Hello Barton St, from Australia
I have just discovered your wonderful website and wonder if you can help, please?
The marriage certificate of our newly discovered Great Aunt, born 1894, states that the wedding took place in the “Robert Raikes Primitive Church Memorial Chapel, Barton St”, in 1918.
I am attempting to locate this site and, whilst British History Online provides comprehensive notes on Protestant Non Conformist churches in Barton St at that time (it seems there were many), I can find nothing definitive on the location of this specific church. I understand it may have been demolished in the intervening period.
I am not sure that the current Methodist Church in Barton St, near All Saints Lane (Google Maps) has a connection. A map, c1900, seems to suggest that Barton St may have continued further into what is today Eastgate St, and this may be the area in which the original church stood. I am clutching at straws and an ocean away.
I would be most grateful for any assistance, please. Historic information, or, indeed, a photograph of the Robert Raikes Primitive Church Memorial Chapel, Barton St, as it was at the time of my Great Aunt’s wedding.
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Hello Paul, Thank you very much for your prompt response and most comprehensive information, plus photograph.
Very much appreciated … all the best … John Pine
Hi John, thank you for your message. Gloucestershire Archives doesn’t hold an image of the Church from the 1918 period, but I’ve attached a 1985 photograph to your message, to show what the Church looked like then. Smart’s Gloucester street Directory of 1920 indicates that the Primitive Methodist Church was located between 134 and 136 Barton St. To locate this for you, no.136 (Victoria House) is on the junction of Barton and Victoria Streets, while All Saints Road junction is between nos. 128 and 130 Barton St. Thus it was close to All Saints Rd and probably shared the same site (although clearly not the same appearance) as the current Methodist Church, which is also at 136 Barton St (https://www.gloucestershiremethodist.org.uk/churches/circuit-churches/gloucester-barton-street.html). Good luck with your ongoing research.
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