City Hall, Bristol

City Hall (formerly the Council House) has been the seat of local government in Bristol, United Kingdom, since 1956 (before then the seat was in the Old Council House on Corn Street). It is situated on College Green, opposite the Cathedral and at the foot of Park Street in Bristol city centre (grid reference ST582728). Throughout its history it has been home to Bristol City Council. Designed in the 1930s but built after the Second World War, it is a grade II* listed building.[1]

City Hall
Bristol City Hall
Location of Bristol City Hall
General information
Classification
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated19 March 1981
Reference no.1282341
Town or cityBristol
CountryEngland
Coordinates51.45263°N 2.60295°W / 51.45263; -2.60295
Construction started1938
Completed1952
Opened1956
ClientBristol City Council
Design and construction
ArchitectVincent Harris

Building
The rear of the Bristol City Hall from Cabot Tower

The building was commissioned to replace the Old Council House, Bristol.[2] The new building was designed by Vincent Harris in a concrete frame, clad with very wide, thin bricks, with Portland stone dressings and a leaded hipped roof in a pastiche Neo-Georgian style. The steep and high roof with gilded unicorns to the corners of the end blocks.[1]

The foundation stone for the Council House was laid in 1938 and, although completed in 1952,[1] the building was only opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 17 April 1956.[3] The ceremonial entrance overlooks the moat and leads into the reception hall which is lined with local Doulting stone and paved with black and white Italian marble. It also features a blue and gold wall clock, encircled by the signs of the zodiac and equipped with its own wind indicator. The Conference Hall is the largest room in the building. The names of all Mayors and Lord Mayors of Bristol since 1216 are cut into the stone walls. The walls of the Lord Mayor's Reception Room are panelled in English Walnut and there is a colourful frieze displaying the heraldry of the Bristol trade guilds, and, in gold leaf, the names of famous Bristolians.[4]

The building was formerly known as the Council House, but was renamed by George Ferguson, CBE, the Mayor of Bristol, on his first day in office to City Hall, on 19 November 2012.[5]

Features

The ceiling of the council chamber was designed by John Armstrong (1893–1973) and depicts buildings in Bristol at the edge and the centre details sailing ships from different periods of Bristol History. The four corners show the allegorical figures of Enterprise, Wisdom, Industry and Navigation.[6] The ceiling in the Conference Room is by Sir Walter Thomas Monnington (1902–1976) on the theme of molecular and atomic fusion.[7]

In 2005, a bust of Tony Benn, the famous Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for the former Bristol South East constituency from 1950 to 1960, and again from 1963 to 1983, was unveiled by the man himself in the building's foyer.[8]

Environmental aspects

Refurbishment of the electrical and heating systems have incorporated the use of rainwater recycling for flushing toilets and an air-conditioning system that will discharge excess heat into the surrounding water filled moat rather than expelling it into the atmosphere.[9]

  • One of the building's gilded unicorns appears in the opening credits of the first and fifth series of popular television show, Skins.[10]
  • One of the unicorns also features in a hologram on the latest edition of the £B10 banknote of the Bristol Pound.[11]
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References
  1. Historic England. "Council House and attached railings and piers (1282341)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. "Old Council House, Corn Street, Bristol". Bristol & Region Archaeological Services. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  3. "The Painted Ceiling". Bristol Museums. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  4. "Lord Mayor's reception room". Bristol City Council. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  5. "Bristol mayor George Ferguson is sworn in". BBC. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  6. "Ceiling of Bristol council chambers". The Art fund. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
  7. "Council House and attached railings and piers". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
  8. "Bust celebrates politician's work". BBC News. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  9. "Council House, Bristol City Council". Ridge. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
  10. "Unicorn of Bristol's Council House in opening credits of Skins". Picasaweb. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  11. "New Bristol Pounds". Bristol Pound. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
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