The Wool Hall is a historic building in St Thomas Street,

Redcliffe, Bristol Redcliffe, also known as Redcliff, is a district of the England, English port city of Bristol, adjoining Bristol city centre, the city centre to the northwest. It is bounded by the loop of the Bristol Harbour, Floating Harbour (including ''Bathur ...

History

The wool trade had been important in Bristol since the 11th century, but the smell generated by fullers softening wool in

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...

meant the trade was banished from the city centre and relocated in Redcliffe. The building was constructed in 1830 to house the city's wool market, as

Bristol Bridge Bristol Bridge is a bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England. The floating harbour was constructed on the original course of the River Avon, and there has been a bridge on the site since long before the harbour was created by impou ...

had become too congested by sheep farmers travelling across it. It was designed by

Richard Shackleton Pope Richard Shackleton Pope (c. 1793 – 10 February 1884) was a British architect working mainly in Bristol. His father was a clerk of works for Sir Robert Smirke, and Pope succeeded him, also working for C.R. Cockerell. He moved to Bristol to ...

and has been described as "the first quasi-industrial building in Bristol to attempt a real architectural facade". It was designed in a classical style with a symmetrical front. Internally, the building included a Pennant-flagged ground floor and staircase. The ground floor served as a weighing house, while the upper floors were used for storage. The total cost was £4,400 (now £). The building was not a success since it was too far from the farmer's markets at

Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

, and the wool trade moved to the

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchange. Such trade was common in towns ...

in 1834. The building survived the bombing of Bristol during

World War II 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 ...

, unlike several nearby 17th-century buildings which were hit and subsequently demolished. In 1980, the building was modified to include new doors. The ground floor became the Fleece and Firkin brewpub, while the upper floors were offices. The Fleece became a venue for live music, hosting gigs by

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

, Emeli Sande,

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

and

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

. The Wool Hall was awarded

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 ...

status 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 ...

in 1975.

References

{{reflist, 33em Music venues in Bristol Commercial buildings completed in 1830 Industrial buildings completed in 1830 1830 establishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Grade II listed commercial buildings Grade II listed industrial buildings Byzantine Revival architecture in the United Kingdom

History

See also

References