The Chapel of the Three Kings at Fosters Almshouses

The Chapel of the Three Kings is the only church in the UK dedicated to the Magi – the Three Wise Men who came from the east with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for baby Jesus.

This tiny church hides in plain sight on Colston Street in the centre of Bristol. It was originally built in the 1480s to serve the residents at the attached Foster’s Almshouses, which provided housing for Bristol’s elderly poor for over 500 years. There was a cult of worship around the Three Kings in the late medieval period and after John Foster visited Cologne Cathedral, where the bones of the Magi are housed, he returned home and built the chapel.

Foster's Almshouses are one of the most recognisable buildings in Bristol. Like the chapel, they underwent a number of rebuilds between the 1480s and the 1860s, at which time Bristol architects Foster & Wood designed the flamboyant building you see today. It is built in the Burgundian Gothic revival style, inspired by the Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune in France. Foster & Wood designed many other local landmarks, including the Bristol Museum, Bristol Grammar School, and the original Colston Hall (now Bristol Beacon).

Visit the chapel to learn what we know about the Three Kings (very little), and the drunken tradition to celebrate them (much more interesting), and how this all connects Shakespeare, Pepys, and the Abbot of Unreason. Come to see the fantastic stained glass window of the nativity and to ring the most disappointing church bell in Christendom

Timings & Tours

Saturday 07 September:

1000 - 1300

Sunday 08 September:

1000 - 1300

Saturday 14 September:

1000 - 1300

Sunday 15 September:

1000 - 1300

Location & directions

Foster's Almshouses, Colston Street, Bristol, Somerset, BS1 5AY

Directions:

We are at the top of the Christmas Steps

Contact on day:

Andy Parker

Telephone number:

+447944459325

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking not required

Accessibility details

There is a very small step up (5cm) to get into the chapel

Additional information

Max no of people per tour:

15

Est. tour duration:

0 hour(s) 5 minute(s)

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