St Anne's 1880

St Anne’s Church, Siston

Photographs from ca. 1880

The church from the south seen from Siston Lane.  A small child stands in the road.  At that time there were pinnacles at each corner of the tower, a pierced parapet and a weather vane surmounting its pitched roof.

Stephen Hill

The church from the south seen from Siston Lane.  A small child stands in the road.  At that time there were pinnacles at each corner of the tower, a pierced parapet and a weather vane surmounting its pitched roof.

This is the only image I have seen of the interior of the church taken before the insertion of the paintings and decoration within the chancel and around the chancel arch.  As such we can assume that this is how the church must have looked in Puritan form after the Reformation.  The original pews are in place, including (on the left at the west end) the curtained box pew for the residents of Siston Court.  These pews were supposedly removed to for wall-panelling in the Court. They were replaced initially with chairs and subsequently with pews salvaged from a redundant church in Bristol.

The window in the north wall opposite the entrance door, with the chained bible and scripture books in place.  The books were removed ‘for safe-keeping’ but their current whereabouts are unknown.

The Saxo-Norman doorway in the north wall of the church.  The Saxon architectural elements are all in re-use.