rose to become the major city of southwestern England, trade growing the port into a city of well over 100,000 population. Sadly much of that growth was fueled by Bristol's involvement in the slave trade, a trade now subject to revaluation by today's society. Besides the trade and commerce occasioned by the port, Bristol is also a major manufacturing centre and home for numerous service industries; it remains the major place of employment in its area and a major market for produce from a broad hinterland. St Philip & St Jacob consisted of an urban area and also a true sub-urban area east of the main city centre, this area was subject to such growth as to eventually cede a substantial portion as the new St George parish. Bristol has also benefited from modern developments, the Kennet & Avon canal being followed by Brunel's railway line to London and others to both north and south. In more recent times the modern M4 & M5 motorways pass by the city with its own dedicated motorway, the M32 connecting it to the former. St Philip & St Jacob parish covered a relatively small area of the main city centre, its main acreage lying outside the city walls. Bristol is drained the short distance to the nearby Bristol Channel by the Avon through its famous gorge. St Philip & St Jacob parish is sited at around 10 metres above the sea with most of the city at that height or indeed lower, land rises to the height of 80 metres in the suburb of Cotham.St Philip & St Jacob parish was the most populated of the city's parishes with some sources claiming as many as 30,000 parishioners within its remit, the volume of marriages recorded herein being more typical of an average population of close to 20,000.  Bristol, being already a substantial settlement, is not specifically detailed as to its assets in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Philip & St Jacob's church stands in the east of the city on Narrow Plain and close to the busy dual-carriageway that is the main route crossing the city from north to south. The church has ceased to be an Anglican church and is nowadays known as Bristol Central Evangelical Church. The church site is believed to be the oldest site of Christian worship in the Bristol area, first mentioned as such in documents of the beginning of the 10th century. The church which stands here today was certainly in existence in 1174. Whilst there is little of that fabric remaining the later 13th century is well represented in the building, Early English Gothic styled lancet windows may be found in the curiously placed southern tower of 4-stages. Similarly the arch between the tower room and southern aisle is also dateable to the same period. It is clear from scars left that the church was originally in a cruciform design with transepts now removed, these remains are given a date of c1200 by Pevsner. The other remaining early medieval piece is the chancel, built in the 13th century but much modified in the 15th including the addition of the Kemeys chapel. At the western end there has been much later work and the original nave's dating detail has been largely obscured by work of 1764 which created the ramped western gable complete with pinnacles and battlements. As Pevsner points out the arcades too were remodelled substantially in the same exercise, a rare piece of major church building in the 18th century. Victorian restoration & other changes came early to St Philip & St Jacob, between 1837 & 1841 a partial rebuild saw two northern porches and gallery stairs to both north and south added. Like most urban churches this is one to visit on foot after first finding a city car park. Sadly for the photographer the enclosed square in which it sits has a veritable forest of trees almost totally surrounding the building, a reasonable view can be obtained from the side of the dual-carriageway otherwise there is much head-scratching and review of angles to find an adequate record.