Buildings and architecture of Bristol
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Bristol is the largest city in South West England, and one of the largest cities in the United Kingdom. Many factors have influenced the current mix of architecture in the city, notably the survival of many mediaeval buildings, the industrial prosperity of the modern era, war time destruction, and twentieth century regeneration projects.
Examples of most of the stages of the Architecture of the United Kingdom from the Medieval era onwards can be found in the city.
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[edit] Medieval architecture
[edit] Defensive architecture
The city of Bristol, which was much smaller than it is today was defended by the Norman Bristol Castle which was demolished in 1656. The city also had extensive city walls, built by Geoffrey of Constance, but these have largely disappeared apart from some remains in properties in King Street.
[edit] Religious architecture
The earliest surviving church is St James' Priory in Horsefair, Whitson Street, which was founded in 1129 as a Benedictine priory by Robert Rufus. The current ruin of Temple Church, Bristol was built on the site of the oval church of the Knights Templar, suppressed in 1312. Either just before or just after this suppression the church was rebuilt on a rectangular plan and served as a parish church.
Bristol Cathedral was founded as St Augustine's Abbey in 1140 by Robert Fitzharding, along with St Mark's Church and soon after this the foundations were laid for Holy Trinity Church in Westbury on Trym. The 12th century also saw the building of St Mary Redcliffe, parts of which survive in the current church, which is the tallest building in the city and was described by Elizabeth I as the "fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England" on a visit to the city in 1574.[1]
Westbury College was 13th-century College of Priests located in Westbury-on-Trym, which had a gatehouse added in the 15th-century which is now a National Trust property.
These were followed in the 14th century by the Church of St John the Baptist and St Stephen's Church.
[edit] Tudor architecture
The Tudor period which lasted from the late 15th century into the 1600s saw the development of large estates for the local merchants who gained much of their wealth from trade through Bristol Harbour
Red Lodge was built in 1580 for John Yonge as a lodge for a Great House, which once stood on the site of the present Colston Hall.
During the English Civil War the Royal Fort was the the strongest part of the Royalist defenses of Bristol, but was taken by the parliamentarians in 1645 and demolished a few years later.
In 1615 old houses were removed for the construction of the new Fishmarket.[2]
[edit] Stuart architecture
The Stuart period from 1666-1713 saw further expansion of the city. Some large estates such as Kings Weston House at Shirehampton and Goldney Hall.
The needs of poor and destitue were catered for by facilities such as Colstons, St Nicholas's and Merchant Venturers Almshouses. The King Street area developed outside the "Back Street Gate" of the city with the Llandoger Trow and King William and Naval Volunteer Public Houses being built. The nearby Queen Square was also planned during this era.
[edit] Georgian architecture
In 1732 John Strachan built Redland Court for John Cossins which forms one of the buildings for Redland High School for Girls.
In 1760 the Bristol Bridge Act was carried through parliament by the Bristol MP Sir Jarrit Smyth[3]. It led to the demolition of St Nicholas's Gate, part of the Old Shambles and thirty houses standing on the old bridge.[4] The original bridge was a mediaeval wooden structure that had both its sides lined with houses. A seventeenth century illustration shows that these were five stories high, including the attic rooms, and that they overhung the river much as Tudor houses would overhang the street.[5] At the time of the Civil War the bridge was noted for its community of goldsmiths, who may have been attracted by the unusually secure premises.[5]
The 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, joined the Coopers' Hall from 1744 by architect William Halfpenny, to form the Bristol Old Vic.
During the period of Georgian architecture (about 1720-1840) the main architects and builders working in Bristol were James Bridges, John Wallis, and Thomas Paty with his sons John and William Paty. Between them many hundreds of new buildings were put up in expanding city often based on the increased prosperity which came with the new Floating Harbour and trade based at The Exchange. Some of their early work included the Royal Fort, Blaise Castle House and Arno's Court estate with the associated Arno's Court Triumphal Arch and Black Castle Public House. More modest terraces and squares included 7 Great George Street which is now the Georgian House Museum. The Theatre Royal and various churches such as Christ Church, St Nicholas Church and St Werburghs Church followed.
Several residential squares with terraces of three storey houses were laid out around central gardens. Many of these such as Portland Square, which was built between 1789 and 1820, are now largely occupied by offices.
Blaise Hamlet, a hamlet in north west Bristol, is composed of a complex of small cottages around a green. They were built around 1811 for retired employees of Quaker banker and philanthropist John Scandrett Harford, who owned Blaise Castle House. The hamlet was designed by John Nash, master of the Picturesque style. The cottages are now owned by the National Trust.
Religious needs in the expanding city were met for several denominations with Redland Chapel and many other Church of England buildings appearing. Whitefield's Tabernacle, Kingswood was the first methodist chapel and a Quaker meeting house known as Quakers Friars was built in 1749.
In the 1830's much of Queen Square was rebuilt following damage during the Bristol Riots.
[edit] Victorian architecture
In the early 19th century the romantic medieval gothic style appeared as a backlash to the symmetry of Palladianism, and such buildings as Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Royal West of England Academy and The Victoria Rooms were built. Cabot Tower is situated in a public park on Brandon Hill. It was built in 1897 by William Venn Gough in memory of John Cabot, 400 years after he set sail from Bristol and landed in what was later to become Canada.
Residential areas, particularly in Clifton greatly expanded often with palatial squares for the prosperous middle classes. To support them public service buildings from the Beaufort Hospital (now Glenside) to pubs such as the Mauretania Public House.
[edit] Industrial architecture
A notable feature of Bristol's architecture is the Bristol Byzantine style. Characterised by complicated polychrome brick and decorative arches, this style was used for many of the factories, warehouses and municipal buildings built in the Victorian era. Many were destroyed or demolished, but notable surviving examples include the Colston Hall, the Granary on Welsh Back, the Gloucester Road Carriage Works, and several of the buildings around Victoria Street. Several of the wharehouses around the harbour have survived including the Arnolfini which now houses an art gallery.
The local Pennant sandstone is frequently used as walling material, often with limestone dressings, as found on the old Temple Meads railway station and Clifton Down railway station. Pennant sandstone is also used as large rock-faced squared blocks, described as Pennant rubble, which are used alone, eked out with plain brickwork, or incorporated into the more rugged examples of Bristol Byzantine .
Much of the local transport infrastructure including the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Temple Meads railway station and it's predecessor which is now used as the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum were designed or built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
[edit] Twentieth century architecture
In the early part of the 20th century further expansion took place in residential districts increasingly distant from the city centre.
Bristol Hippodrome was designed by Frank Matcham, and opened on 16 December 1912.
The Wills Memorial Building was commissioned in 1912 by George Albert Wills and Henry Herbert Wills, the magnates of the Bristol tobacco company W.D. & H.O. Wills, in honour of their father, Henry Overton Wills III, benefactor and first Chancellor of the University of Bristol. Sir George Oatley was chosen as architect and told to "build to last". He produced a design in the Perpendicular Gothic style, to evoke the famous university buildings of Oxford and Cambridge.
The 1930s saw the construction of the Employment Exchange and the planning of the new Council House although this was not completed until 1956.
As the location of aircraft manufacture, Bristol was a target of bombing during the Bristol Blitz of World War II. Bristol's city centre also suffered severe damage, especially in November and December 1940, when the Broadmead area was flattened, and Hitler claimed to have destroyed the city.[6] The original central area, near the bridge and castle, is still a park featuring two bombed out churches and some tiny fragments of the castle. A third bombed church has a new lease of life as St Nicholas' Church Museum. Slightly to the north, the Broadmead shopping centre was built over bomb-damaged areas.
Like much of British post-war planning, regeneration of Bristol city centre was characterised by large, cheap tower blocks, brutalist architecture and expansion of roads. Since the 1990s this trend has been reversing, with the closure of some main roads and the regeneration of the Broadmead shopping centre. In 2006 two of the city centre's tallest post-war blocks were torn down.
The removal of the docks to Avonmouth, seven miles (11 km) downstream from the city centre, relieved congestion in the central zone of Bristol and allowed substantial redevelopment of the old central dock area (the Floating Harbour) in recent decades, although at one time the continued existence of the central docks was in jeopardy as it was seen merely as derelict industry rather than an asset to be developed for public use.
A harbourside concert hall by architects Behnisch & Partners was planned although an Arts Council decision cut the funding and the project has never been revived. This has left At-Bristol, which mixes art, science and nature, with its all-reflective planetarium, as the centrepiece of the Harbourside development.[7]
[edit] Twenty first century architecture
In the early part of the twenty first century the demolition and rebuilding of the Broadmead shopping centre (at 2007 in progress) and the demolition of the city centre's tallest post-war blocks has been undertaken.[8]
[edit] Tallest buildings
As of 2007, the tallest buildings in Bristol are:[9]
| Rank | Building | Area | Height | Floors | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Mary Redcliffe | Redcliffe | 89 m | 1442 | ||
| 2 | Castlemead | Lower Castle Street | 80 m | 19 | 1981 | |
| Tollgate house | Houlton Street | 77 m | 18 | 1975 | (Demolished 2006) | |
| 3 | Wills Memorial Building | UoB, Clifton | 66 m | 1925 | ||
| 4 | Christ Church | Clifton | 65 m | 1885 | ||
| 5 | Avon House | Haymarket | 64 m | 18 | 1972 | |
| 6 | Colston Tower | Colston Avenue | 63 m | 18 | 1973 | |
| 7 | Froomsgate House | Rupert Street | 63 m | 15 | 1971 | |
| 8 | Former Bristol and West Building | Marsh Street | 61 m | 17 | 1967 | Currently undergoing alterations |
| 9 | 1 Redcliffe Street | Redcliffe Street | 60 m | 15 | 1964 | |
| 10 | Greyfriars | Lewins Mead | 59 m | 14 | 1974 |
[edit] References
- ^ Bristol / architecture. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Architecture:From Hovel to Tower. About Bristol. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ Bantock, Anton (2004) Ashton Court, ISBN 0-7524-3213-3, p. 29
- ^ Architecture:From Hovel to Tower. About Bristol. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ a b Lynch, John (1999) For King & Parliament, ISBN 0-7509-2021-1, p. 10
- ^ Pictoral history of Bristol, bristolhistory.com. Accessed 2006-04-14.
- ^ Bristol / architecture , Guardian Unlimited Accessed 2007-03-27.
- ^ Demolition of city tower begins. BBC News 13 January 2006. Retrieved on 2007-03-10..
- ^ Emporis Buildings, Accessed 2007-03-25.
[edit] Further reading
- The Paty Family: Makers of Eighteenth-century Bristol by Gordon Priest 2003
