For information on the Jewish community and congregations of Bristol, see Bristol (and Bristol Hebrew Congregation) on JCR-UK.
As detailed below, there were three Jewish cemeteries in Bristol in modern times as well as a medieval Jewish cemetery.Current community dates from about 1740. See Jewish Cemeteries in the West of England by Rabbi B. Susser (available on JCR-UK as part of the Susser Archive).
A SEARCHABLE DATABASE of all three modern cemeteries, covering burials to 2003, is available on JCR-UK at https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/bri1/Cemeteries/Cemetery_menu.htm and includes burial details and photographs of headstones. There is also Bristol Cemetery data as part of the All UK Database. SOURCE: David Shulman, Webmaster JCR-UK, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [2005, 2014]
JOWBR burial partial listings. [August 2010]
Alan Tobias, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. completed survey on 8 December 1997. Documentation: A Catalogue of the Burials in the Jewish Cemeteries of Bristol compiled by member of Bristol Jewish Genealogy Group cites various sources of documentation.) Tobias supplied the names of those interred. [1997]
CEMETERIES:
- Ridgeway Cemetery, Fishponds:
No Postal Facilities at Cemetery. Person to contact about grave locations: Mr. S. Silverman, 36 Oakdale Court, Downend, Bristol BS16 6DU, England, United Kingdom. No burial cards have biographical data, next-of-kin info, or funeral director information. Bristol Hebrew Congregation, 9 Park Row, Bristol 1, England, United Kingdom used this cemetery. The cemetery is not land-marked nor is there a caretaker. This cemetery was established in 1898. (Some 18th Century graves were moved there from another cemetery.) Noteworthy individuals buried in cemetery: Joseph Abraham-First Mayor of Bristol (1865); Helen (Strimer) Bloom-First Lord Mayor of Bristol (1971). The Orthodox cemetery is active. The isolated suburban flat land is reached by turning directly off a public road. Access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall and a gate that locks surround the cemetery. The cemetery is divided into special sections for Cohanim and suicides. Date of oldest gravestone: 1814 (from previous cemetery) but tombstones in the cemetery date from the 18th century. About 100-500 gravestones are in the cemetery in original location with less than 25% toppled or broken. The marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone tombstone and memorial markers are finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments, horizontally set stones, or flat, low in-ground plaques. Some have metal fences. Inscriptions are in English and Hebrew. The cemetery contains special memorial monuments to Jewish soldiers: Memorial plaque in chapel for both World Wars.
The present owner of the cemetery property is the Bristol Jewish Burial Society (Chevrah Chadisha.) Properties adjacent to the cemetery are residential. Occasionally, private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized occasionally in the last ten years. Past maintenance: re-erection of stones, patching of broken stones, cleaning of stones, clearing of vegetation, fixing of wall, and fixing of gate by the cemetery owners. Current Care: occasional clearing or cleaning. Within the limits of the cemetery is a chapel. Vandalism (destruction or defacement of stones and graves), uncontrolled access, and weather erosion are a slight threat. The vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a seasonal problem.
See also Cemetery Scribes - Fishponds, Bristol [July 2011]
- Barton Road, St. Philips, Cemetery:
No Postal Facilities at Cemetery. Person to contact about grave locations: Mr. S. Silverman, 36 Oakdale Court, Downend, Bristol BS16 6DU, England. United Kingdom. Cemetery burials are indexed; index is computerized. The Bristol Hebrew Congregation uses this cemetery at 9 Park Row, Bristol 1, England, United Kingdom. The cemetery is not land-marked and has no caretaker. The cemetery was established approximately 1750. The cemetery is inactive with the last known Jewish burial in 1944. The Orthodox Jewish community used this cemetery.
The isolated urban flat land is reached by turning directly off a public road. Access is open with permission. A continuous masonry wall and a gate that locks surround the cemetery. Date of oldest gravestone is 1762. Tombstones in the cemetery date from the 18th century. 100-500 gravestones are in cemetery, regardless of condition or position. 20-100 gravestones are not in original locations with 25%-50% of surviving stones toppled or broken. The marble, granite, limestone, and sandstone finely smoothed and inscribed stones, flat stones with carved relief decoration, double tombstones, multi-stone monuments, horizontally set stones, or flat, low in-ground plaques have English and Hebrew inscriptions. Some tombstones have metal fences. The present owner of the property is the Bristol Jewish Burial Society (Chevrah Chadisha). Properties adjacent to the cemetery are commercial or residential. Occasionally, private visitors stop. The cemetery was vandalized occasionally in the last ten years. Past maintenance: re-erection of stones, patching of broken stones, cleaning of stones, clearing of vegetation, and fixing of wall and gate by the cemetery owners and local Jewish individuals. Current Care includes occasional clearing or cleaning by individuals. No structures. Vandalism, uncontrolled access, and weather erosion are slight threats. Vegetation overgrowth in the cemetery is a seasonal problem preventing access.
- Great Gardens Cemetery (Temple Cemetery) Rose Street:
The site of the original eighteenth century cemetery, which became part of Bristol Mead Station. Remains and gravestones of Jewish internees moved to later cemetery.
- South Bristol Cemetery (Progressive Jewish plot):
Bridgwater Road, Bedminster, Bristol, BS13 7AS. The Bristol & West Progressive Jewish Community provides burialls at this cemetery
- Memorial Woodlands Cemetery, South Gloucestershire (Progressive Jewish plot):
Earthcott Green, Alveston, Gloucestershire, BS35 3TA. The Bristol & West Progressive Jewish Community also provides burials at this cemetery.
- Bristol Medieval Jewish Cemetery:
There was a medieval Jewish Cemetery in Bristol in use from some time after 1177 until 1290.