Queen Square, Bristol

Millerd map 1728 The Queens Square

The site of Queen Square was once part of a large area of marsh land which Robert Fitzhardinge (founder of the abbey which is now Bristol Cathedral) included in its endowments. When the marsh was cut in two by the digging of St Augustine's Reach in the 13th century, the Abbot gave the eastern portion (which became the Town Marsh) to Bristol and retained the western portion (which became Canon's Marsh).[4]

The Town Marsh lay outside a fortified wall which was built to the north of the current line of King Street; new building work took place to the north of this wall on land made available by blocking the old course of the River Frome.[5]

The Town Marsh became an important open recreation area, with bear-baiting and a bull ring,[4] and was also used to practice weaponry, play bowls, hang pirates, store gunpowder, and dump rubbish.[6] By the 1660s buildings were appearing on King Street and Prince Street.[7]

In 1699 Bristol's Council had debts of £16,000 which they could barely service: a new source of income was required. Town Clerk John Romsey, together with his business crony, Mayor John Batchelor, proposed to address this problem by selling off building plots on the marsh at an annual ground rent of one shilling (£0.05) per 1 foot (0.30 m) of frontage.[8] There was a rush to take out leases, sometimes on more than one property, which the Sheriff and three subsequent mayors all joined. The leases stipulated that the buildings must be of three stories of set heights, and of brick - an unusual material for Bristol at that time, possibly chosen because Romsey had a friend who owned a brick kiln.[8]

The square was named in honour of Queen Anne, who visited Bristol in 1702, and it became the home of the merchant elite. It was conveniently placed for both arms of the harbour, but its low-lying position surrounded on three sides by a tidal river had disadvantages too: an 'assemblage of nastiness' floated in the river, and when the tide failed to carry this away it offended the eyes and nostrils of those living in the square. This was one of the factors which ultimately led the wealthy to the move up the hill to Clifton.[9]

Privateer Woodes Rogers lived on the west side of the square; a plaque commemorates this on the building that now occupies the site of his former home. Rogers circumnavigated the globe in 1707-1711, rescuing Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe) from Juan Fernández Island during his voyage.[10]

William Miles (1728–1803), Sheriff of Bristol in 1766, Mayor of Bristol in 1780 and Warden of the Merchant Venturers, lived at number 61 (now renumbered as 69/70/71) and the house became the offices of his family's extensive business interests.[11][12][13]

The first overseas US Consulate was established at what is now No.37 Queen Square in 1792.[14][15]

Queen Square is now a popular place for visitors and office workers to relax, and receives an estimated 1.6 million visitors per year. It regularly hosts outdoor theatre and cinema, music concerts, business exhibitions and other major events, and an annual petanque league run by the Queen Square Association.[1][29]

• In the centre of the Square is an idealised equestrian statue of William III by John Michael Rysbrack, cast in 1733 and erected in 1736 to signify the city's loyalty. The brass statue is on a Portland ashlar pedestal with a moulded plinth and cornice and is a grade I listed building.[30]
• The north side contains the Custom House (1835–37) by Sydney Smirke, (II* listed),[31] and a terrace (1833) by Henry Rumley, which are now offices, (II* listed).[32]
• The east side contains some 20th-century buildings and the Port Authority Office (1889) by William Venn Gough. The Sailors Refuge which makes up nos 27–29 dates from 1709–11 and is II* listed.[33][34]
• The south side contains varied 18th century buildings, which are similar to those nearby in Queen Charlotte Street and King Street. Two are by R.S. Pope.
• The west side was rebuilt in the 1830s after the riot, largely by Henry Rumley, some of which are still private houses but many are offices.[35][36][37][38][39]

The majority of buildings on Queen Square are listed. Some, like the central statue, are of outstanding value in their own right; others such as No.12 are included mainly for their group value:

Queen Square uses a clockwise-consecutive house numbering system, with No.1 near the middle of its north side.

• 
  The 1831 Riot in a nineteenth-century engraving
• 
  North side of Queen Square
• 
  Queen Square in winter, December 2009
• 
  Former Port of Bristol Authority offices and east side of Queen Square
• 
  Sydney Smirke's Custom House
• 
  Sailors Refuge, 29 Queen Square
• 
  Leaflet announcing experimental closure of dual carriageway across the Square, May 1992
• 
  A telegraph stamp used at the telegraph office in Queen Square in 1877
• 
  Statue of William III by John Michael Rysbrack erected in Queen Square in 1736
• 
  Aerial view of central Bristol; Queen Square is seen to the left of the picture

Citations

Sources

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