A small stone-built chapel, originally built for the Strict Baptists in 1872 and acquired for Catholic use in 1941. The interior is plain and contains no furnishings of particular note; the primary significance of the church lies in its contribution to the street scene and conservation area. 

Mass was said in Tetbury from 1881 to 1883 by Fr Francis Larive, a missionary of St Francis de Sales based at Malmesbury. In the First World War many evacuees arrived from Belgium and again a priest came over from Malmesbury to say Mass. With the dispersal of the Belgian community after the war, no permanent building was established for Catholic worship. This only happened in 1931 when York House in Silver Street was purchased, served from Malmesbury and Devizes. The Second World War brought more evacuees. More suitable premises were found when the Zoar Strict Baptist Chapel was put on the market in 1941 and Fr Harrison, the parish priest, purchased it for £820. A parish hall was built in 1965 and a sacristy extension built in about 1988. The Fransalians continued to serve Tetbury until 1995, when care of the parish passed to diocesan priests.

Description

The church was built in 1872 as a Baptist chapel, and is built of local limestone under a tile roof. The elevation to the street has three round-headed windows and a blind oculus in the gable. Urns are placed on pedestals above the kneelers on either side at the springing of the gable parapet, and there is a cross at the apex. The side windows are square-headed. The church is entered via a later flat-roofed porch with a stepped parapet. The interior is plain, with a wide uninterrupted space for the nave and a canted roof whose form is repeated in the arch separating the nave from the shallow sanctuary. The walls are plastered and painted and the floors carpeted. There are no fittings or furnishings requiring special mention. 

Heritage Details