Barnard Street Church Archive

This collection contains documents and materials relating to Barnard Street Church, Salisbury. There are documents concerning the history of the church and congregation, as well as a large number of administrative documents. A pamphlet on the history of Barnard Street Church and an assembly register from 1921-c.1931 are included within the documents concerning the history of the church and congregation. The administrative documents follow the church from its purchase of the Barnard Street Gospel Hall, in 1929, through building and committee developments to 1990. Included are deeds, correspondence with solicitors, documents relating to the establishment of the church, building plans and other administrative materials.

The building that would later become Barnard Street Church was built in 1875 and named Barnards Cross Mission Hall. With a large main hall and fourteen classrooms, the hall was built for the religious and general education of children, with a board of trustees comprised of representatives from 6 different churches. One of these trustees, Mr Edward Ware, appears to have left his original church and moved to become a prominent member of the emerging Open Brethren congregation by 1888.

This congregation met in a dilapidated building bought by Mr Ware until 1894 when it appears that he sold the building and the church began to look for new accommodation. The church then moved to a building known as City Hall, also financed by Mr Ware, and this was where the Open Brethren convened between 1894 and 1917. Mr Ware died in 1906 and the congregation suffered financial hardship in the years after his death. In 1917 the church left City Hall, which was now under the ownership of Mr Ware’s son, Hubert. In addition to financial issues, this may be due to the lease of the building, by enterprising Hubert Ware, for use by entertainment groups; this greatly offended the church elders. The assembly was then offered the use of the Barnards Cross Mission Hall on Sundays and an additional weeknight for £10 a year; this arrangement continued until 1923. The unspiritual use of the hall by other groups once again led the assembly to leave their permanent accommodation and thus followed a period of meeting in temporary and short term accommodation. Sometimes members would attend services at other churches; this period of instability greatly upset some members.

In 1928, 2 prominent members of the congregation, William Hall and Alfred Hammond, purchased a piece of land for development when sufficient funds were raised. However, at the end of the year the opportunity arose for the church to purchase the Barnards Cross Mission Hall. In 1929, Mr Hall bought the Mission Hall for the sum of £840, a great deal more than the £700 that he had been instructed to bid up to. However, Hubert Ware promised to help fund the purchase of the building, perhaps in his father’s memory.

There were 4 trustees of the hall in 1929: William Hall, Alfred Hammond, Charles Northam and John Saville. They continued to serve as trustees until 1960 when the only surviving member of the board was Mr Hall. Thus, in 1960 5 new trustees were appointed, namely A.J. Emm, L.S. Palmer, H.W. Fleming, W.L. Foster and A. Dent.

Floor plans indicate that Barnards Cross Mission Hall underwent several redevelopments between 1929 and 1981; there are also plans for major building work from 1981 included in the collection. It is unclear whether this work was completed, as minutes from 1987 show that further essential building work was needed; the entire planned development was very costly, considering the size of the congregation. In 1984 the name of the church was changed from Barnard’s Cross Gospel Hall (which appears to have been used interchangeably with Barnard’s Cross Mission Hall) to Barnard Street Church.

The church’s activities remained relatively similar over the years, consisting of a meeting to observe the Lord's Supper, usually on Sunday mornings; weeknight meetings for prayer and Bible study; and, whenever possible, meetings or Sunday schools for children. Public outreach consisted of outdoor meetings, with preachers from surrounding churches enlisted for this job. New members of the church were highly valued and cared for, though to be considered for baptism members needed to demonstrate “real evidence of faith and upright living”. The church also provided for its poorer members, in the form of monetary or coal donations.

Barnard Street Church closed around 2015.

• BSC/1 - Documents concerning the history of the church and congregation
• BSC/2 Administrative documents

The collection is open to any accredited reader.

The collection includes material which is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the Act 2018 (DPA), The University of Manchester Library (UML) holds the right to process personal data for archiving and research purposes. In accordance with the DPA, UML has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately. Users of the archive are expected to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018, and will be required to sign a form acknowledging that they will abide by the requirements of the Act in any further processing of the material by themselves.

This collection was donated by David Roberts in 2015.

Photocopies and photographic copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

A number of items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.

Prior written permission must be obtained from the Library for publication or reproduction of any material within the archive. Please contact the Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH.

None expected