Prestbury

Contents & Site Map

Prestbury Congregational Church 1866-1972
Prestbury United Reformed Church 1972 - present day

Prestbury Congregational Chapel was founded in 1866 by Highbury Congregational Church in Cheltenham to provide a centre for non-conformist worship in the village. The foundation stone was laid in 1865 by a member of the Wills tobacco family.

In 1972, the United Reformed Church (URC) was formed as a union of the Congregational Church of England and Wales, the Presbyterian Church of England and the Churches of Christ. Prestbury, like Warden Hill Congregational Church, voted to join the URC.

In 1991 Prestbury, Warden Hill and St Andrew's URC Churches joined together to form a team ministry, the United Reformed Church in Cheltenham (URCiC).

Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths

The Church records are deposited at Gloucester Record Office in class D8273. Until the late 20th Century there was never a formal baptism register and records of baptisms are scattered throughout the Church minute books. Sometimes all there that can be found is a note to the fact that permission was given for a child to be baptised on a certain date.

Marriages have only been conducted at the church since the early 20th Century. The Minute books will either mention that a couple were married or that they applied for permission to marry in church. Sometimes their relationship to members of the congregation is mentioned. The old marriage registers are held at Gloucester.

There is no burial ground at Prestbury but funerals do take place. Members are either buried at St Mary's, Prestbury or buried or cremated at Cheltenham Cemetery and Crematorium on Bouncers Lane. Again the minute books have random records of deaths or a formal minuting of the death.

Church Papers as a source for Family Historians

The Minute books contain all details of events in the life of the church with the names of members of the congregation appearing throughout. There are also formal lists of Church Members with dates of admission and removal. Many photographs, newspaper cuttings and orders of service have been deposited.

Websites

United Reformed Church in Cheltenham (URCiC) website : www.urcic.org.uk

Prestbury pages : www.urcic.org.uk/prestburyURC.php
St Andrew's pages : www.urcic.org.uk/standrewsURC.php
Warden Hill pages: www.urcic.org.uk/wardenhillURC.php

Return to top of page

[The above account was very kindly contributed by Fiona Hall on 26th January 2008.
See Gloucestershire GENUKI Service Providers for contact details]

© Copyright GENUKI and Contributors 1996-2009, &c.
GENUKI is a registered trade mark of the charitable trust GENUKI, see About GENUKI as an Organisation

Are you lost in the Genuki hierarchy or arrived here from a Search Engine?
If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.

URL of this page: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/GLS/Prestbury/UnitedReformedChurch.html