Blackhorse Road, Kingswood: Wesleyan Methodist Chapel & Burial Ground
From May 2003 to May 2019 I served as one of three local councillors (elected representatives) for the ward of Woodstock on
South Gloucestershire Council. The former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and Burial Ground between Blackhorse Road and Waters Road, Kingswood were (mostly) within the ward I represented. Due to the bizarre way in which boundaries are put on maps over the years and the way in which land is divided up, a small portion of the Burial Ground does, in fact, lie within the boundaries of
Bristol City Council. At the local council elections in May 2019 (when I stood down) the ward boundaries for South Gloucestershire Council were re-drawn and the wards re-named. The site of the Chapel and most of the Burial Ground are now (from May 2019 until any future boundary review) within the ward called 'Kingswood'.
In 2005, myself and my two fellow councillors for the Woodstock ward began a campaign to encourage South Gloucestershire Council to use the various powers at its disposal to tackle the state of the burial ground. In the intervening years since its closure to new burials (ca. 1979) and changes in ownership, the burial ground had fallen into disrepair. The boundary wall along Blackhorse Road and Waters Road had fallen down in a number of places, the cemetery itself was totally overgrown with brambles and other vegetation and the site was being used for fly-tipping.
I am sorry to say that our campaign didn't really achieve it's goals, although a number of small steps forward were made. However, over the 14 or so years that we tried to get something to happen, we did amass a fair bit of information about the site. As a keen family historian myself I am well aware that this may be of interest to the families of those who are interred in the Burial Ground or who were associated with the Chapel. The purpose of this webpage and the various links from it are to enable me to share information that we gathered during our campaign. I do wish to make clear, however, that apart from look-ups in a copy of a Monumental Inscription that I have, I am unable to assist in any researches with the Chapel or Burial Ground.
This website will exist only for as long as I can continue to afford to pay for the hosting, so if there is material here you are interested in, rather than just 'bookmarking' the pages, I do suggest you print-off (or create PDFs of) anything you are interested in and/or download photos, documents etc. because I cannot promise it will be here indefinitely.
Andy Perkins, Hanham, Bristol. February 2021. Updated July 2021.
Newspaper Clippings
This is a list of clippings from local newspapers that we gathered. I have split these into two periods (pre-2003 and 2003-2019). The latter are those that I gathered during my time as a local councillor. The former were passed to me by local residents with an interest in the site.
- Clippings prior to 2003
- Spring 1978, unknown source (plea to stop burial ground closure)
- 12 May 1978, The New Observer (council powerless to stop burial ground closure)
- 13 Oct 1978, Bristol Journal (widow can't be buried with husband) - see also WYATT grave photo on photos page
- 20 Oct 1978, Bristol Journal (mother's heartbreak over burial ground closure)
- 08 Nov 1978, Evening Post (plea to save burial ground)
- 10 Nov 1978, The New Observer (plea to save burial ground)
- 13 Nov 1978, unknown source (sale of burial ground is heartless)
- 02 Dec 1978, Gazette (Methodists plan test planning applications for Chapel site)
- 24 Jan 1979, Evening Post (petition to re-open burial ground)
- Early 1979, unknown source (petition to re-open burial ground presented to Methodist Conference)
- Early 1979, unknown source (campaigners to fight to the end after Methodists snub petition)
- 26 Apr 1980, The Gazette (council rejects plans for demolishing Sunday school buildings and replacing with flats)
- 27 Jan 1984, The New Observer Post (anger at plans to build on Methodist site)
- 15 Jun 1984, Evening Post (tycoon buys up part of Methodist site)
- 29 Jun 1984, Evening Post (plans to build on Methodist site abandoned)
- 29 Jun 1984, The Gazette (plans to build on Methodist site abandoned)
- 24 Aug 1984, Glos. Gazette (notification of plans to demolish or remove headstones and create a Memorial Garden)
- 20 Sep 1984, Evening Post (letters opposing Memorial Garden)
- 09 Oct 1984, Evening Post (Council defers decision on Memorial Garden)
- Late 1984 or 1985, unknown source (Council approves Memorial Garden)
- 02 Jan 1987, Bristol Observer (graveyard being desecrated)
- 23 Jan 1991, Evening Post (planning application received by council for 24 units of sheltered accommodation)
- 29 Jan 1991, Evening Post (opposition to plans for 24 flats on burial ground)
- 12 Mar 1991, Evening Post (government minister to decide on flats plan)
- 15 Mar 1991, Bristol Observer (government minister to decide on flats plan)
- 12 Jan 1999, Evening Post (plans for flats set to be refused)
- 12 Feb 1999, Bristol Observer (notification of applications received for supported housing (flats))
- 02 Dec 2000, Bristol Observer (council refuses plans to convert Chapel into flats)
- Clippings from 2003 to 2019
- 24 Mar 2004, Evening Post (letter from local residents concerned about the Chapel and Burial Ground)
- 29 Mar 2004, Evening Post (text of letter from myself as a local councillor)
- 15 Jul 2004, Evening Post (report on fire in the Chapel)
- 21 Jul 2004, Evening Post (letter from us as local councillors after the Chapel fire)
- 26 Jul 2004, Evening Post (letter from a local resident after the Chapel fire)
- 28 Jan 2005, Bristol Observer page 1,
page 2,
page 3 (coverage of our initial complaints to South Glos Council about the site)
- 31 Jan 2005, Evening Post (coverage of our initial complaints to South Glos Council about the site)
- 04 Feb 2005, Bristol Observer (letter from us as local councillors after recent media coverage)
- 11 Feb 2005, Bristol Observer (initial attempts to clean-up the site)
- 26 Jun 2007, Evening Post (legal notice regarding relocation of gravestones in connection with a (subsequently withdrawn) planning application)
- 07 Dec 2015, Evening Post (Chapel redevelopment plans)
- 09 Dec 2015, The Week In (Chapel redevelopment plans)