Bristol Guild of Applied Art

The Guild was founded in 1908 as a guild in the true sense, a co-operative for local craftsmen to organise, work, learn and sell their handiwork. It was built on the principles behind William Morris's Arts and Crafts Movement and lasted in that form until 1918, when the enterprise folded. It was bought out by three local businessmen and turned into a fully commercial venture, importing glass from Sweden and crystal and pottery from elsewhere in the United Kingdom.[1] Park Street has been the home of the Guild since its founding, with the modern-day premises located at 68–70 Park Street. Since the 1940s, the Guild has survived the Bristol Blitz bombings in World War II and a Provisional IRA attack in 1974.[1][2]

Since its inception the Guild has offered exhibitions of particular artists and craftspeople, both established names and newcomers, including Gillian Lowndes and Dan Arbeit,[1] at its second floor public gallery.[3] While he was a student at Bristol University, the Guild was a source of fascination and inspiration for the writer John Metcalf.[4] In 2008, an extensive programme of refurbishment department by department, with a major overhaul of the layout and café began.[1] In 2016 the Guild ceased to use the westernmost of the buildings it had previously occupied.

51°27′19″N 2°36′11″W

Bristol Guild of Applied Art

Shown within Central Bristol

• Stradling, Ken (2004). The Guild History Book. Redcliffe Publishing.

• McGladdery, Gary (2006). The Provisional IRA in England: the bombing campaign, 1973-1997. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-3373-3.
• Metcalf, John (2003). An aesthetic underground: a literary memoir.