Features / things you probably didn't know
The church hidden above the shops
Thousands of shoppers pass by Broadmead Baptist Church every day, unaware that it even exists. But a church has stood here since a chapel was founded on this site in 1640.
The area survived heavy Second World War before being redeveloped in the 1960s, replacing what is now Castle Park as the city’s main shopping district.
Today, Broadmead remains busy with shoppers and visitors to its popular annual German Christmas market. Look up while you walk down Union Street and you will see Broadmead Baptist Church, known as “the church above the shops”.
is needed now More than ever
Completed in 1969, it has a spacious timber-clad interior within a Brutalist concrete shell, which without its original timber spire makes it even more hidden from view.
Broadmead’s first Baptist worshippers were initially persecuted by the civil and established church authorities, but despite this the church grew steadily in numbers during the 17th century.
Significant Broadmead worshippers over the centuries include William Knibb who campaigned successfully against slavery in British overseas colonies.
When the Broadmead development was still in the drawing board stages, the Rev RW Waddelow convinced city planners that there was a need to house his congregation above the new shops, with the result that Broadmead Baptist Church was allowed to remain while other city centre churches moved elsewhere across the city.
One of Waddelow’s successors, the Rev J Penry Davies, was closely involved with the development of the new building, envisaging a “Baptist cathedral of the West”.
In recent years, worshippers were instrumental in developing a city centre Christian chaplaincy that until 2018 served the city’s business community, their employees and families.
During the week, shoppers and city centre workers can still make use of the church’s undercroft, which offers a quiet space in the middle of the hectic day.
Main photo: Barbara Evripidou
This is an extract from 111 Places in Bristol That You Shouldn’t Miss by Martin Booth. Join Martin on a walking tour of the Old City and Castle Park, and receive a signed copy of the bestselling guidebook.
Read next:
- Plans for Broadmead’s former M&S revealed
- The small square with a large number of famous former residents
- The medieval arcade now hidden behind a bin store
Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
