History of our church - Contretemps 1473
Resolution by John Carpenter, Lord Bishop of Worcester on the 15th day of June 1473 at the College in Westbury-on-Trym of a long drawn out dispute between Walter Newbury the Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Augustine close to Bristol in the Diocese of Worcester and William Meredith the rector of Filton in the same Diocese relating to the ownership of certain tithes and taxes arising from lands and tenements which lie below the Common lands and boundaries of the Horfield Chapel.
John Carpenter was born in Westbury-on-Trym circa 1406, became the Provost of Oriel College in Oxford and later Chancellor of the University, was consecrated Bishop of Worcester in 1444 A.D. and died in 1476 A.D.
A Monastery had been established in Westbury-on-Trym as early as 1093 A.D. and became a Collegiate Church in 1194 A.D. occupying some two acres of land which had been the property of the Diocese of Worcester since Norman times and John Carpenter styled himself the Bishop of Worcester and Westbury!
The Monastery was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538 and circa 1540 A.D. the magnificent buildings were granted to Sir Ralph Sadlier as a private residence which was subsequently burnt down in 1643 A.D. by Prince Rupert during the Civil War; in about 1763 A.D. a fine Georgian House was built on the site but this was lost in 1871 when the site was sold for development and College Road was built.
