The Old Council House is a building on

Corn Street Corn Street, together with Broad Street, Wine Street and High Street, is one of the four cross streets which met at the Bristol High Cross, the heart of Bristol, England when it was a walled medieval town. From this crossroads Corn Street a ...

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 ...

. 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, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The site selected for the current building had previously been occupied by three buildings: a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

council house, St Ewen's Church and the Chapel of the Fraternity of St John the Baptist (also known as the Tolzey). The Chapel of the Fraternity of St John the Baptist was demolished in the late 17th century, allowing an enlarged council house to be rebuilt in the

Classical style Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De architectura'' (c. 10 AD) by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Va ...

and completed in 1704. St Ewen's Church was demolished in 1791 and the council house of 1704 and two adjacent properties were demolished in the early 19th century to allow the present building to be constructed. The present building, which was designed by

Sir Robert Smirke Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles (such as Gothic and Tudor). As an attached (i.e. official) arch ...

in a

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, was built between 1824 and 1827. The design for the main frontage consisted of five bays with two large

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns on either side of the entrance. A statue of Justice designed by

Edward Hodges Baily Edward Hodges Baily (10 March 1788 – 22 May 1867; sometimes misspelled Bailey) was a prolific British sculptor responsible for numerous public monuments, portrait busts, statues and exhibition pieces as well as works in silver. He carved friez ...

was erected on the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

above the entrance. The interior design for the original section included a large sweeping staircase. Bristol Council House Chamber 1899

The Council House was extended to the south-west to a design 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

George Dymond George Dymond ( 1797 – 29 August 1835) was a British architect working mainly in Bristol. List of works * Magistrates’ Court, Old Council House, Corn Street (1829), ''with'' Richard Shackleton Pope * Higher Market, Exeter (1835), ''com ...

in order to accommodate magistrates courts in 1828-9; this involved demolishing two further properties on Corn Street, the basements of which were reused as holding cells for prisoners. The building was extended again, this time to the north-west, to create a Council Chamber, large enough to accommodate up to 150 people, which was officially opened by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

on 12 November 1899. She knighted the Lord Mayor, Herbert Ashman, during her visit. By the 1930s, the Council House was too small for regular use, and a new site on

College Green College Green or The College Green may refer to: * College Green, Adelaide outdoor venue at the University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Establish ...

was proposed: construction began in late 1936 but the works were delayed until after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and

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 ...

was not able to move out to their new premises until 1956. The old Council House continues to be used as a local

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

for registering births, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and citizenship. Important works of art in the building include a portrait of Queen Anne, painted by the school of

Godfrey Kneller Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723) was a German-born British painter. The leading Portrait painting, portraitist in England during the late Stuart period, Stuart and early Georgian eras ...

in c.1703, a portrait of George II, painted by the school of

Charles Jervas Charles Jervas (also Jarvis and Jervis; c. 1675 – 2 November 1739) was an Irish portrait painter, translator, and art collector of the early 18th century. Early life Born in Shinrone, County Offaly, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland around 1675, ...

in c.1732 and a portrait of Queen Caroline, also painted by the school of Charles Jervas in c.1732.

References

{{Reflist Grade II* listed buildings in Bristol Government buildings completed in 1827 1827 establishments in England City and town halls in Bristol

History

See also

References