You might like to compare the parish (outlined in blue of the modern map) between the two maps, noting the distinctive fork in the road where Ermine Street divides from Hare Lane, the road to the Roman camp at Kingsholm.
The use of the image is by the permission of ARCHI UK Website (https://www.archiuk.com) (ARCHI Information Systems Ltd).
.
The church of St John the Baptist was built in 1732 on the site of an older church, retaining the old tower. In fact, the earliest church was reputed to have been founded by the Saxon King Athelstan in the year 931.
In the 11th Century, it became the possession of St Peter’s Abbey and was rebuilt and dedicated to St John the Baptist.
No fewer than seven mayors of the city were buried here.
It is now used by the Methodists.
The top of the spire was removed in 1910 and can be seen nearby.
Two cottages were purchased in 1678, to be used as a Quaker Meeting House, and the gardens behind were to be used as the burial ground. In 1682, during renewed harassment, it was ransacked, the fittings were burned in the adjoining burial ground, and 25 members were imprisoned.
By the end of the century the number of Quakers in Gloucester had dwindled and the meeting house, which was repaired in 1800, was seldom used. In 1834 the Quakers moved to a new meeting house in Greyfriars and sold the Park Street meeting house, which was of one storey with dormer windows above a plain brick front. It was later used for meetings and for worship by other groups, and became a mission room.
When the 1851 Religious Census was taken, recording the numbers of people who attended worship at every religious establishment in Britain, by parish, the population of St Johns was 4081, in 713 inhabited houses.
Thanks to Graeme Harvey, https://churches-uk-ireland.org/towns/g/gloucester.html, for use of the image.
The Via Sacra, passing between the church of St John the Baptist and the Cathedral.
It was conceived as part of the Town Plan in 1961, following approximately the line of the city walls.
The link to the Civic Trust leads you to a map of the route, with historical annotations.
The junction of Hare Lane and Northgate Street. Hare Lane ran to the Roman garrison at Kingsholm, where the first Roman settlement was. Very soon afterwards, the settlement was moved to slightly higher ground, and Glevum was created as a settlement for retired legionaries, one of only four similar-status settlements in Britain (the others being Lincoln, York and Colchester).
Northgate Street from this point follows the line of Ermin Street, to Cirencester.
The information board is one of 3, placed in St Johns Lane.
A familiar site to many of us!
It was once a school and, before that, the site of an iron foundry neighbouring a plant nursery.
The Hub sits just within the boundary of the parish, marked by Alvin Street, which runs to the location of Alvin Gate, near the present-day Coach and Horses pub.
The monochrome image, reproduced by permission of the Bygone Gloucestershire Facebook page, shows the postwar bombing damage nearby.
The wonderful Gloucester500 website gives further information on this
This unusual chapel was built as a circus in 1836, fourteen years after Worcester Street was created. Used by the Reformed Wesleyan congregation following a schism in the Wesleyan Methodist Conference at the end of 1850. When the reformist movement waned soon after, members joined the New Connexion Methodists, who built a new chapel in 1857 just across the road from the circular building.
The building disappears from later 19th-century maps.
The New Connexion Methodist chapel still stands, last building on the left at the junction of Worcester Street and Black Dog/Gouda Way, though in a very poor state. The Methodists closed it in the mid 1890s. Before the Second World War the Worcester Street frontage was remodelled, and appears today with a large shutter across half its frontage, suitable for the tyre depot it was used as for a while. Round the back, though, you can catch a glimpse of the very ecclesiastical chapel window from the top Hare Lane car park.
No records have been deposited for these churches.
Thanks to the invaluable Gloucester 500 website for this information.
Northgate Methodist Chapel, one of those 19th-century buildings where the architect seems to have thrown absolutely EVERYTHING into the project, was demolished in the 1970s. The congregation moved to the church of St John the Baptist on Northgate.
It replaced a pre-existing chapel in the 1870s.
The final image, from Gloucestershire Social History Facebook page, shows its demolition and the colour image shows what replaced it.
Follow the link below for further information on records.
Worcester Street was developed in 1822, to relieve pressure on the narrower Hare Lane.
From the Gloucester500 website –
‘Worcester Street appeared at a time of significant growth for the city after a long period of economic stagnation…Already by the end of the 18th century trade had taken a large step forward with direct delivery of Portuguese and Spanish wine, lemon and cork by brig (much larger than the usual Severn trows) via the River Severn to Gloucester Quay. The main basin at the newly built docks had already commenced operations by the time traffic started moving along Worcester Street in 1822. Five years later the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal was opened (Britain’s longest, deepest, widest ship canal at the time), relieving ships of the dangerous vagaries of the Severn, another significant step in the improvement of Gloucester’s fortunes….The construction of Worcester Street prompted the building of new properties; between 1811 and 1831 the number of inhabited houses in Gloucester rose by a third, from some 1,500 to over 2,000, with most of the increase concentrated in the north of the city. The fields of Monkleighton, between Worcester Street and London Road with Alvin Street along the south-western boundary, disappeared under hundreds of tightly packed working-class houses (an area that was redeveloped as part of the slum clearances of the 1960s, resulting in today’s maisonettes, flats and Clapham Court tower block).’
St Peters Roman Catholic Church, which lies between the Ring road and the railway line.
Pevsner says that ‘built in stone, the steeple has a real novelty in the open bell stage, with coupled arches on each side giving a splendid airy effect’.
The section of the ring road running through the parish, built in the ’60s, is named Black Dog Way, after the Black Dog Inn (which can be seen to the left of the photo).
This site includes more information on the pub, and gave permission for the photo to be used.
We are looking down what was the main road out of Gloucester, before it was replaced by Worcester Street in the 19th Century. Hare Lane’s route can be seen by the right-hand arch in the background of the photo.
Only a small section still exists, as the road bends left and a car park takes its place. The road now runs along Park Street, once Back Hare Lane.
The fish and chip shop was built in 1450, and the lower building in 1520.
Tanners Hall was a 13th century town house and was, until recently, ruin located on the ring road. It is the oldest non-religious building and only surviving medieval domestic stone house in the city.
It was taken over by Tanners in 1540 and was used as tannery until the 18th century. Excavations of the site have revealed evidence of 17th and 18th century tanning pits. In the late 18th century, the ground floor was divided and part of it was constructed with bricks and mortar. In another part of the building, a hearth area for a vat was built. In the mid-19th century, it was converted into two cottages with brick wall constructed to separate them. Additional supports for an upper floor were built and one of the ground floor windows was converted into a door. The western part of the building was used as a paint shop at this time. The building fell into disrepair during the 20th century and it was abandoned until it was rediscovered in 1976 as Gouda Way was being built.
In January 2021 local housing association Gloucester City Homes (GCH) working with Cape Homes transformed the ruins into 24 flats for affordable rent. The building sensitively incorporates the standing walls and showcases the historic ruins.
St Lucy’s Home of Charity was established in 1869 on Hare Lane, where St Lucy’s Court and a small public garden now sits.
It was run by the Sisterhood of St John the Baptist, and provided girls with a training in needle, laundry and house work, and were placed in domestic service.
The establishment also had an ‘incurable’ ward for 12 bed-ridden women and girls. A payment of 10 shillings a week was required, plus a guarantee of £5 for burial in case of death.
The postcard is added from the Gloucestershire Social History Group, with the permission of Derek King.