Our History

The Tabernacle was built in 1741 as a meeting house and school room for the congregation of preachers George Whitfield and John Cennick. Whitfield commissioned it to provide a warm and safe place for the people of Kingswood to get together to study, sing, make music, and to be fed and cared for. It is the oldest surviving building built for one of the group of Anglican preachers who became known as the ‘Methodists’ and who were so active in the Bristol area during the 18th Century.

Whitfield studied at Oxford University with brothers John and Charles Wesley. Together they were active non-conformist preachers in and around Kingswood. Non-conformists were protestant Christians, who didn’t agree with all the rules of the established Anglican Church of England. Instead, they famously took gospel to the people using open-air preaching methods with theatrical sermons and hymn singing.

They formed part of the Evangelical Revival, which was the establishment of new denominations such as the Methodists, Moravians, and Calvinists. John Wesley was the founder of one of these new denominations, Methodism. 

The 18th Century was a time of great political change with many wars, rapid population growth and the agricultural revolution. It also harboured the beginnings of international trade with an increasing gap between the rich and poor leading to extreme poverty. Kingswood was known as a lawless and godless place with many gangs such as the well-known Cock Road Gang. These factors led to many people living and working in dreadful conditions, especially as many locals working in the dirty and dangerous coal mines.

Methodist preachers believe that all people are worthy of God and a good life even if they don’t attend Church. The aim of the early Methodist preachers was to improve living conditions through social reform from the bottom up. They believed that community engagement through education, societies, music, and welfare would support personal development and enrichment. They preached in the open air to the coal miners of Hanham whilst encouraging singing of hymns and playing music together. The importance of hygiene was taught, they visited prisoners, and gave money and medication to the poor and needy. Word of their teachings spread very quickly, often preaching to hundreds of people at a time. Their following continued to grow and soon they were able to build their first meeting rooms. John Wesley’s New Rooms were built in Bristol in 1739 and later the Tabernacle in Kingswood.

This was the origin of the Methodist Church which John Wesley founded, taking influence and advice from his fellow preachers and the remarkable and pivotal experiences he had in Kingswood. His brother Charles was a prolific hymn-writer, notably writing the Christmas Carol “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. The Wesley brothers travelled throughout Britain and later to America converting followers to the Methodist revival through preaching and hymn-singing.

You may know the famous John Wesley quote which he lived by and preached:

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

Whitfield’s beliefs and methods of preaching varied from the way of Wesley’s Methodism, developing into the Calvinistic Methodists.

Extended in both 1802 and 1830

The Tabernacle meeting rooms soon became too small for the growing congregation.  In 1851, a new bigger church was built next door called the Masters Church. The church served the Kingswood community for more than one hundred years until attendances fell. It closed its door in 1983 following an arson attack. 

The Tabernacle, the Masters Church, the Chapel House and the surrounding graveyard fell quickly into disrepair. Although attempts were made to restore it, all were unsuccessful until recently when funding was obtained, and work started.

The Tabernacle is listed as a Grade 1 building and the Chapel House as a Grade 2. This means that it is very important that they are retained for its architectural interest and for the part they played in the religious revolution that changed the world and founded Methodism.

In 2017 a group of local people and Kingswood councillors established the Whitfield Tabernacle Trust with the aim of saving the building and preserving its historical significance. Working in collaboration with South Gloucestershire Council and the West of England Combined Authority, the Tabernacle is now wholly owned by the Whitfield Tabernacle Trust who acquired the building in January 2019. Although preserving this historically significant building has always been a priority of the Trust, it is a fundamental contributor to the greater regeneration of Kingswood, and to reconnect the community with its history. 

Recognising the Tabernacle’s history, education will be an important aspect of its future use, and the building will be brought back to life for arts, education, heritage and community. The aim of the Trust is to save and develop Kingswood’s Tabernacle building to provide a unique and flexible space to support a mixture of community and creative activities for people of all religions or no religion at all to support events that will attract the interest of people ‘around the corner and around the world’.

Work began on the building in 2020 and now the first phase of work is complete with the building stabilised, a brand-new roof and windows and restored internal columns. The outside is now fully restored with the next phase of work inside the building starting soon. The plan is to open in 2025.

It has never been the intention of the Trust to restore The Tabernacle as a monument to George Whitfield, but instead to use it to tell the story of all the 18th Century preachers who came to Kingswood, and their significant role in the growth of the non-conformist church and social reform. As the outstanding preacher of his time, and considering his influence on others such as John Wesley, George Whitfield played a significant part in the history of Kingswood and the church.