The Old Eden Chapel on the corner of Fitzroy Street and Burleigh Street, 1980s, by Roy Hammans (the-golden-fleece.co.uk)
Eden Baptist Chapel, Cambridge
History of Eden Chapel Cambridge
The Eden chapel was built on the corner of Burleigh Street and Fitzroy Street.
A detailed history of the church can be found here:
https://eden-cambridge.org/about-us/a-history-of-eden
1928 01 16
Sir – there are a great many dangerous corners in Cambridge. Burleigh Street corner is dangerous on account of the Eden Baptist Chapel standing in the midst of this busy thoroughfare. I suppose this chapel has been in existence from time immemorial, but as times are now and as traffic grows bigger and bigger, there certainly ought to be something done to remove this obstacle from this blind corner – E. Claydon
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge Burleigh Street Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, ref. 1928 01 16.
1929 12 10
Sir – I was in the vicinity of Fitzroy Street early one morning and could see a driver with a one-horse van coming from Burleigh Street. He turned right on the corner round Eden Chapel on the wrong side and left down James Street, heedless of any danger. On seeing a police constable I asked whether he had noticed the careless driving around these blind corners. He replied: “This man, being alone driving one horse and van is under no rules or regulations and if he wishes is at liberty to wobble all over the road”. I suggest members of Eden Chapel should be approached over this unsightly spot, with its projecting iron fence; it is a serious block to public traffic. All such dangerous corners should be abolished – E. Claydon, Parsonage Street, Cambridge.
Credit: Mike Petty Archive, Cambridge Burleigh Street Scrapbook 1897 to 1990, ref. 1929 12 10.
When the Grafton Centre was built in the 1980s the Eden chapel moved to a new home at the town end of Fitzroy Street and the building was integrated into the fabric of the Grafton Centre.
It opened as a bar/restaurant called the Trolley Stop in 1983, later renamed Footlights until becoming a branch of Gail’s Bakery following the Grafton Centre renovations in 2017.
Sources
- Mike Petty Archive
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