Community celebrates Bristol church's 75th anniversary
A former prisoner of war, local residents and the Deputy Lord Mayor will be among those at a Horfield church celebrating its 75th anniversary.
September 5 will mark the date St Gregory the Great Church, in Filton Road, was consecrated and first became a place of prayer.
Parishioners will celebrate the event with a service held at 3pm followed by a buffet reception in the church hall.
Church vicar Fr James Wilson said: "The consecration is when the bishop of the diocese gives the building over to God, it's like the official opening of the church.
"The church was designed by the son of the architect who designed the Granary, on Welsh Back, so it is Bristol through and through.
"It's actually one of the few landmarks that can be seen anywhere in Bristol. Because we're on a hill you can see the octagonal tower from as far away as Whitchurch – it's a real symbol of the community."
During its 75-year history the church's vicars have played an important role in the community and left their mark on the parish.
"The first vicar, Ivor Watkins, became bishop of Malmesbury and his successor, now called the Bishop of Swindon, will preach at the service," said Fr Wilson.
"Ivor went on to be the Bishop of Guildford and started the building of the cathedral there.
"He liked to build new churches but sadly he died before the cathedral was completed.
"The next vicar Father Tickener was also interesting. He was friends with a man named Martin Travers.
"Travers lost his faith and became an atheist but he worked on building church furniture. Some of the furniture he made for our church was displayed in the Festival of Britain in 1951 as an example of ecclesiastical furniture.
"We're also pleased to have the vicar with us who celebrated the 25th anniversary, Ken Preston. He was a prisoner of war during the occupation of Jersey and came to the church just after the war ended.
"He was the first to rearrange the church and moved things around so people would face the priest and the altar, which was quite a new concept.
"He's in his 90s now but very well-known and loved in the area."
About 200 people are expected to attend the service this week, including the Deputy Lord Mayor of Bristol Brenda Hugill and former Lord Mayor of Bristol Bill Martin.
All are welcome to attend the special service.
Comments
by g88keeper, Devon
Wednesday, September 08 2010, 9:44PM
“I have just watched a BBC TV item on a hundred years of aeroplane manufacture at Filton, and noticed an altar-frontal in the church of St. Peter, Filton, looks very much like the work of Martin Travers. So I have found this article mentioning his work at St. Gregory's while googling to see if the frontal at St. Peter's is his work.
I have to mention that I am not related to Martin Travers, but that my late mother was married to him for about a year, before his death in 1948, several years before the Festival of Britain in 1951. If Fr. Wilson reads this, I would like to say that as far as I know, Travers was not an atheist. The last thing he was working on at the time of his death was a large wooden crucifixion for the Redemptorist community at Mirfield in Yorkshire, and I don't think he could have made such a thing of beauty if his faith was weak. Please respond if there is evidence to the contrary. A Mr Crawford was Travers' assistant, and after his sudden death, brought about by hand-cranking a car which wouldn't start, because the black-market petrol in it had been supplied in Golden Syrup cans that were not washed out properly, Mr Crawford completed much of the unfinished work in Travers' studio in Colet Gardens, West London.”