Приорская церковь Святого Иакова в Бристоле: История и Реставрация

The Priory Church of St James, Bristol , is a Grade I listed building in Horsefair, Whitson Street. It was founded in 1129 as a Benedictine priory by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Henry I. The early nave from 1129 survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries because an agreement in 1374 between the Abbot of Tewkesbury and the parishioners stated that the nave would become the parishioners responsibility, and the tower was added around 1374. On 9 January 1540 the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII meant that St James Priory was surrendered to the crown. The priory buildings were demolished, keeping only the nave of the church. In 1543 the land and the right to hold a fair were sold to a London merchant tailor. The traditional account, as told to John Leland, has it that every tenth stone brought from Normandy to build the Castle was set aside to build the Priory. Before the recent restoration (see below) the building was on the Historic England Buildings at Risk Register and described as being in very bad condition. However, substantial restoration and reordering work was completed in 2011 and as of 2014 St James Priory is not on the Heritage Buildings at Risk Register. Today, it is an active church within the Catholic Diocese of Clifton, which until 1996 was a Church of England place of worship. including baptism, marriage and burial registers. The archive also includes records of the incumbent, churchwardens, overseers of the poor, parochial church council, chantries, charities, St James' Fair, schools, societies and vestry plus deeds, photographs and plans. Other records for St James' Priory can be found at Cambridge University Library.

Earl Robert's endowment to the priory in 1137 included permission to hold an annual fair. In 1996 the Little Brothers of Nazareth re established it as a Catholic church, and set up the St James Priory Project which offers support to vulnerable people especially those with a history of substance dependency and mental illness.

Following the award of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £3.2 million to conserve, repair, and develop the Priory, building work started in November 2009. The St James Priory charity had to fundraise a further £1.2 million of matched funding toward the restoration work. Conservation, restoration and development lasted 21 months and the Priory Church was re opened on 25 July 2011. Archaeologists from Bristol and Region Archaeological Services were on site during the restoration works, and uncovered a fragment of what may be the earliest scientific sundial in Britain. The sundial is a block of Bath stone carved with hour lines and medieval Arabic numerals in a style that suggests it was probably made in the 15th century. The discovery that a statue in the church had originally been topless made headlines around the world.