Recording the history of the Bilson Mission Rooms and its people - the tin chapel at the edge of town.
NEWS
Laughter, singing...and just a few tears
It was a day that saw old friends and some new ones, coming together to remember a small corrugated iron building at the edge of town. Of course, the Bilson Mission 'tin chapel' was much more than just a building: it was a place of "family and fellowship", somewhere that for more than a hundred years, you could be sure of "a warm welcome", as two of the project participants described it. Saturday July 15th (2023) marked the penultimate event of a near year-long project that set out to capture the personal stories of Bilson Mission, and to research more fully its fascinating history. The day kicked off with a brief history of the early Mission, describing how it began as services in the woods for the Gypsy and Traveller people who were regularly camped on land near the Crump Meadow colliery. Under the enthusiastic stewardship of evangelist Laura Clifford a building was constructed, this later moving from the woods to Bilson Green and ten years later to what was its permanent site. It became part of the Church of England's efforts to serve the rapidly expanding population of Cinderford - an area where Non-Conformist christianity had already gained a foothold. Advancing the story on to the latter half of the twentieth century were the digital stories (short films) written and voiced by the Mission's congregation and former Sunday School pupils - the Bilson Mission Stories (you can watch these here). Such was the emotive power of these stories there were some tears amongst the audience, no doubt remembering those wonderful times of "family and fellowship" that could be found at the Mission, as well as friends and loved ones associated with it who are no longer with us. There was also much laughter throughout the day too, as old friends were reunited with fond memories and smiles. As well as an exhibition that told the story of the Mission and its place in Cinderford history, there were artefacts on display that had been rescued from the building before it was sadly demolished in February. The hope is that some of these will find a new home at the Dean Heritage Centre. Plenty of coffee, tea and cake were consumed on the day, brilliantly provided by the Forest Brass catering team. The day was rounded off by communal singing of hymns selected and introduced by Bilson stalwart and lay reader Lynne Chaundy - all connected to the celebrations and people of the Mission.
So, that's the project almost concluded. Sometime in the Autumn/Winter the project will be launching its book, The Tin Chapel at the Edge of Town: the Bilson Mission story. We'll keep you posted and hope to see you at the launch!
So, that's the project almost concluded. Sometime in the Autumn/Winter the project will be launching its book, The Tin Chapel at the Edge of Town: the Bilson Mission story. We'll keep you posted and hope to see you at the launch!
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Cinderford Community Exhibition
Check back on this page in the coming weeks as we add more detail to the plans for the day. Here's the outline so far...
10.30am Event opening with refreshments and biscuits.
11.00am The story of the Bilson Mission, a presentation by Dr Roger Deeks and Dr Jason Griffiths of Voices from the Forest UOG
12.00pm Bilson Mission Stories: short films made by the Bilson community remembering the Mission, Sunday school and its people.
3.00pm Bilson Mission’s Favourite Hymns presented by Lynne Chaundy and choir.
3.30pm Afternoon tea, coffee and cake.
4.30pm Close
11.00am The story of the Bilson Mission, a presentation by Dr Roger Deeks and Dr Jason Griffiths of Voices from the Forest UOG
12.00pm Bilson Mission Stories: short films made by the Bilson community remembering the Mission, Sunday school and its people.
3.00pm Bilson Mission’s Favourite Hymns presented by Lynne Chaundy and choir.
3.30pm Afternoon tea, coffee and cake.
4.30pm Close
History on Our Doorstep
This week (w/c 12th June) Voices from the Forest worked with Forest High School, Cinderford to explore the history of the town and the arrival of Bilson Mission in the 1880’s. Fifty children from year 7 listened to the poetry of Catherine Drew and discovered how it revealed the story of the town during a turbulent era of growth and expansion. They discovered how roads, tramways and coal transformed the landscape, and listened to oral histories recalling the competition between dissenters and the Anglican Church. We discussed how chapels and churches emerged on the landscape and how the Bilson Mission was first established to evangelise gypsies in Trafalgar Wood. Finally, we mapped how the Bilson Mission building was reconstructed - twice - on two subsequent sites near the Upper Bilson Inn.
We're returning to the school in a few weeks and between now and then Staff and students are researching a church, chapel, tin building or industrial site near them. It is great that the school can make these links to their town to show how the events and impacts of the industrial revolution played out in their own neighbourhood.
We're returning to the school in a few weeks and between now and then Staff and students are researching a church, chapel, tin building or industrial site near them. It is great that the school can make these links to their town to show how the events and impacts of the industrial revolution played out in their own neighbourhood.
Bilson Mission Stories
Over the past months we've been collaborating with a number of people - locally and some now further afield - who used to attend Bilson Mission and its Sunday school. The result is a series of short films that were launched (on March 8th '23) at a special premiere screening event in Cinderford. The audience - made up of those who contributed their stories, their family and friends - were treated to twelve rich and evocative, 'digital story' films about the people of the Bilson Mission and its surrounding community. The films were made by bringing together each person's self-penned script with personal photographs, as well as artworks and artefacts. The resulting films are a testament to the strong community and fellowship (as one of the film contributors accurately describes it) of the Bilson Mission. They are an invaluable and permanent record of memories and history of the Mission. Click on the image below to go to the page with all twelve films to watch.
Farewell to the Tin Chapel at the Edge of Town
Last week we heard that Bilson Mission Church the ‘tin tabernacle’ that closed in 2018 would be demolished. In the five years since it was closed the building has deteriorated. In poor condition, several attempts to find an alternative use for this historic landmark have failed. We were allowed a last visit to the building and met Harry Fox whose family of carpenters had worked on the Mission for most of its lifetime. Looking at the empty building Harry explained the various changes and extensions that had transformed the simple hut with four windows into a chapel and school room. In the few months we have been researching the Mission it has become clear that the Church and Sunday School was a formative experience for many generations of people in Bilson.
The demolition will be a blow to the few older surviving members of the congregation who kept the Mission building in good order for so many years. However, the fate of many religious buildings has been to see them become domestic homes and loose the purpose and identity that gave them meaning. The Mission was only ever a temporary building, although it has lasted for over 140 years. One of the complicating factors in trying to determine a future for the Mission was the land it stands on - it was never owned by the Diocese, it was rented from Forestry England (Forestry Commission). We hope the space where the Bilson Mission building stood can be preserved as a green public amenity space with a commemoration to the remarkable building that once stood there and through which so many young people passed.
Rather than post some sad photographs of the building waiting for the demolition contractors, here are a few that illustrate the life and vitality of the old Mission Church.
Our mission to research, record and preserve the history of the building, its mission and the people that passed through its doors continues. Watch this space for news of more to come...
The demolition will be a blow to the few older surviving members of the congregation who kept the Mission building in good order for so many years. However, the fate of many religious buildings has been to see them become domestic homes and loose the purpose and identity that gave them meaning. The Mission was only ever a temporary building, although it has lasted for over 140 years. One of the complicating factors in trying to determine a future for the Mission was the land it stands on - it was never owned by the Diocese, it was rented from Forestry England (Forestry Commission). We hope the space where the Bilson Mission building stood can be preserved as a green public amenity space with a commemoration to the remarkable building that once stood there and through which so many young people passed.
Rather than post some sad photographs of the building waiting for the demolition contractors, here are a few that illustrate the life and vitality of the old Mission Church.
Our mission to research, record and preserve the history of the building, its mission and the people that passed through its doors continues. Watch this space for news of more to come...
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RECORDING DIGITAL STORIES
We held our first story recording session on October 27th at St Stephen's Church, bringing together a group that remembered the Mission - and in particular its Sunday School - from their childhood. Some took us as far back as the early years of the Second World War, others to the 1950s and early 1960s. After brief introductions and a first account of everyone's connection to the Mission, we settled down to shaping series of recollections into short narratives. Many of them were based around the photographs our participants had kindly brought along for us to copy. We were very lucky to have two fine local writers with us - Cheryl Mayo and Jean Cooper Moran - who gave everyone tips on turning anecdotal recollections into story scripts. The next step was to make sound recordings of each person telling their stories. We were a little overwhelmed with the amount of content, from the quantity of photographs to the richness of stories, so we didn't quite manage to record everyone on the day! We will be following up to make sure all the stories are recorded. Over the next few weeks the audio recordings and pictures will be brought together to make short films. We will keep you posted about the date of the premiere, and once they've all been screened they will be available online through the web pages here - memories of Bilson Mission recorded and shared for posterity.
LAUNCH EVENT
Saturday 8th October saw the official launch of the project! Originally scheduled to be part of the Forest of Dean's September programme of Heritage Open Days, the decision had been taken to postpone due to the death of the the late Queen. The event was hosted by St Stephen's, the Mission's "mother church" in the centre of town, and Rachel and the team made us all very welcome with home made cakes and tea and coffee on tap too. Bilson Mission Reader Lynne Chaundy and friends set up a fascinating display of artefacts and information, including extracts from parish magazines, some dating back to the earliest years of the Mission in the late nineteenth century. Another display reflected some of what we've uncovered so far about the early years of the Mission. Amongst these was a reproduction of an invoice for, we think, the very first move of the chapel building from the woods to its (first) new home at Bilson, near to where it currently stands. Roger gave a talk on some of the background to the Mission story, including fascinating revelations about religious celebrities who came to Cinderford in its early days. Many of the Mission's former congregation came along and we were very grateful for all the fascinating information they told us about the people, the building and town. Lots of new stories to follow up!
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This is a Voices from the Forest project from the University of Gloucestershire, with funding from Historic England's Everyday Heritage grant, and Cinderford Town Council. Working in partnership with Cinderford Churches.
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