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 Elder employed by a wealthy distiller, Samuel Hasbart, to launch a newspaper in Norwich. Hasbart commissioned Raikes to print a newspaper in favour of the tory party, in opposition to the whig-leaning "Norwich Gazette". Raikes' newspaper was unsuccessful, and failed after a few weeks. By June, Raikes had moved to Huntingdonshire, where he launched the "St Ives Post Boy". On 2 May 1720, Raikes, in partnership with William Dicey, founded the "Northampton Mercury". A year later, the partners set up a second press in Northgate Street, Gloucester, from where the "Gloucester Journal" first appeared on 9 April 1722. In September 1725,