St James Priory Church and Project

This is St James Priory, the home of Benedictine monks in the early 12^th century to 1540. This church was used as a place of worship for 900 years and Robert Earl of Gloucester (illegitimate grandson of William the Conqueror) found the Priory of St James in 1129.
The church was then closed down till the 20^th century and being the oldest building in Bristol, it was all alone until a woman called Susan restored it in order to help get homeless addicts off the street. I got the privilege of meeting Susan today and I could see how passionate she is and was about the project. She’s a lovely person to be around and told me the history of the church and of her journey and project.
Susan decided to raise £4m for the building and £1m to build the rehab centre in the church which unfortunately has shut down. Susan had 80 volunteers including 3 paid day workers and 1 paid night worker. She helped 1400 people who now work as officers within the community and office workers get off the street.
Susan had to cut down on her good work because the government came in and set rules that only professionals or certified workers could be part of the project which meant that she had to let her people go and continue looking after it on her own.
Although she can’t help as many people now as she did, she touched over 1000 lives with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund which she won for her passion in helping people get their lives back.
I just wanted to express how inspired I was about her story and passion to help others. This is not only a church, it’s a survival ground and it’s a ground in which people who had no faith in their lives, had faith and belief restored again. Now, that’s religion.

St James’s Priory claims to be the oldest building in Bristol. Recently restored, it has well preserved Norman arcades and an early rose window. It is now part of a charitable project offering support to vulnerable people, especially those struggling with addiction. The church has regular services led by a priest from the nearby Roman Catholic church of St Mary on the Quay.
History
The Priory was founded as a Benedictine house by Robert, Earl of Gloucester (1100 – 1147), in 1129. Robert was the illegitimate son of Henry I and a key player in the conflict between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. He is buried in the church. The church was made parochial in 1374 and the bell tower was erected in 1375, paid for by the parishioners.
The priory continued until the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII, after which the west end of the Priory Church became the parish church. Alterations included the rebuilding of the south aisle in 1698 and the north aisle in 1864. The church was declared redundant and closed in 1984. In 1993 it was reopened by the Little Brothers of Nazareth, and a project for people in need established. The church was substantially restored in 2009-​11.
The church
The west front is in many ways the most interesting: above a rubble wall (now rendered), are a row of Norman interlaced rounded blind arches, surmounted with an unusual (and very early) example of an oculus, or rose window. This consists of a circle surrounded by eight outer circles, with inter-​twined rope decoration. At te east end, the rather plain tower forms a prominent landmark from the Haymarket. The south porch (towards the west) has a short tower and is an 18^th century addition.
Inside, the nave has arcades of five bays of rounded arches on round columns with attached shafts and cushion capitals, dating from the 12^th century, albeit much restored. The roof corbels are in the form of mediaeval heads, brightly painted. The neo-​Norman west wall is 19^th century as is the inner north aisle of polished pink granite columns (the outer aisle has been separated off to provide exhibition and seminar rooms). The south aisle is more interesting and contains most of the monuments, beneath a row of large 4-​light windows and more colourful corbels.
The church has some interesting monuments: pride of place goes to that of Sir Charles Somerset (d. 1598), found through a modern door at the west end of the north aisle. There is a late 12^th or early 13^th century mediaeval effigy on the south wall under a large moulded arch. Well preserved, it is not clear whether this is in fact the tomb of its founder, as claimed on a wall plaque: his tomb of polished jasper was at the east end, which makes it unlikely. Among numerous 18^th and 19^th century wall memorials, there is an interesting brass on the east wall, surrounded by strap-​work, commemorating Henry Gibbes (d. 1636) and his family.
The church is open during weekdays for private prayer and there are regular masses.