3 hours ago
7
Work is about to begin repairing an unused city centre church in Bristol, which is believed to be the burial place of the slave trader Edward Colston.
After the work on the roof of All Saints is completed, the building may be deconsecrated, turned into a community resource and the remains of Colston could be removed.
The problem of how to address places and objects associated with Colston has long troubled Bristol and made headlines around the world when his statue was thrown into the harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.
For decades, the Diocese of Bristol has considered what to do about All Saints, which has been closed to the public since 1984.
Some Bristol churchgoers have expressed concern at the idea of repairing the roof, which is likely to cost about £500,000, when the fabric of other churches with active congregations needs improving.
But on Thursday, the diocese said it was legally required to fix the roof to protect public safety. Work would begin in the next few weeks and take about six months.
It also said that the first stage of a consultation exploring the future of All Saints had finished and several potential uses for it had been identified.
The diocese said: “These proposals will be explored and developed further in the second phase of the consultation. The first stage of the consultation engaged with members of Bristol’s African-Caribbean heritage communities, as well as other stakeholders whose work and/or knowledge was deemed relevant to the issue.”
The Right Rev Neil Warwick, the bishop of Swindon and the acting bishop of Bristol, said: “The completion of the first stage of the consultation marks an important step in listening, learning and discerning the most appropriate way forward for the building.”
The diocese said the consultation had involved interviews, focus groups, artistic responses, visits to the building and surveys to gather opinions on the church’s future.
The possibility of demolishing All Saints had been considered in the past, it said, but was considered too costly as the church shares walls with neighbouring businesses and homes.
An attempt to sell the building failed because prospective buyers were worried about the scale of refurbishing it. There were informal discussions with Bristol city council to turn the building into a museum, but the local authority had not wanted to do this.
The diocese refused to set out what the options now were, but a church report published last year suggested re-utilising the building as a resource “so that it might contribute towards the Diocese of Bristol’s desire to lament, repent and repair relations.”
In this scenario, it is possible that Colston’s remains could be exhumed, artefacts removed and the ground deconsecrated.
After the Colston statue was thrown into the harbour, windows celebrating him were removed from two Bristol churches. The diocese said the fall of the statue was a “signal” for it to take action.
In the same year, Bristol’s concert hall was renamed Bristol Beacon, having previously been called Colston Hall. In 2024, the Colston statue was moved to a tucked-away corner of a Bristol museum.
