Manor Hall, Bristol

This annex came to the University in 1919, again as a gift from the Wills family and was furnished partly from funds raised by concerts given by the famous Bristol contralto Dame Clara Butt.[9]

The building was erected close to the site of the medieval manor house burned by Prince Rupert’s men in 1643 during the Storming of Bristol.[9] Purchased by the Society of Merchant Venturers in the late 17th century the site remained ruinous for many years. On 17 September 1700 the Society mandated that "a lease for five lives was granted to Whitchurch Phippen of the site or ruins of the Great House at Clifton heretofore burnt down and since called the Old Castle, late in the holding of Mary Hodges".[12] The new manor house was built in the early 18th century and extensively altered and extended in the mid-18th and 19th centuries.[9] The terrace contains Roman remains, parts of a column, which are believed to have been brought back from the Mediterranean by a former resident in the eighteenth century.

In the 19th century it was successively the home of the notable scientists Dr William Budd FRS, who discovered the origins of typhoid,[13] and Professor John Beddoe FRS,[14] the social anthropologist who wrote The Races of Man. In the 1890s the house became a school preparing young gentlemen for colonial civil service examinations and for the army and navy. The school closed in 1915 and the house became the home of The Red Maids' School, which was evacuated from Westbury while their buildings were used as a Red Cross Hospital during the Great War.[9]

Sinclair House

Richmond House is one of the oldest houses in Clifton having been built between 1701-1703 For Whitchurch Phippen a Mercer of Bristol on the site of the medieval manor house burned during the Civil War, which had once been the home of Richard Amerike.[9] The building is an English Heritage Grade II listed building.[15] Amerike sponsored the explorer John Cabot, who sailed from Bristol in 1497 and discovered Newfoundland and is now believed by some scholars to have given his patronymic to name the continent of America.[9]

In the 1790s the house was used as a boarding school for young gentlemen run by a Mr William Sewell. From the 1860s until the 1940s the house was the home of the Revd. and Mrs. Thomas Smith and their large family of maiden daughters, one of whom, Miss Emily Harriet Smith, became one of the first women to sit on the city council in 1920 and one of the first female Justice of the Peace. A noted horsewoman, the site of her former stables is now occupied, in part, by Sinclair House.[9] She spent much of the winters abroad and her house was let in her absence. One of the many long standing residents was the Revd. Alfred Ainger, biographer of Charles Lamb and friend of Dickens, who resided here each year for the duration of his turn as residentiary canon of Bristol Cathedral, together with his niece and their dog.

Sinclair House was built partly on the site of Holland Cottage which were destroyed during the German air raids of November 1940.[9] Opened in 1978, the building is named after the Lady Sinclair of Cleeve, who was involved in the affairs of the University for many years and served on the hall advisory committee of Manor Hall until her death. The building consists of twelve flats, each housing five students, and ten ground floor flats for overseas postgraduate students and their families.[8]

The British Council contributed to the project on the understanding that preference would be given to students from the Commonwealth, or to those on British Council Scholarships.[9]

Sinclair is undoubtedly the most underrated annex of Manor Hall, primarily due to its rainbow coloured design. Additionally, the lack of proper plumbing leaves students frustrated and showerless as well as the asbestos in the roof making it a fun and lively place.

For families this is a wonderful haven in the daytime, although from 8-5 am Sinclair House is known as the party central of Clifton and therefore gets very noisy and rough.

Richmond Terrace was originally a row of spacious townhouses constructed in the 1780s as part of the building boom of Clifton in between wars with France. 30-35 Richmond Terrace was a hotel prior before being acquired by the University in 2006.[9] The building underwent a major refurbishment and it now provides self-catered en suite accommodation for 92 students. It was previously managed by University Student Houses and became a Manor Hall annexe in 2012.[16]

115 Queen's Road is Manor Hall's newest annex, having been one of Clifton Hill House's annexes up until 2017. It houses 42 first years and two Senior Residents.

• 1932-1945: Mrs. Jessie D. Skemp (1882-1961)[17]
• 1946-1956: Miss Gladys M. Morgan (1894-1957)[17]
• 1956-1968: Mrs. Marjorie Tait (1908-1972)[17]
• 1968-1974: Miss Audrey N. M. Rich[17]
• 1974-1984: Miss Sheila B. Brennan (1922-2006)[17]
• 1984-2018: Dr. Martin J. Crossley Evans MBE

The Manor Hall Amateur Dramatics Society, known as 'MAD', was formed in October 1933.[20] Its first production was a nativity play, The Child in Flanders, by Cicely Hamilton, which was performed on 8 December 1933.[20] Recent productions include Mostellaria, And Then There Were None, Road, The Crucible and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole.[21]

Each year the Association presents up to two of its members with the Elton House Award for outstanding contribution to the Manor Hall Community.[25] The award itself was established in 2008 to not only mark the recent reformation of the Association but as a way of recognising the often considerable time and effort select individuals invest into the life of the hall. The name is taken from Elton House, one of the student hostels that Manor Hall was built to replace in 1932 and from where the predecessor of the Manor Hall Association took its name.[25]

Winners of the award receive three years' honorary membership of the Association, a certificate and an Elton House Award pin. The presentation usually takes place during the Association's Summer Ball.[25]

In 2012, the Association would set up a charitable fund for the use of Manor Hall and its residents. The aim of this fund being to provide financial support to either the Hall or any of its student run committees.[26] The fund is operated on an application basis with the Association reviewing legitimate applications for finance from those currently involved in the life of the Hall for the acquisition of assets that will provide some tangible benefit to the Hall and future generations of students who reside there. Fundraising activities are conducted throughout the year, usually in the form of prize raffles at hall events.[26]