Hanham Baptist Church Bristol Avon
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Who we are
Hanham Baptist Church - Your Local Church
We're located in a leafy suburb of Bristol, right on the main road (A431) that connects Bristol to Bath. We're just a few miles from both city centres with good transport links, car park, multiple halls and rooms for hire including good facilities which accommodate people of all ability.
We have many things going on throughout the week and across the calendar. Take a look around and if you see something you like, want to know more, make a booking or have questions about: Church, faith, Christianity, get in touch we'd love to hear from you.
We're located in a leafy suburb of Bristol, right on the main road (A431) that connects Bristol to Bath. We're just a few miles from both city centres with good transport links, car park, multiple halls and rooms for hire including good facilities which accommodate people of all ability.
We have many things going on throughout the week and across the calendar. Take a look around and if you see something you like, want to know more, make a booking or have questions about: Church, faith, Christianity, get in touch we'd love to hear from you.
Street Address
Church Pastor
Rev Peter Cook
Minister
157a High St
Hanham
Bristol,
Avon
BS15 3QZ
Hanham
United Kingdom
Phone: 0117 904 1703
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Denomination
Baptist Union of Great Britain
Affiliations
Church Website
Hanham Baptist Church on Social Media
Leadership
Leader Name:
Rev Peter Cook
Leader Position:
Minister
Formal Title:
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Phone:
Fax:
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Leadership Photos
Pastor Peter Cook
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Administration
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Hanham Baptist Church Service Times
Sunday
10.30am - 11.45am Morning Service
6pm - 7.15pm Evening Service
We have kids and youth groups that run weekly during the service.
It's been more than a year since the last service times update. Please make sure to contact the church to confirm service times.
Please contact the church to confirm Service Times or SUBSCRIBE to updates below
10.30am - 11.45am Morning Service
6pm - 7.15pm Evening Service
We have kids and youth groups that run weekly during the service.
It's been more than a year since the last service times update. Please make sure to contact the church to confirm service times.
Please contact the church to confirm Service Times or SUBSCRIBE to updates below
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Worship Languages
Dress Code
Sunday School / Children and Youth Activities
Under 12s:
Under 18s:
Local outreach & community activities
Other activities & ministries
Monday
10am Short Matt Bowls
in the Church Hall
7pm - 8.30pm Cell
Young People's Bible Study In the Upstairs Lounge at Church
7pm - 8.30pm
Ladies Reading Group
Meets monthly in the Church Café/Foyer. See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
Tuesday
10.30am - 2pm KOB
(Knocking On a Bit)
Meets monthly in the Church Hall. See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
Wednesday
10.30am - 11.30am
Tots @ Ten
Meets weekly during term time, in the Church
Thursday
10.30am Tea and Memories
Meets on the second Thursday of each month in the Church
6.15pm - 7.45pm Girl's Brigade
Meets weekly during term time in the Church hall
Monthly
We run Youth Events monthly, for young people at secondary school and college.
See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
10am Short Matt Bowls
in the Church Hall
7pm - 8.30pm Cell
Young People's Bible Study In the Upstairs Lounge at Church
7pm - 8.30pm
Ladies Reading Group
Meets monthly in the Church Café/Foyer. See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
Tuesday
10.30am - 2pm KOB
(Knocking On a Bit)
Meets monthly in the Church Hall. See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
Wednesday
10.30am - 11.30am
Tots @ Ten
Meets weekly during term time, in the Church
Thursday
10.30am Tea and Memories
Meets on the second Thursday of each month in the Church
6.15pm - 7.45pm Girl's Brigade
Meets weekly during term time in the Church hall
Monthly
We run Youth Events monthly, for young people at secondary school and college.
See the calendar for future dates or get in touch for more details
Special Needs/Accessibility
Prayers and Hymns
Main Bible:
Hymns and Songs:
Other information
Average Adult Congregation:
Average Youth Congregation:
Additional Info:
Hanham Baptist Church Bristol Photos
Hanham Baptist Church - Bristol, Avon
Hanham Baptist Church - Bristol, Avon
Hanham Baptist Church - Bristol, Avon
Hanham Baptist Church - Bristol, Avon
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Hanham Baptist Church History
Church history isn’t something you’d naturally think of as being an exciting thing, but our history is different it contains, daring, persecution, people living outside of the law and even murder. It’s a history that has shaped the world and continues to shape who we are today.
So, who are the Baptists and where did they come from?
1640
The Baptists as a group developed in Britain in the 1640s, coming out of the Reformation in Europe. This was a time when life in this country was in turmoil. The king, a supporter of the Catholic faith, was in conflict with Parliament, who followed the reforming principles and prayer book embodied in the new Church of England. The result was a series of civil wars. The Baptists were broadly on the side of Parliament. In Bristol one Baptist lady, Dorothy Hazard, led the women of the city to barricade the gates against the Royalist forces. Parliament was ultimately victorious, but this alliance between the Baptists was uneasy. The Baptist refusal to worship according to the Prayer Book, brought them into conflict with the authorities and their services were outlawed.
1658
The Baptists sought for a place where they could worship as they wished in secret, and from 1658 onwards one of the places they chose were the woods around Hanham, five miles outside of the city. This place had two advantages - it stood on the border of two counties, Gloucestershire, and Somerset, with a river between them that was wadable at low tide. If Somerset justices came to arrest them, they could cross the river out of their jurisdiction and vice versa. Secondly, the mining community in Hanham was lawless, a bit like the Wild West. The miners were feared by the people of Bristol and the woods sheltered outlaw gangs that made travellers wary of entering the area well into the 1800’s. The Baptists were one of the few groups that treated the miners with any humanity and a respect grew between them.
Worshipping in this way was far from easy. Their services were illegal, and pressure increased when Charles II was made king, and persecuting non-conformists became a sign of loyalty to the crown. Bristol actively tried to prevent people leaving the city to worship. Guards were placed on the gates of the city to prevent them leaving to worship on Sunday morning. Those who wanted to worship were forced to spend Saturday night camping in the woods, and there are accounts of their clothing being literally frozen to the ground. Lookouts, keeping an eye out for justices coming to arrest them was a normal part of worship. In 1683 two preachers, Mr Knight, and Mr Ford, lost their lives when they were forced into river by justices. Worshippers were committed to the assises in Gloucester and found themselves incarcerated in Gloucester jail. The Rev. George Fownes was arrested in March 1682, returning on horseback from Hanham; charged with riot and died in Gloucester jail three and a half years later.
1714
These were tough times for the Baptists, but their commitment to worshipping in Hanham and preaching to and caring for the miners continued. With the accession of the protestant William of Orange to the throne in 1689 things became easier, and in 1714 they opened their first, legal, chapel building, on the site of our current church hall, predating any other place of worship in Hanham by 25 years. One can still see the significance of the church to the community in the way that so many rights-of-way centre on it
1739
The practice of the Baptist field preachers hadn’t gone unnoticed. Although preaching outside of a consecrated church buildings was an anathema to almost all ordained ministers, some picked up on the overriding to preach to those outside of the church, and in 1739 the preacher, George Whitfield, preached to crowds of miners in the vicinity of the church. He convinced a friend of his, one John Wesley, to try it out. Wesley was sceptical regarding the practice, but his experience in Hanham changed his mind, and from that point the exponential growth of the Methodist revival can be charted, with repercussions throughout the world. Today Hanham Mount, a short distance behind the church is a Methodist World Heritage site, but its dedication stone is inscribed to, “the Field Preachers 1658-1739”, showing the wider significance of what was begun there.
1800 -1900
In 1802 Hanham was set up as a church independent from its mother church in the centre of Bristol. For many years Hanham Baptist Church was twinned with the Baptist Church in Keynsham sharing a minister, and the record recounts that the minister was paid a special allowance for a pony and trap to take him between the two churches.
In the early 1900s land to the west of the church became available and was purchased and a new church was erected, opening in 1907. This is the present main church building. Original pictures show this to have been a tall gothic style building, of the type common at that time, but a fire in 1958 lead to the lowering of the roof, and the rebuilding of the front of the church in what was an exciting modernist style.
20 & 21st C
The subsequent ravages of time on the building led to it being remodelled inside, and an engineer in the church, Robin Argile, saw the possibility of removing its internal supporting pillars to make the much more open space that we have today.
The front of the building was also found to need of attention, and in 2012 the front foyer was added, which has been greatly used by the church and community.
In the meantime, the Old Chapel had fallen into serious disrepair, showing its great age, and was demolished and our “New Hall” was opened in 1972, with a wooden beam taken from the original Old Baptist Chapel being built into one of the walls
Final Thought
One final comment worth making related to the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020-22. During that time lockdowns meant that for a year we were not allowed to meet as a physical congregation. During that time great use was made of other ways of being church. Meetings were held on streaming services, and social media as well as great use being made of the telephone and letters to keep people in touch. I mention this because the whole of our history underscores that the church of God doesn’t rely on buildings but is all about the people of God coming together to worship him and love each other. Our history contains persecution, death, and sorrow, but it also a testimony to the faithfulness of God. Many mistakes have been made along the way, but the true church of God – his people – are still committed to worshipping him and making his love known in Hanham and beyond.
So, who are the Baptists and where did they come from?
1640
The Baptists as a group developed in Britain in the 1640s, coming out of the Reformation in Europe. This was a time when life in this country was in turmoil. The king, a supporter of the Catholic faith, was in conflict with Parliament, who followed the reforming principles and prayer book embodied in the new Church of England. The result was a series of civil wars. The Baptists were broadly on the side of Parliament. In Bristol one Baptist lady, Dorothy Hazard, led the women of the city to barricade the gates against the Royalist forces. Parliament was ultimately victorious, but this alliance between the Baptists was uneasy. The Baptist refusal to worship according to the Prayer Book, brought them into conflict with the authorities and their services were outlawed.
The Baptists sought for a place where they could worship as they wished in secret, and from 1658 onwards one of the places they chose were the woods around Hanham, five miles outside of the city. This place had two advantages - it stood on the border of two counties, Gloucestershire, and Somerset, with a river between them that was wadable at low tide. If Somerset justices came to arrest them, they could cross the river out of their jurisdiction and vice versa. Secondly, the mining community in Hanham was lawless, a bit like the Wild West. The miners were feared by the people of Bristol and the woods sheltered outlaw gangs that made travellers wary of entering the area well into the 1800’s. The Baptists were one of the few groups that treated the miners with any humanity and a respect grew between them.
Worshipping in this way was far from easy. Their services were illegal, and pressure increased when Charles II was made king, and persecuting non-conformists became a sign of loyalty to the crown. Bristol actively tried to prevent people leaving the city to worship. Guards were placed on the gates of the city to prevent them leaving to worship on Sunday morning. Those who wanted to worship were forced to spend Saturday night camping in the woods, and there are accounts of their clothing being literally frozen to the ground. Lookouts, keeping an eye out for justices coming to arrest them was a normal part of worship. In 1683 two preachers, Mr Knight, and Mr Ford, lost their lives when they were forced into river by justices. Worshippers were committed to the assises in Gloucester and found themselves incarcerated in Gloucester jail. The Rev. George Fownes was arrested in March 1682, returning on horseback from Hanham; charged with riot and died in Gloucester jail three and a half years later.
These were tough times for the Baptists, but their commitment to worshipping in Hanham and preaching to and caring for the miners continued. With the accession of the protestant William of Orange to the throne in 1689 things became easier, and in 1714 they opened their first, legal, chapel building, on the site of our current church hall, predating any other place of worship in Hanham by 25 years. One can still see the significance of the church to the community in the way that so many rights-of-way centre on it
1739
The practice of the Baptist field preachers hadn’t gone unnoticed. Although preaching outside of a consecrated church buildings was an anathema to almost all ordained ministers, some picked up on the overriding to preach to those outside of the church, and in 1739 the preacher, George Whitfield, preached to crowds of miners in the vicinity of the church. He convinced a friend of his, one John Wesley, to try it out. Wesley was sceptical regarding the practice, but his experience in Hanham changed his mind, and from that point the exponential growth of the Methodist revival can be charted, with repercussions throughout the world. Today Hanham Mount, a short distance behind the church is a Methodist World Heritage site, but its dedication stone is inscribed to, “the Field Preachers 1658-1739”, showing the wider significance of what was begun there.
In 1802 Hanham was set up as a church independent from its mother church in the centre of Bristol. For many years Hanham Baptist Church was twinned with the Baptist Church in Keynsham sharing a minister, and the record recounts that the minister was paid a special allowance for a pony and trap to take him between the two churches.
In the early 1900s land to the west of the church became available and was purchased and a new church was erected, opening in 1907. This is the present main church building. Original pictures show this to have been a tall gothic style building, of the type common at that time, but a fire in 1958 lead to the lowering of the roof, and the rebuilding of the front of the church in what was an exciting modernist style.
20 & 21st C
The subsequent ravages of time on the building led to it being remodelled inside, and an engineer in the church, Robin Argile, saw the possibility of removing its internal supporting pillars to make the much more open space that we have today.
In the meantime, the Old Chapel had fallen into serious disrepair, showing its great age, and was demolished and our “New Hall” was opened in 1972, with a wooden beam taken from the original Old Baptist Chapel being built into one of the walls
Final Thought
One final comment worth making related to the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020-22. During that time lockdowns meant that for a year we were not allowed to meet as a physical congregation. During that time great use was made of other ways of being church. Meetings were held on streaming services, and social media as well as great use being made of the telephone and letters to keep people in touch. I mention this because the whole of our history underscores that the church of God doesn’t rely on buildings but is all about the people of God coming together to worship him and love each other. Our history contains persecution, death, and sorrow, but it also a testimony to the faithfulness of God. Many mistakes have been made along the way, but the true church of God – his people – are still committed to worshipping him and making his love known in Hanham and beyond.
Hanham Baptist Church Historical Photos
Add a historical photo
Put me to what You will
Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will. Let be employed by You or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things, let me have nothing, I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it. Amen.
Hanham Baptist Church listing was last updated on the 1st of November, 2023
