The church of St Philip
and Jacob is said to be the oldest centre of Christian worship in
the Bristol area. The chancel
of the present church is believed to stand on the site of a chapel
belonging to a 10th century
Benedictine priory. The first church was probably built by ROBERT,
Earl of Gloucester, in the
12th century. Only the font remains of this original building. The tower
is in the Early English
style, with its bottom layers dating from the late 12th century, but most
of the
church dates from the 15th
and 16th century. The church was almost destroyed during the Civil War
when, on 17th July 1643,
the colonel in charge of the Parliamentarian army in Bristol ordered the
demolition of both St Philip
and St Peter, fearing that Royalist troops might use them as a base
from which to attack the
castle. However, the arrival of Prince RUPERT prevented this order
from being carried out.
The churchyard was levelled in 1880 and the church itself was
almost closed, but has since
been revived as the Evangelical "Pip 'n' Jay".