St Saviour's  Church  
Tetbury  Glos.




 
 
St Saviour's Church was built and consecrated in 1848 as "a little church for the poor". The main Parish Church in Tetbury had a scarcity of pew seats for renting which prompted the building of St Saviour's, a second church. The small size of the congregation and the cost of maintenance led to the church being declared redundant in 1973.

The church is now under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust which looks after 326 redundant churches in England.

The fact that the church became redundant is the most probable reason why the original gas lighting installation has remained mostly untouched. Although the gas installation is no longer in use, the majority of the wall brackets (some still with their glass shades), a pendant gasolier, and most of the distribution pipework can be seen as they were when originally fitted.  
 
 
In the centre of the Nave can be seen hanging a Corona Lucis Gasolier by Hardman.
It comprises two octagonal shaped framed brackets with a gas burner at each corner.

Also of particular interest is a gas burner bar which has been fixed to the top of the timber Rood Screen which separates the Nave from the Chancel. There is an abundance of small gas jets on the top of the burner bar as can be seen in the pictures below. To have been there and seen all these gas jets alight in the darkness must have been a wonderful awe-inspiring  sight.





 




There are several hinged bracketed gas wall  lights (some still fitted with their glass shades or globes) to be seen which are connected to the small diameter piping which supplied and fed them.  

Shown below are some examples of these wall lights and their pipework. 
 
 
 

 








Fixed to the cill of the side window in the Chancel is what remains of a trident standard gas light, with its connecting gas pipe.




CIBSE  HERITAGE  GROUP                        
 OCTOBER  2002