College Green is a public open space in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Green takes the form of a segment of a circle with its apex pointing east, and covers . The road named College Green forms the north-eastern boundary of the Green,

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...

marks the south side, and

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

(formerly the Council House) closes the Green in an arc to the north-west. College Green is owned by the Dean and Chapter of Bristol Cathedral, and managed by

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol, in South West England. Bristol has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...

History

Originally a small hill north of the River Avon separated from Brandon Hill to the north west by a narrow gully, College Green was enclosed to form the precincts of St Augustine's Abbey (now Bristol Cathedral) in the 12th century. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the abbey became a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

and its precincts thenceforth became known as 'College Green'. Before the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

, a chapel named after a saint called

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

stood on the green beside an open-air pulpit. A hymn found in a 15th-century

book of hours A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

in Bristol suggested Jordan's relics had been entombed in the chapel and were venerated there. After the Reformation, the building was used as a school, and it was finally destroyed in the early 18th century. The Bristol High Cross was moved here from its original location at the junction of High,

Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

, Broad and

Corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

Streets, where it had been considered a traffic hazard, in 1733. In 1762 the Green was levelled and laid out as a raised park with stone boundary walls, wooden railings and formal promenades crossing at its centre. The High Cross was removed and stored in the greater cloister of the cathedral, and in 1764 it was given to

Henry Hoare Henry Hoare II (1705–1785), known as Henry the Magnificent, was an English banker and garden owner-designer. Family Henry's grandfather, Richard Hoare, was a goldsmith-banker and Lord Mayor of London. His father, Henry Hoare I, bought th ...

for use as a garden ornament at Stourhead, where it can still be seen. The name 'College Green' also applied to the road which passed on all three sides of the triangular Green. From 1869, the southern leg of this formed part of the new Deanery Road, being the main route out of Bristol heading to the south-west and separating the Green from the Cathedral, whilst the northern leg (from 1758) led down to a crossroads with Frog Lane and Frogmore Street and up Park Street towards Clifton. In 1851 a replica of the High Cross was erected and placed at the apex of the Green. This remained here until a statue of Queen Victoria (by Joseph Boehm) took its place in 1888, at which time the replica Cross was moved to the centre of the Green, at the intersection of the formal promenades where the original had stood between 1736 and 1762. For the next sixty years the Green remained a leafy oasis, insulated from the busy roads on either side by a double row of tall trees, though slightly diminished by the removal of the outer row of trees on the south side around 1885 and on the north side for road-widening in 1926. In 1950 at the request of

Vincent Harris Emanuel Vincent Harris (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles. Early life He was born in Devonport, Devon, Devon ...

, controversial architect of City Hall, all remaining trees, the formal promenades, railing, lamps, statue and High Cross were removed and the Green lowered some 4 feet 6 inches, around 75,000 tons of material being taken away. Harris stated that this "would 'make' my building", and considered the removal of the statue and High Cross "a minor detail". Wide new promenades were laid out running parallel to the sides of the Green, with low Portland stone borders. After a period of storage at Redcliffe Wharf during which other locations were considered, and following a campaign for its return, the statue of Queen Victoria was returned to the apex on the Green in 1953. Part of the replica High Cross, vandalised in storage, is now preserved in

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

. In 1991 the eastern end of Deanery Road was closed to motor traffic and grassed over for much of its length, reuniting the Cathedral with its Green as it had been before 1709. A short section of the eastern end of Deanery road was retained to give access to the Royal Hotel and numbers 4–7 College Green to the east of the Cathedral, re-laid with reclaimed setts. As part of this enhancement scheme, a circular seating area was laid out near the apex and reclaimed cast-iron lamp posts were installed.

Sites of interest

College Green is surrounded by a number of historic and important public buildings, including

, the Lord Mayor's Chapel, the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

and the Abbey Gatehouse. Queen Victoria's statue stands at the apex of the Green, and in the south-western corner near the Central Library is a statue of social reformer Raja Rammohun Roy.

Events

College Green is a popular meeting place for young people, particularly street sports enthusiasts. This has led to tensions, and in 2007 a Group Dispersal Order was served on the area to allow the police to prevent groups of young people congregating. With its proximity to

, College Green is often the focus of protests against local or national government policy. On 15 October 2011, it became the site for Occupy Bristol, a camp established as part of the worldwide "Occupy" protests against social and economic inequality. Following the removal of the protesters, and after nearly two months and £20,000 of remedial work, the Green was re-opened on 4 April 2012. College Green is a regular venue for media launches, press calls, charity fundraisers and product launches. On 29 February 2020, a protest by Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate attended by over 30,000, including

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

, was held on the Green. Due to recent damp weather, the area became trampled into mud. An appeal for money to repair the damage quickly raised about £15,000 although, as it turned out, only minor interventions were needed to restore the grass. Some of the money was used in April 2021 to create a wildflower area near the cathedral, and the rest of the funds were passed to a local charity, the Bristol and Bath Parks Foundation, for use elsewhere in the city.

Gallery

Image:Lord Mayor's Chapel and tower.JPG, St Mark's Church Image:Victoria statue.jpg, Queen Victoria Statue Image:Bristol Cathedral west end.JPG,

Image:Bristolcentrallibrary.jpg, Bristol Central Library Image:Great Gatehouse north side.jpg, The Great Gatehouse Image:Ram Mohan Roy.JPG, Statue of Ram Mohan Roy Image:Bristol council house.jpg,

In popular culture

The Green was a filming location for scenes for the 2007–2013 E4 drama series ''Skins'', and the 2008

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

comedy-drama '' Being Human.'' College Green is mentioned in "Wash Away", a song by Bristol-based band Coasts from their 2016 debut album ' Coasts'.

References

* Andrew Foyle, ''Bristol'', Pevsner Architectural Guides (2004)

External links

{{Culture in Bristol Parks and open spaces in Bristol Squares in Bristol Bristol Cathedral