Gas Green Baptist Church
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
Founded in 1831, Cheltenham's vicar of the time was alarmed to see the rich of the town were coming to his church and yet their servants had nowhere to go. He set about building a church for the poor, a church where you didn’t have to pay to worship God.
The poor and artisan area of St Paul's grew up around it and the church reflected its area.
The interior was reordered in 2009 provides a large open space which is used for regular worship and also many community events. There are few distractions on the walls as the people were too poor to afford memorials to themselves, and so the eye is lifted to the east window. The window is by J Eadie Reed and depicts the transfiguration, it dates to 1905 and is a striking feature in an otherwise somewhat utilitarian space.
