Cheltenham, St Mary: Anglican Parish

Cheltenham St Mary with the annexed chapelry of St Matthew forms a united benefice (1976) and team ministry with St Paul and Holy Trinity. As St Matthew's church is technically a chapel of ease to St Mary's with the same incumbent and, since 1920, PCC, several of the record series in this collection relate to both churches, notably the churchwardens' accounts (CW 2) and PCC minutes (VE 2). Records relating solely to St Matthew's church have been listed as P78/9 The ancient parish of St Mary dates from the 12th century. Lack of accommodation in the church was a problem for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the building of eight new Anglican churches between 1820 and 1854 helped to alleviate the pressure on St Mary's, the poor and deteriorating condition of the fabric of the parish church remained a cause for concern. Matters came to a head in 1859 when St Mary's church was found to be dangerously unsafe. It was immediately closed for emergency repairs and a temporary church built of corrugated iron was erected. Even after the repairs were completed in March 1861 there was no additional accommodation within the parish church and so the licence for the temporary church was renewed. A scheme to enlarge the church, spearheaded by the church enlargement committee in 1863, was abandoned and it was not until 1877 that the longstanding problems were resolved. Major restoration work masterminded by architect Ewan Christian was carried out by the Gloucester builder Albert Estcourt and the foundation stone was laid of St Matthew's, a new permanent church to replace the temporary iron church, designed by Christian

<p>[For a useful account of the history of St Mary, St Matthew and other Cheltenham churches, see 'Cheltenham's Chapels and Churches AD 773-1883' by Stephen Blake (GRO reference PA78/50)] [See also D4178]</p>

Deposited by Rector and PCC except accession 4964, item P78/1 OV 1/13, which was given by Mrs E M Hyde via Cheltenham Library, and accession 292.2, items P78/1 OV 2/1-2/4, which were deposited by Gloucestershire County Council Public Assistance Department

Diocese of Gloucester; with chapelry of Cheltenham, St Matthew annexed; St Mary's is the original parish church of Cheltenham