Papers of the Bristol Moravian Church

The collection consists of printed liturgical works and hymnaries, as well as committee minutes, congregation diaries and obituaries. The congregation diaries were kept by the members and filled out with the Church's activities for the day. The Collection contains bound resolutions and accounts of the Synods of the Renewed Moravian Church, as well as memorabilia and miscellaneous manuscripts relating to the church.

The Bristol Congregation of the Renewed Moravian Church, also called the United Brethren or Unitas Fratrum, was officially founded in 1756, though members of the Moravian Church had been settling in Bristol since 1743, and Count von Zinzendorf and his wife had visited the Brethren there in 1754.

The collection is split into two main sections, the first being printed works and the second being manuscript works. Both sections consist in the main part of bound volumes. The manuscript works paint a very detailed picture of the particular activities and social make-up of the Bristol Moravian Church, and the collection of printed works demonstrates the Moravian perception of the hymn, and the development of Renewed Moravian theology, scriptural exigesis and liturgy from the 18th to the 20th Century.

Accessible to all bona fide readers

These papers were placed on permanent loan by the Moravian Church in 1966.

Description compiled by Martin Hall, Assistant Archivist at University of Bristol Special Collections, on 4 September 2002.

Typescript catalogue available in University of Bristol Special Collections

Permission must be obtained from University of Bristol Special Collections

DM 511 - Consists of bound volume of Danckerts' Atlas of 1690, including maps by Homann and other 18th Century maps. DM 1168 - Lecture by Rev. A. Ward Jones, "The Brinkworth Circuit", including mention of John Cennick. DM 1538 - Moravian Church manuscripts relating to Jamaica, St. Kitts, Greenland, Surinam, Herrnhut, Labrador and Bristol, England.1768-1845. DM 1628 - Minute book of the Moravian Church, detailing the Women's Meeting in Hereford, between 1815-1832. Related material also includes a collection of rare books given by the Right Reverend G.W. McLeavy in 1942, once part of the library of Benjamin Latrobe. The books are primarily published in the 18th Century pertaining to the Moravian church, and a good proportion of them are in German.