The Wills Memorial Building (also known as the Wills Memorial Tower or simply the Wills Tower) is a

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building in Bristol, England, designed by

Sir George Oatley Sir George Herbert Oatley (3 January 1863 – 12 May 1950) was an English architect noted for his work in Bristol, especially the gothic Wills Memorial Building. He was knighted for public service in 1925. Early life Oatley was born in Bristo ...

and built as a memorial to

Henry Overton Wills III Henry Overton Wills III (22 December 1828 – 4 September 1911) of Kelston Knoll, near Bath in Somerset, was a prominent and wealthy member of the Bristol tobacco manufacturing family of Wills which founded the firm of W. D. & H. O. Wills. As ...

Bristol University , The University , The Wills Memorial Building
by his sons

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

and Henry Wills. Begun in 1915 and not opened until 1925, it is considered one of the last great Gothic buildings to be built in England. Standing near the top of Park Street on Queens Road,The Wills Memorial Building is situated at the top of Park Street in Queens Road
/ref> it is a landmark building of the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

that currently houses the School of Law and the Department of

Earth Sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four sphere ...

, as well as the Law and Earth Sciences libraries. It is the fourth highest structure in Bristol, standing at . Many regard the building as synonymous with the University of Bristol. It is the centrepiece building of the university precinctBristol University – Centre for Romantic Studies – Wills Memorial Building
and is used by the university for degree ceremonies and examinations, which take place in the Great Hall. Architecture commentator

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

described it as: It has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and serves as a regional

European Documentation Centre A European Documentation Centre (EDC) is a body designated by the European Commission to collect and disseminate publications of the European Union for the purposes of research and education. There are 400 such centers in all member states of the ...

History

The Wills Memorial Building was commissioned in 1912 by

George Alfred Wills Sir George Alfred Wills, 1st Baronet of Blagdon (3 June 1854 – 11 July 1928) was a President of Imperial Tobacco and the head of an eminent Bristol family. He was the son of Henry Overton Wills III and Alice Hopkinson and was educated at Mill ...

and

Henry Herbert Wills Henry Herbert 'Harry' Wills (20 March 1856 – 11 May 1922) was a businessman and philanthropist from Bristol, and a member of the Wills tobacco family. He was the son of Henry Overton Wills III and Alice Hopkinson and was born in Clifton, Brist ...

, 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 who donated £100,000 to the university. Sir George Oatley, who also worked on a number of other buildings for the university, was chosen as architect and told to "build to last". He produced a design in the

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-c ...

style, to evoke the famous university buildings of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. The building was funded through the fortunes which the Wills family made through tobacco. Oatley later claimed that his inspiration for the building came from a dream where he saw a tower on a hill, with shields around it. Construction started in 1915 but was halted in 1916 due to the continuation of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Work resumed in 1919, and the Wills Memorial Building was finally opened on 9 June 1925 by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary, having cost a total of £501,566 19s 10d. The building was opened with a Royal Salute of 21 chimes from 'Great George', the nine-and-a-half ton bell within the octagonal belfry of the tower, which is tolled on the death of a monarch or chancellor. Oatley received a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

that year in recognition of his work on the building. In 1940, during the

Bristol Blitz The Bristol Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bristol, England by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War. Due to the presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the city was a target for bombing and was easi ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Great Hall with its

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams pr ...

was badly damaged by a German bomb-blast. It was restored in the 1960s to Oatley's original design; at the same time the adjoining wing was enlarged by Ralph Brentnall.

21st-century controversy

The alleged connection of the Wills family to historical slavery via the U.S. tobacco industry attracted controversy in the 2010s, with some students petitioning the University of Bristol to rename the building in March 2017. In 2018, the university published a response and consultation on how to address the issue, including (amongst others) the suggestion of renaming university buildings and changing the crest. On 28th February 2022 the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building was occupied by a group of students. The student occupiers barricaded themselves in the Great Hall in solidarity with ongoing industrial action by the University and Colleges Union which represents many teaching and professional services staff at the University.

Description

The building's dominant feature is the Wills Tower, built in

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

faced with Bath and Clipsham stone, with carving designed in collaboration with Jean Hahn of King's Heath Guild, Birmingham. At high it is over twice the height of the nearby Cabot Tower. It is 16 metres square and ornamented with heraldic shields. It is topped by an octagonal lantern which houses Great George (England's ninth-largest

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...

, weighing over 9.5 tonnes) which strikes on the hour. In addition to the Great Hall there is a General Library, Reception Room and Council Chamber and a further 50 rooms including some teaching space such as seminar rooms and lecture theatres. In the Entrance Hall are two ceremonial staircases. The building is also used as a conference venue.

Restoration

In 2006, cleaning work began on the Wills Memorial Building costing £750,000. Cleaning on the building revealed the engraving "IO TRIVMPHE" intended as a tribute to the architect of the building Sir George Oatley. The engraving had remained hidden for over 80 yearsBristol University , News from the University , 80-year-old engraving finally discovered
/ref> and recognises the role of Sir Isambard Owen (then Vice-Chancellor) in the realisation of Oatley's plans.

Harry Patch Henry John Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009), dubbed in his later years "the Last Fighting Tommy", was an English supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving trench combat soldier of the First World War from ...

, World War I veteran who also worked on the building, re-unveiled the now clean building.

References

External links

A virtual tour inside the Wills Memorial BuildingA virtual tour of the Law Library inside the Wills Memorial BuildingA gallery of images from the BBC showing the restoration work which took place in 2006
{{University of Bristol University of Bristol Grade II* listed buildings in Bristol Grade II* listed educational buildings Towers in Bristol