Musical writing Reverend honoured with Blue plaque

A Reverend and youth leader who wrote a pioneering musical has been honoured with a blue plaque.

The Reverend Ernest Marvin was amongst the first to move to the Lockleaze housing estate in north Bristol after it was built in the late 1950s.

He then co-wrote a Rock 'n' Roll musical with local teenagers about the story of Jesus' life that went on to be performed at London's Royal Albert Hall.

"He helped make and shape Lockleaze and invested his time in young people" said Maria Perrett from the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust.

The plaque sits on the St James Presbyterian Church on Romney Avenue and was unveiled on Friday by Christine Welsh, who performed in the original stage version.

Mr Martin wrote 'A Man Dies' 11 years before the better known musical of the same subject 'Jesus Christ Superstar' debuted on Broadway.

"It was very controversial and it was claimed it was blasphemous to use rock and roll to depict a religious story and it was even argued about in the House of Commons," said Ms Perrett.

Children had nothing to do in evenings until Mr Martin started the youth club, she said.

"He was such a lovely man and did so much for the youngsters - he was really ahead of his time," said Ms Welsh.

The plaque was installed by Bristol Civic Society (BCS) and is the 43rd the society has installed across the city.

"The plaques celebrate work rather than just famous people and we like to do the unsung heroes that might have less of a sense of celebrity," said Gordon Young, chair of the Blue Plaque Panel at BCS.

"We get approached by people in the community who think someone is deserving of a plaque and we assess from there.

"We thought that Mr Marvin was really deserving for the ground breaking work he did."