November Mid-12th
Century A.D. Temple Church, Bristol
Temple Church, Bristol
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encyclopedia
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Temple Church
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Temple Church,
Bristol
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Location
within Bristol
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General information
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Town or city
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Country
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England
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Construction
started
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12th century
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Client
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Temple
Church (grid reference ST5972) is a ruined church in Redcliffe,
Bristol, England, that was founded in
the mid-12th century by Robert of Gloucester and the Knights Templar.
Temple Church was the scene of
the exorcism of George Lukins conducted by Methodist and Anglican clergy.[1] The church was bombed and largely destroyed in the Bristol Blitz. It is a listed building now owned by English Heritage.
Contents
Early history
It is called Temple church because
it was built on the site of the oval church of the Knights Templar, suppressed
in 1312. Either just before or just after this suppression the church was
rebuilt on a rectangular plan and served as a parish church. The site has been
excavated and the oval outline of the former Templars' church is laid out in
the turf.
It was also called Holy Cross
Church, and included the Guild Chapel of the Bristol Weavers. Cloth weaving was
the staple industry of Bristol in the late Middle Ages, and its centre was in
Temple parish.
The tower is 114 feet
(35 m) high and was built in two phases. The lower stages were built in
1390 but work was stopped when the tower started to lean to the west. By 1460
the city was satisfied that the tower was stable, and the upper stages
including a belfry, were added. The lean is popularly attributed to the foundations of the
tower being built on top of wool-sacks but is most likely due to the soft alluvial clay underneath being compressed.[2]
World War II bombing
It was bombed on 24/25
November 1940 in the Bristol Blitz, leaving it an empty shell. The damage was
severe and although the arcades still stood they were very unsafe and have
since been removed. The wrought-iron parclose screens to the side chapels did
survive and are today in the Lord Mayor's Chapel. The sword rest by W. Edney is now preserved but broken up into sections and re-erected in other
churches.[3] The 15th century candelabrum, with its central
statue of the Virgin Mary also survived, albeit a little dented, and now
hangs in the Berkeley Chapel of Bristol Cathedral.[2]
Listed status
Gateway
It was the first English
parish church to be taken into ownership by the then Ministry of Works, and is
today in the care of English Heritage. It is a Grade II* listed building.[4]The archway and gates, which date from the mid 19th century and made fromPortland stone and wrought iron in a Gothic Revival style, are themselves Grade II listed.[5]
See also
References
1. Jump up^ Hannah More: the first Victorian. E. and H. Hosford, Printers. Retrieved
31 December 2007. "Mrs. Easterbrook was probably the recently
widowed mother of the Revd Joseph Easterbrook, vicar of the Temple church in
Bristol and on of the most prominent clergymen in the city. In June 1788 he had
been controversially involved in an incident which a tailor named George Lukins,
from the Mendip village of Yatton, had claimed to be possessed by demons. He
and six 'Wesleyan' ministers performed an exorcism in front of a great crowd in
the Temple church, after which Lukins was described as calm, happy, and
thankful for his deliverance."
2. ^ Jump up
to:a b "Holy Cross (Temple Church)". Church Crawler. Archived from the original on 17 May 2005. Retrieved
28 July 2006.
5. Jump up^ "Archway and gates to Temple Church". Images of England. English Heritage. Retrieved
28 July 2006.
6. Jump up^ "Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Bristol" (PDF). Bristol
City Council. Retrieved 7 May 2007.
Further reading
- The cathedral church of Bristol, Henri Jean Louis; Joseph Massé
External links
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