St Ambrose's Church, Bristol

The church originated as a mission initiative from the city-centre parish of St John the Baptist (St John's-on-the-Wall) in response to population decline in the historic centre and rapid housing development and industrialisation in east Bristol. A mission district was formed in 1904 from the northern part of St George parish, with a small area also drawn from that of St Matthew's Church, and work began on a site overlooking St George Park. A building fund was established in 1906, and a formal building committee followed in 1908, amid difficulties with ground conditions which required deep and expensive foundations. Phelps was a Wiltshire-born clergyman and former schoolmaster, educated at…

The building is constructed in squared red Pennant stone with limestone dressings under tiled roofs, and is planned around an aisled nave and broad chancel, with a south porch and a south tower. A distinctive octagonal leaded lantern with a small dome formerly rose over the chancel arch, and the sanctuary incorporates a set of three sedilia. In 1958 a new altar and frontal were installed as a memorial to the Rev. Ernest Swann, described as being made of teak with a cloth of gold frontal and given by an anonymous donor. In 1980 the church received a set of newly made kneelers produced over a two-year period by a volunteer group within the congregation, with designs said to draw on biblical…