St Barnabas, Knowle West
St Barnabas, Knowle West
St Barnabas is a Church of England church on Daventry Road, Knowle West, Bristol, in the Diocese of Bristol and the parish of Filwood Park, serving an inter-war suburb south of the city centre.
- Location
- Knowle West, City of Bristol
- Country
- England
- County
- City of Bristol
- City / town
- Knowle West
- Address
- Daventry Road, Knowle West, City of Bristol, BS4 1DQ
- Postcode
- BS4 1DQ
- Built
- 1938 (permanent church); nave demolished 1980s
- Architect
- C F W Denning
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Barnabas
- Diocese
- Bristol
- Parish
- Filwood Park
- Style
- Inter-war Romanesque
- Materials
- Red brick exterior; concrete interior
- Opening hours
- The church is open to all on Sunday mornings for the weekly service and on Thursday mornings for the Warm Welcome Space and Prayer Space. To visit the church at other times, please make contact to arrange a convenient time.
- Access
- Accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas
Overview
The Church Heritage Record and local church histories state that a temporary church of 1933 was replaced in 1938 by a permanent building designed by C. F. W. Denning, who also designed St Christopher, Arno’s Vale. Maps of 1949 show a nave, transepts and a long apsidal chancel, with an institute, vicarage and hall on the plot. The exterior is red brick and the interior concrete, in a simplified classical or contemporary Romanesque manner, with a bellcote on the south-transept gable.
The Church Commissioners closed the original building on 23 February 1978 for part use and part demolition. The nave was demolished in the 1980s and replaced by housing. The remaining chancel became the worship space, with crossing and transepts used as a hall; the entrance now sits below the former transept bell turret. The building is not listed. A 2025 diocesan feasibility study by Studio BAD described the 1938 red-brick church as highly valued locally but in need of substantial repair.