St Swithin's Walcot Bath Somerset
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Who we are
Welcome to St Swithin’s, a welcoming Anglican church in Bath.
We are a diverse community who gather together to worship God and encourage one another in our faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to join with us as we build a ‘Home of Grace in the Heart of the City’.
At St Swithin’s we seek to build community, to deepen our relationship with God and to engage in serving our local community (including St Andrew’s School) and the wider world.
You are most welcome to come in during the week to our café (open 10.00am - 3.00pm Tuesday- Saturday, except Thursday when we are open 12noon - 3.00pm) to meet us personally and find out more. Our Sunday morning service starts at 10.00am and is followed by coffee in the Crypt
We look forwarding to meeting you.
We are a diverse community who gather together to worship God and encourage one another in our faith in Jesus Christ. We welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to join with us as we build a ‘Home of Grace in the Heart of the City’.
At St Swithin’s we seek to build community, to deepen our relationship with God and to engage in serving our local community (including St Andrew’s School) and the wider world.
You are most welcome to come in during the week to our café (open 10.00am - 3.00pm Tuesday- Saturday, except Thursday when we are open 12noon - 3.00pm) to meet us personally and find out more. Our Sunday morning service starts at 10.00am and is followed by coffee in the Crypt
We look forwarding to meeting you.
Street Address
St Swithin's Church
The Paragon
Bath,
Somerset
BA1 5LY
The Paragon
United Kingdom
Phone: 01225 789168
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Church Pastor
Rev Timothy Gleghorn
Rector
St Swithin's Church
The Paragon
Bath,
Somerset
BA1 5LY
The Paragon
United Kingdom
Phone: 01225 789168
Download Rector Rev Timothy Gleghorn vCard
Click here to contact Rev Timothy Gleghorn
Denomination
Anglican Church
Affiliations
Church Website
St Swithin's Walcot on Social Media
Leadership
Leader Name:
Rev Timothy Gleghorn
Leader Position:
Rector
Formal Title:
Leader Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Leader Email:
Click here to contact Rev Timothy Gleghorn
Leader Bio:
Rev Timothy Gleghorn on Social Media:
Other Church Leaders:
Esther Smith - Curate
Leadership Photos
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Administration
Admin Name:
Sandy Gooding
Admin Position:
Parish Secretary
Admin Address:
St Swithin's Church
The Paragon
Bath
BA1 5LY
The Paragon
Bath
BA1 5LY
Phone:
Fax:
Admin Email:
Click here to contact Sandy Gooding
Mailing Address
Driving Directions
Travel/Direction Tips
St Swithin’s is situated on the A4 The Paragon (Roman Road), at the meeting point with Walcot Street (A3039). Traffic can get very congested coming into central Bath, especially on the A4 London Road and you may need to allow extra time to negotiate traffic.
Parking
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St Swithin's Walcot Service Times
10.00 am
Every Sunday, a contemporary service for all ages. Communion is shared every first and fourth Sunday
6.30 pm Evening Service
Please check first page for current evening services
Space
Occasional Sundays - 6.30pm for 7.00 pm
Please check with the Church Office for forthcoming date/s
It's been more than 7 years 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
Every Sunday, a contemporary service for all ages. Communion is shared every first and fourth Sunday
6.30 pm Evening Service
Please check first page for current evening services
Space
Occasional Sundays - 6.30pm for 7.00 pm
Please check with the Church Office for forthcoming date/s
It's been more than 7 years 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:
Sunday Youth & Children's Groups
We run four different groups for the children and young people on Sundays. Each term the team plans a theme for all the groups to follow. A time of worship together in the crypt is a vital part of each Sunday before the children split into their groups.
A dedicated team of helpers run the Crèche every Sunday during the 10am service for the 0-3s, so that parents can enjoy the main service upstairs. For those parents who wish to stay with their children the service is relayed through a sound system to the crèche.
Our primary school groups are split between the Bubbles group, for 4-7 year olds and the Light Sharers for the 7-11 year olds. The groups are run by a small team of leaders, many of whom also have primary school teaching experience. They work as a team to creatively design the children’s work programmes.
The Youth meet on Sunday morning on the sofas in the church café. This provides an informal setting for young people to go deeper in their faith, learning to share their faith with their peers, and to explore together how to deal with the issues facing teens today, all with the support and guidance of the Bible. The young people are encouraged to become active members of the church family and take roles in the welcome, worship bands and within the services.
We run four different groups for the children and young people on Sundays. Each term the team plans a theme for all the groups to follow. A time of worship together in the crypt is a vital part of each Sunday before the children split into their groups.
A dedicated team of helpers run the Crèche every Sunday during the 10am service for the 0-3s, so that parents can enjoy the main service upstairs. For those parents who wish to stay with their children the service is relayed through a sound system to the crèche.
Our primary school groups are split between the Bubbles group, for 4-7 year olds and the Light Sharers for the 7-11 year olds. The groups are run by a small team of leaders, many of whom also have primary school teaching experience. They work as a team to creatively design the children’s work programmes.
The Youth meet on Sunday morning on the sofas in the church café. This provides an informal setting for young people to go deeper in their faith, learning to share their faith with their peers, and to explore together how to deal with the issues facing teens today, all with the support and guidance of the Bible. The young people are encouraged to become active members of the church family and take roles in the welcome, worship bands and within the services.
Local outreach & community activities
Other activities & ministries
Special Needs/Accessibility
Prayers and Hymns
Main Bible:
Hymns and Songs:
Other information
Average Adult Congregation:
Average Youth Congregation:
Additional Info:
St Swithin's Walcot Church Bath Photos
St Swithin's Walcot - Bath, Somerset
Sunday at St Swithin's
The sanctuary
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St Swithin's Walcot History
Our History
In the beginning
Christian witness may have taken place on this site since Roman times. The first church was built soon after 971 AD and dedicated to the memory of Swithin, Bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. The foundations of this Saxon church lie beneath the floor of the crypt.
In medieval times Walcot was a hamlet outside the walls of Bath. It was taken within the enlarged city boundary in 1590.
The Saxon church was badly damaged by storms in 1739. John Wood, the architect who led the astonishing expansion of Bath in the mid 18th Century, put forward plans for a replacement, but a design by the then Churchwarden, Robert Smith, was selected instead. This church, completed in 1742, was soon swamped by the rapid growth of Georgian Bath’s elegant ‘Upper Town’, and John Palmer (architect of Lansdown Crescent) was commissioned to build a new one.
A new church
Palmer’s new church was consecrated in 1777. Within ten years it also became too small, and Palmer extended it eastwards by two bays. A classical spire, added in 1790 to the existing tower, completed his design. St Swithin’s became the parish church of Georgian Bath. Today it is the only remaining 18th Century parish church in the city.
During the 19th Century the rich and famous worshipped here. Many of them are commemorated by memorials inside the church. As space for burials ran out, a new cemetery was opened on Lansdown in 1848 on land attached to William Beckford’s tower which was conveyed to the then Rector by Beckford’s daughter, the Duchess of Hamilton.
In the Victorian era St Saviour’s, St Stephen’s, Holy Trinity and St Andrew’s were built as daughter churches to accommodate the growing population of the parish. All except the last eventually became independent parishes. The present-day parish extends from Royal Crescent in the west to Snow Hill in the east.
Under Christ’s influence
In the 1840s a stained glass window depicting the Ascension was inserted in the east wall.
In 1881 a landslip destroyed 175 houses opposite the church (where Hedgemead Park is now). The church building suffered too and had to be strengthened. In 1891 the east end was re-ordered in line with contemporary thinking about church design. Most of these alterations disappeared in subsequent refurbishments, except for the shallow sanctuary which projects discreetly over Walcot Street.
In 1958 a programme of changes included a new east window to replace the one blown out during the bombing of Bath in 1942. The replacement window maintains the Ascension theme, with the church itself depicted at the feet of Christ.
The exterior of the church was cleaned and repaired in the 1990s. Major restoration of the interior in 2008/9 provided a light, airy worship space which respects Palmer’s original designs, linked by a new staircase to the fully redeveloped crypt. Together they form the hub for continuing Christian witness to the local community.
In the beginning
Christian witness may have taken place on this site since Roman times. The first church was built soon after 971 AD and dedicated to the memory of Swithin, Bishop of Winchester from 852 to 862. The foundations of this Saxon church lie beneath the floor of the crypt.
The Saxon church was badly damaged by storms in 1739. John Wood, the architect who led the astonishing expansion of Bath in the mid 18th Century, put forward plans for a replacement, but a design by the then Churchwarden, Robert Smith, was selected instead. This church, completed in 1742, was soon swamped by the rapid growth of Georgian Bath’s elegant ‘Upper Town’, and John Palmer (architect of Lansdown Crescent) was commissioned to build a new one.
A new church
Palmer’s new church was consecrated in 1777. Within ten years it also became too small, and Palmer extended it eastwards by two bays. A classical spire, added in 1790 to the existing tower, completed his design. St Swithin’s became the parish church of Georgian Bath. Today it is the only remaining 18th Century parish church in the city.
During the 19th Century the rich and famous worshipped here. Many of them are commemorated by memorials inside the church. As space for burials ran out, a new cemetery was opened on Lansdown in 1848 on land attached to William Beckford’s tower which was conveyed to the then Rector by Beckford’s daughter, the Duchess of Hamilton.
Under Christ’s influence
In the 1840s a stained glass window depicting the Ascension was inserted in the east wall.
In 1881 a landslip destroyed 175 houses opposite the church (where Hedgemead Park is now). The church building suffered too and had to be strengthened. In 1891 the east end was re-ordered in line with contemporary thinking about church design. Most of these alterations disappeared in subsequent refurbishments, except for the shallow sanctuary which projects discreetly over Walcot Street.
In 1958 a programme of changes included a new east window to replace the one blown out during the bombing of Bath in 1942. The replacement window maintains the Ascension theme, with the church itself depicted at the feet of Christ.
The exterior of the church was cleaned and repaired in the 1990s. Major restoration of the interior in 2008/9 provided a light, airy worship space which respects Palmer’s original designs, linked by a new staircase to the fully redeveloped crypt. Together they form the hub for continuing Christian witness to the local community.
St Swithin's Walcot Historical Photos
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"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God".Brother Lawrence
St Swithin's Walcot listing was last updated on the 18th of August, 2017
