St Paul and St Stephen's Church, Gloucester being the architect. The church was consecrated for use on 11 October 1883 by the Bishop of Gloucester. It was built to serve the expanding population but also as a memorial to Robert Raikes on the 100th anniversary of the 1780 Sunday school movement. It was funded by a grant from the Incorporated Church Building Society and donations including a large gift from D.H.D Burr. In total around £6,500 was raised, although this was enough to complete the church two parts of the original design were not fully built including the nave which was stopped two bays short and the
Robert Raikes the schools, as written by Raikes was ""The children were to come after ten in the morning, and stay till twelve; they were then to go home and return at one; and after reading a lesson, they were to be conducted to Church. After Church, they were to be employed in repeating the catechism till after five, and then dismissed, with an injunction to go home without making a noise."" There were disputes about the movement in the early years. The schools were derisively called ""Raikes' Ragged School"". Criticisms raised included that it would weaken home-based religious education, that it