St Mary Redcliffe Statement of Significance (Working document)

1.1 Setting of the Church
How does the setting out of the church contribute to its landscape / townscape value and to its
significance?
St Mary Redcliffe Church sits in a raised position on a spur of red cliff, above and to the east of
Bristol’s floating harbour, alongside an important city centre route which connects Temple Meads
Railway Station to Queen’s Square and the harbourside. This positioning has, historically, underlined
the church’s connection with the maritime traditions of one of England’s great port cities and
emphasised its status as a site of major importance within the community of Redcliffe and, more
widely, Bristol.
Unfortunately, as a result of unsympathetic post-war planning policies, St Mary Redcliffe is now
isolated from the harbour and the city centre by two dual carriageways which carry traffic to the
north and west of the building and maroon the church in an island of tarmac and concrete. The
church has also suffered from the almost complete destruction, by the City Council, of the built
infrastructure of Redcliffe which once surrounded the building and provided it with historical, social
and architectural context. Old streets and historical buildings were bulldozed in the 1950s to make
way for a grey modernist urbanscape containing unsympathetic buildings in the form of mid-century
high-rise estates and large commercial premises. Consequently, one of Britain’s great mediaeval
structures lost some of the lustre which has made it the subject of special admiration for the last
eight centuries. A further regrettable result of mid-late C20th remodelling is that the church has
become, to a certain extent, isolated from the local community.
While this unsatisfactory circumstance has diminished the church’s relationship with its
surroundings, the importance of the building to Redcliffe, and to Bristol – in an era when much of
the historical built infrastructure of the city has disappeared – might be said to have grown. The
church is still the tallest building in Bristol, retains its significant presence on the city’s skyline and is
the main, perhaps the only, destination of significance in the Redcliffe area, discounting Temple
Meads Railway Station. It is probably fair to say that, without the church, Redcliffe would be
experienced by non-residents only as a place to pass through.
St Mary Redcliffe’s contemporary importance to the area is proven in the context of the recently
bestowed localism powers, which enable people to have a say in the redesign and restructure of
their communities. For the Redcliffe Neighbourhood Development Forum – a representative
organisation for local residents who want to improve the area around the church - St Mary Redcliffe
is a founding stone for the rebuilding and reinvention of the area, which can act as a beacon for local
people to gather around and which has the potential to apply a centripetal force in terms of
attracting people and businesses to help take part in the regeneration process.

The Setting and the Environs
The following section is extracted from the St Mary Redcliffe Conservation Plan Part 1 section
3:1 – 3:2.13
1.1.1 Introduction
The purpose of this section is to provide an understanding of the setting and environs of the church of
St Mary Redcliffe in a historical context. To provide this understanding the section draws on general
historical sources and on the methodology and detailed study of the topographical development of
the city currently in progress (Leech 1997a, 2000). For the purposes of this section the setting of the
church of St Mary Redcliffe has been taken to be an area extending approximately from a little to the
north of the Portwall on the north, to the New Cut on the south, to the Bath Road on the east and
to the end of Redcliffe Parade on the west.
The topographical development of the northern part of this area had already been studied in depth by
the writer for a study of the Redclliff Way area, prepared for Bristol City Council. The area to the south
of the church of St Mary Redcliffe, had been studied in less depth. For this area, the following section
draws on work already undertaken for a future Bristol Record Society volume covering the city to
the south of the Avon, and on the research which it has been possible to undertake in the limited time
allocated for this study.
The historic maps of the city of Bristol provide a general overview of the development of the area.
The earliest is William Smith’s depiction of the city in 1568. This shows the suburb of Redcliffe very
schematically. Millerd’s map is far more detailed, though much of the representation of individual
buildings remains iconographic.
The 1710 revision of Millerd’s map shows notably the increase of industry in the area, new buildings
and also a tennis court on the east side of Redcliffe Hill, all discussed at greater length below. John
Rocque’s map of 1742 was the first to show more accurately the layout of individual land holdings.
Rocque was also particularly interested in gardens, often showing the general plan of the larger ones
(fig.5); his plan is also especially valuable for showing the topography and land divisions of the study
area before it was divided by the construction of the New Cut in c.1804-9. John Donne’s first map of
the city printed in 1773 is much less detailed, but is of value in showing new streets not on the 1742
map (fig.6). Benjamin Donne’s later map of 1826 is similarly useful, but also much more detailed (fig.7).
This map was rapidly superceded by that of Asmead and Plumley, published in 1828. This approaches
the standard of the Ordnance Survey maps in its accuracy and depiction of detail (fig.8). The first
detailed Ordnance Survey plans of the city were published in 1884-5. One plan covers the Redcliffe area
at a scale of 1:2500 (fig.9). This plan is derived from the more detailed survey undertaken at 1:500
(in 183 separate plans), of which four plans cover the area studied here.
1.1.2 Rural Redcliffe: The founding of the late Saxon town
The Saxon walled town of Bristol as founded c.1000 AD was principally on the north bank of the River
Avon, situated on the ridge and spur to the west of the castle, its grid of streets centred on the
crossroads formed by the junction of High Street, Corn Street, Broad Street and Wine Street, to the
north of Bristol Bridge. Within this walled area the pattern formed by parallel streets echoed that to

e found in other Late Saxon planned towns (Leech 1997a for further references). Immediately to
the south of the Avon, on the south side of Bristol Bridge, was a small enclosed area known as
Arthur’s Fee, a smaller defended settlement guarding the south side of the bridge from which the
town took its name.
The areas subsequently occupied by the medieval suburbs of Redcliffe and Temple were until the
eleventh century still probably part of an entirely rural parish, served by the parish church of
Bedminster. It is possible that the layout of streets and tenement boundaries within these suburbs was
initially based on the pattern of tracks and strip fields in a largely rural landscape, the later principal
streets being the roads formerly leading through fields to the bridgehead settlement of Arthur’s
Fee and thence to the bridge and the town north of the Avon.
1.1.3 The founding of the new suburbs of Redcliffe and Temple
To the south of Bristol Bridge the fees of Redcliffe and Temple were established in the 12th century.
A fee was an area of lordship; through rents, urban fees could yield considerable profits for their lords.
The Redcliffe Fee was developed by Robert Fitzharding, being part of his manor of Bedminster (ed.
Cronne 1946, 32-3). Two main streets were laid out, Redcliffe Street and St Thomas Street, each with
tenement plots extending back on either side, those on the west of Redcliffe Street stretching to the
Avon. Dendrochronological dating of structural timbers from the excavations at Dundas Wharf has
shown that the west side of Redcliffe Street was being developed from c.1123-33 and that quays
were being built by 1147-8 (Nicholson and Hillam 1987, 141).
1.1.4 Origins - the church and parish of St Mary Redcliffe
St Mary Redcliffe church was probably first built to serve the newly founded suburb of Redcliffe in the
mid 12th century. The new suburb of Redcliffe was set out at the northern extremity of the large parish
of Bedminster, at some distance from the existing parish church. When first founded St Mary Redcliffe
was a chapel subservient to the parish church of Bedminster. A much smaller part of the suburb was
served by the new church of St Thomas the Martyr, also a chapelry of Bedminster. St Thomas can only
have been consecrated after the martyrdom of Thomas Becket in 1170. Although independent parochial
status was granted to St Mary Redcliffe and St Thomas only in 1852, both previously enjoyed certain
parochial rights and were always regarded as parish churches.
Later rebuilding has removed most of the visible evidence of the church of St Mary Redcliffe as first
built. The exception is the north porch, built by c.1190 and sufficient testimony to the existence of a
great church at Redcliffe by the end of the 12th century.
The parish boundary of St Mary Redcliffe was certainly defined by the 14th century, and possibly
much earlier. The earliest delineation of the boundary is of that part which constituted also the
boundary of the town and county of Bristol as defined in the royal charter of 1373. The parish was
effectively the largest within the medieval town, extending from close to Bristol Bridge to a point some
way to the south of the New Cut. The boundary of the town as defined in 1373 extended southwards
to enclose both sides, and then at the southernmost end the west side, of East Street, almost certainly
in recognition of extent of the built up area of the medieval suburb of Redcliffe by that date. Today we
tend to think of East Street as part of Bedminster, but before the construction of the New Cut in the
1800s the north end of this street was within the parish of St Mary Redcliffe. The expansion of the

suburb so far to the south of St Mary Redcliffe church is most likely to have taken place in the 12th to
early 13th centuries, a period of great urban expansion in England.
The number of parishioners and households in medieval St Mary Redcliffe, a larger number than
probably in any other parish, may explain in part why it was possible for the parish to rebuild its church
on such a grand scale. The merchant wealth concentrated in Redcliffe Street also clearly contributed to
the funds made available.
The landscape of the new suburbs of Redcliffe and Temple must be seen in the context of there being
no Portwall in the mid 12th century. The Portwall was built one hundred years later, in the 1240s.
Removing the Portwall, its ditch and its associated intra-mural lane, Portwall Lane, from our mental
picture of the new suburbs of the mid 12th century enables us to see a rather different layout to that
which emerged after the 1240s. The south side of the built up part of the Redcliffe suburb was defined
by the line of Pile Street. Further south Red Lane defined the southern edge of a larger block of
landscape within which St Mary Redcliffe church was built.
Some speculation may be useful at this stage. Prior to the establishment of the new suburbs Pile Street
was possibly a principal route, meeting the main road from Bedminster to Bristol on the north side of
the site for St Mary Redcliffe church. Prior to or in the first century of the new suburbs St Thomas
Street possibly ran through to Pile Street. Its route south of the Portwall would have corresponded
to the location of a single property, no.25 Pile Street.
Prior to the building of the Portwall, Pile Street may have been more intensively developed than was
the case after the 1240s. Several 13th-century deeds for properties in Pile Street refer to shops, for
instance the two shops on the north side of the street sold in c.1272, extending back to the new town
ditch (Bickley 1899, 7). Deeds of the 14th century and later do not mention shops in Pile Street.
The landscape of the pre-1240s suburb should also be seen in the context of what is now known of the
changing topography of the shoreline of the Avon. To the west of St Mary Redcliffe the shore of the
Avon would have been further east, well back from the present edge of Redcliffe Wharf.
Close to Redcliffe Wharf, or possibly further to the east on the opposite side of the great meander in
the Avon, may have been an inlet or pill, giving its name to Pile Street. One of the earliest spellings of
Pill Street, is the street ‘atte Pylle’.
1.1.5 The new town walls
The suburbs of Redcliffe and Temple Fee had been created in the mid 12th century. The construction of
defences to the Redcliffe and Temple Fees took place 75 to 100 years later, perhaps c.1232 when a
grant of murage was made to the town (ed. Cronne 1946, 37-8). In these same middle decades of the
13th century new defences were also constructed on the north side of the Avon linked to similar works
on the north bank of the Avon. As will be seen below these new defences became the property of the
town. It has been argued elsewhere that the construction of these new defences and the rebuilding of
the bridge were as much expressions of civic pride as of a need for defence (Leech 1997b).
Historians have generally accepted the account in the 17th-century calendars that the ditch in front of
the Portwall enclosing the Redcliffe and Temple Fees was used to divert the Avon whilst Bristol Bridge
was being rebuilt. The account in the Historic Towns Atlas reads for instance:

‘Emulating the Londoners, who half a century earlier had replaced their wooden bridge with a stone
one, they completely rebuilt theirs in stone. This involved damming and diverting the Avon whilst work
was in progress’ (eds. Lobel and Carus-Wilson 1975, 7).
The accounts in the 17th-century calendars can be found most readily in Seyer's Memoirs:
‘all the while the foundations of the arches were laying and the masons were building the water did
run under the bridges of Redcliffe and Temple gates, being made for that purpose: and at Tower
Harris the water was bayed, that it could not come down to hinder the building, but kept its current
that way. And the bridge being built, the bays were broken down, so that the water did ebb and flow,
as usual’ (Seyer 1823, 16).
The excavator of part of the Portwall ditch in 1965 was more sceptical, noting that the Portwall ditch as
excavated was about half the width of the New Cut which carries the Avon around the Floating Harbour
(Hebditch 1968, 135).
The new Portwall impacted on an existing landscape. All of Redcliffe had previously been suburb, but
part now became within the walled town, whilst part including the church of St Mary Redcliffe and Pile
Street became extra-mural. As we shall see these parts then became less urban and more rural in
character.
Redcliffe Gate was evidently a double gate, probably as suggested in the UAD entry with a gate on
either side of the ditch. The presence of an inner and outer gate is first indicated in a rental of c.1350.
Worcestre wrote of ‘the two gates called Redcliffe Gates’ and noted that the space between the two
gates was c.63ft (ed. Neale 2000, 213). The outer gate is not mentioned in any rentals or leases of the
16th century and later, and is not shown on Millerd’s map of 1673. The inner gate continued to be
referred to in leases and other documents (see no.81 Redcliffe Street), was rebuilt in a baroque style in
1731 and was demolished in c.1788. Houses between the two gates are shown on Millerd’s map and
are attested in the rentals and leases.
The configuration of the block of properties between Jones Lane and the Portwall could also be
explained by there having been here a tower to the outer gate of comparable size to that at
Tower Harratz, closing off the west end of the Portwall.
1.1.6 The inhabitants of the Redcliffe suburb
From the 13th century onwards documents such as deeds and wills provide an increasing amount of
information on the lives of those who lived and worshipped in the parish of Redcliffe.
Of particular interest to this study are those documents which provide insights into the rebuilding of
the church of St Mary Redcliffe. Some of these sources are well known having been utilised by
successive studies of the church. Apparently overlooked have been the various references in the deeds
calendared by Bickley (1899), which include:
- The indulgence granted by John Bishop of Ardfert to all subscribing to the fabric of the
church of St Mary Redcliffe, April 1282 (Bickley 1899, 13).

- Lease of a property on Redcliffe Hill opposite the cemetery of the church, to the wardens and
‘guardians of the works’ of the church of St Mary Redcliffe, 1337 (Bickley 1899, 36-7). This was
probably a lease of ‘the stonemasons’ workshops for the construction of Redcliffe church’
referred to over a century later by William Worcestre (ed. Neale 2000, 61). The
identification of the precise location of the stone masons’ yard will be of some interest –
preliminary research indicates that it may correspond to the tenement of the church
inhabited by John Richeman mason in 1434 (Bickley 1899, 80-1).
- The will of Margaret Forster to be buried in the new chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of
Redclyf, February 1398 (Bickley 1899, 70).
Although something is known of the changing landscape of Bristol and Redcliffe south of the Avon
in the eleventh to 14th centuries, almost nothing is known in detail of the more immediate
surroundings of the church of St Mary Redcliffe. Detailed information on the immediate surroundings of
the church is first available from the 15 th century. Millerd’s map of 1673 gives a good overall impression
of the surroundings of the church by that date.
1.1.7 The Chapel of The Holy Spirit, later probably The Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar and Writing
School
William Worcestre’s account of c.1480 provides the first information on the churchyard itself: ‘a
handsome chapel, founded long ago, sited on its own on the south side of Redcliffe church,
dedicated in honour of the Holy Spirit’ (ed. Neale 2000, 210-11). This chapel was probably the building
used in the 16th and 17th centuries as Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar and Writing School, founded
in 1571. This building was shown on Rocque’s plan of 1742, on the south side of the church as
described by Worcestre. In an indenture of 1762, the school ever since its foundation was said to have
been ‘kept and continued in a house belonging to the said parish church, situate very near the said
church at the westward end, and at the southward side thereof; that the beauty and magnificence of
the said parish church of St Mary Redcliffe were greatly impaired and diminished by the situation of
the said schoolhouse’. Permission was then granted by the Bishop of Bristol for the demolition of the
school-house, the school then being moved to a newly furnished ‘handsome school-room’ in the Lady
Chapel.
1.1.8 The college and residence for the priests of Canynges’ chantries
To the south of St Mary Redcliffe was the college and residence for the priests of Canynges’ chantries,
certainly in existence by c.1480 when described by William Worcestre:
‘And from the beginning of the said wall enclosing the garden next to the churchyard, on the east
side of the aforesaid wall, from the said boundary stone on that side, going along by the aforesaid
churchyard, next to William Canynges’s college of chaplains, to the hall of residence of the said
chaplains, measures 150 steps in width.
The width of the road of Redcliffe Hill from the chambers of the aforesaid priests to the other
side of the stonemasons’ workshops for the construction of Redcliffe church, is 40 steps.

And from the site of William Canynges’s chambers on the west end of the aforesaid churchyard, as
far as Redcliffe Gate, measures about 180 steps.’ (ed. Neale 2000, 61).
‘Also, the length of the house of the Canynges priests [is] 19 or 20 yards in length, with 4 bay
windows of freestone, for the rooms of the 4 priests.’ (ed. Neale 2000, 75).
At the dissolution of the chantries in 1549 the college must have been appropriated by the
Crown and then regranted. In 1579 it was described as the College House of Redcliffe with a garden
adjacent, to the south of ‘the church of Ratcliffe’, together with ‘one little howse or lodge’ in the
end of the garden, on the west side of an orchard belonging to the Pipe of Redcliffe and late of
Robert Salisbury (lodges and gardens are discussed more fully below). By 1620 the property was
owned by the parish of St Mary Redcliffe. It was subdivided to form building lots fronting
Redcliffe Hill and Colston Parade in 1776. One of the houses then built is now the parish office.
Fry’s Mercy House was built on two of these lots c.1779 (1831, 2, 58-63).
1.1.7 To the east of the college
Further east, but still in Colston Parade and to the south of the churchyard, were by the 15th century
several large gardens leased to wealthy citizens. Within some of these too were built lodges.
1.1.8 The garden and lodge to the east of the churchyard
To the east of the churchyard, on the opposite side of Pump Lane, was a large garden, which by 1509
formed part of the endowment of the chantry of William Canynges. A lodge had been built here by
1534. In 1549, at the dissolution of the chantries, it was described as a house or lodge, standing to
the east of the churchyard. The lodge and a second smaller building are shown on Millerd’s map of
1673. Deeds of the 17th and 18th centuries enable the site of the lodge to be closely identified.
1.1.9 The mansion house of the Diocese of Salisbury
The church of St Mary Redcliffe was within the jurisdiction first of the medieval diocese of Bath and
Wells, and from 1542 of the diocese of Bristol. The parsonage of the parish of Bedminster was though a
possession of the diocese of Salisbury, and a non residential canon of the diocese of Salisbury was
designated as being Prebend of Bedminster and Redcliffe. The residence of this canon was in Bristol,
immediately to the north of the churchyard of St Mary Redcliffe , fronting Redcliffe Pit and to the south
of Pile Street. It was by the 16th century a substantial structure, described in 1583 as a ‘mansion house’,
the subject of a dispute between Arthur Saul, Prebend of Bedminster and Redcliffe in the Diocese of
Salisbury and John Wade and Thomas Witherley on behalf of the parish. In 1652 it was described as
‘heretofore one dwelling ... now divided and become divers small dwellings'. It remained in the
holding of successive prebends, sometimes sub-leased to the parish, until sold to the Corporation
in 1842, along with all interest held in the property by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners’ (figs.13-14).
More research will need to be undertaken to elucidate the history and context of this house, its
presence hitherto totally unsuspected. The earliest record for the property is probably the lease of
1563 of the lands and profits of the parsonage of Bedminster and Redcliffe to Arthur Saul, enrolled in
the grants of leases made by the Bishop of Salisbury. The properties, including the mansion house, are
not individually described.

This cathedral prebend’s house in effect closed off the north side of the churchyard. Its site now lies
largely within the curtilage of the churchyard as redefined in the 1840s.
The connections between St Mary Redcliffe and Salisbury in the middle ages require more
consideration. Brian O’Callaghan, in a paper presented to the British Archaeological Association
meeting in 1996 (but not published in the proceedings), argued that the architects of the 19th century
rebuilding of the spire had failed to realise that the medieval spire of St Mary Redcliffe was modelled
on that of Salisbury, rather than on the south midlands spires which formed the basis of the restoration.
1.1.10 A cathedral close in miniature
The churchyard of St Mary Redcliffe had therefore by the early 16th century assumed something of the
character of a cathedral close in miniature, surrounded on three sides by houses of the ecclesiastical and
urban élite. These houses have entirely disappeared, though much remains of their archaeology. The
later houses of the 1770s onwards, fronting the south side of the churchyard, must stand in part on the
site of the college.
1.1.11 The Hospital of St John The Baptist, on the opposite side of Redcliffe Hill
On Redcliffe Hill the hospital of St John the Baptist was founded by 1190 for the relief of the poor.
There has been no archaeological excavation, there are no visible remains of the hospital and the best
clues to its location come first from the account of William Worcestre c.1480. Its church was said to be
‘on the River Avon on the other side of Redcliffe church’, and opposite that of St Mary Redcliffe. In
the middle of the cloister was a pool of water or square conduit. The nave of the church was only
38ft 6ins in length. On the west side of the church and above the River Avon ‘on Redcliffe’ was a
hermitage.
After the dissolution of the religious houses in the 1530s, the hospital and its lands were granted to Dr
George Owen, physician to Henry VIII. The hospital and its lands constituted two separate grants in
1544, first the 'late hospital or house of St John Baptist without Ratclyff Gate' and secondly all its lands
'in the city and suburbs, except the site of the said house (L&P xix (pt1) pp.286-7). It was not the site
of the hospital itself but only the lands of the hospital that in 1613 became part of the endowment of
the Bristol Grammar School, managed by the Corporation and always referred to as Dr Owen’s lands.
The site of the hospital can be best located from the rental of the lands of Dr Owen, covering the years
1566 to 1580 (33041/BMC/2/17). In the second half of the 16th century the site of the hospital was
still remembered, and was used as a reference point to describe the location of different groups of
properties. Tenements to the south of Redcliffe gate were in 1566 between ‘the gate and Sent
Jonnes’. In 1576 the same tenements were 'without the gate of Bristol', in 1580 'in Rackelyfe Pyt'.
These tenements can be identified as nos. 76-78 (see below). On the opposite side of Redcliffe Pit
three tenements, which can be identified as nos. 5-7 (see above), were said in each entry from 1566
to 1580 to be 'over agenst Sent Jonnes', i.e. opposite to it. A longer list of tenements, identified as nos.
2-22 Redcliffe Hill, was consistently stated to be 'above Sent Jonnes'. The site of the hospital of St John
can only have been in the space north of Jones Lane, which can now be read as St Johns lane,
extending to no.76 to the north, the first of the houses forming part of the lands of Dr Owen. The
Hospital may though have extended only as far as no. 75, which possibly filled the space occupied
formerly by an outer town wall forming here part of the outer gate (see ed. Neale 2000, 97-9).

1.1.12 Canynge’s almshouse
The almshouse on Redcliffe Hill was reputed to have been founded by William Canynges c.1440.
The almshouse was probably the property described in 1533 as a ‘Spyttyll howse’ for lepers, the
master of the hospital paying yearly to the priests of Canynges’ chantry ‘goddes blessyng’ for the
tenement and 3s 4d for the garden. The outline of the almshouse property is shown on a plan
of 1797, prior to the rebuilding of the almshouses after the construction of the New Cut c.1804
(Manchee 1831, 2, 56-8; Bickley 1899, 101-2).
1.1.13 The Vicarage
The vicarage of St Mary Redcliffe was located on the west side of Redcliffe Hill by the 14th century. A
photograph shows the house as modified or rebuilt in the 17th century
1.1.14 The Redcliffe pipe
The Redcliffe pipe is one of several medieval water pipes which brought fresh water into the city -
usually to the religious houses but with offshoots to certain churches and for the benefit of the
townsfolk and parishioners. The supply was copious and very recent memories of the discharge
from the St John's pipe bear this out. The pollution of the Rivers Avon and Frome must have made
it necessary at an early stage in the development of the town to secure adequate supplies of
safe water for the needs of the growing urban population.
Lord Robert de Berkeley gave the 'Ruge Well' (Ridge Well) to St Mary Redcliffe in 1190
A.D. Documents relating to the original grant survive. It was secured at the instance of William,
Chaplain of St Mary Redcliffe and provided that 'the church and her ministers were to be allowed to
lead the stream of the well over the demesne lands of the tenants, through fence and enclosure
and meadow and pasture by a conduit to the church in perpetuity'.
Smaller pipes ('feathers') were laid from the main pipe to St. John's Hospital, to St Thomas
Church, and to the Augustinian house which stood near Temple Gate on the site of the
present day Templar House. This last feather was replaced by the Temple Pipe in 1366.
Redcliffe Pipe and its source of supply are thus a valuable legacy from the very earliest days of the
city. The spring, which is located in Knowle Hill close to the rear of St. Barnabas Church in
Daventry Road, is itself an important feature historically and bears comparison with similar works
in other parts of the world. From the lateral tunnel at that point the course of the pipe runs down
through the open ground on the hillside to St John's Lane, through Victoria Park, underneath the
railway, along Spring Street, along the New Cut, across Bedminster Bridge and up and across
Redcliffe Hill. Its line is marked by stones in pavements and walls and, in Victoria Park, by a series
of standing stones upon which new members of the church community are 'bumped' during the
annual 'Pipe Walk'. This takes place in the early autumn and is designed to uphold the church's right
of way.

The outlet of the pipe was near the south-west corner of the churchyard and can be seen in old
prints of the church and locality. A lead pipe was replaced in four inch cast iron in the 19 th century
and the existing outlet on Redcliffe Hill was installed in 1932. Clearly, the Vestry thought it
worthwhile to maintain the supply and embellish the outlet at no small expense up to the
Second World War.
Wartime bombing fractured the pipe in at least two places and the flow ceased. Post-war austerities
made it impractical to put repairs in hand and the matter lapsed until the approach of the 800 th
anniversary in 1990. In the early 1980s Mr Hugh Pratt took the initiative and the tunnels at the
spring were cleared of accumulated mud and silt. This work ensured a good supply at the source.
Then in 1984 Wessex Water inaugurated a new relief sewer passing beneath Victoria Park and
built a commemorative 'water maze' over the line of the pipe and fed by it. The design copied the
maze depicted on a vault boss in the north nave aisle of St Mary Redcliffe. At first there was a
promising supply of water but this deteriorated as leaks in the system became apparent.
By negotiation with the necessary authorities Mr Pratt repaired a break beyond the railway in Spring
Street and a new manhole was inserted at the junction with York Road. More recently the pipe was
renewed beneath Bedminster Bridge when that was refurbished. At the same time another break on
Redcliffe Hill was made good and a new pipe was laid across the dual carriageway towards the
section between Prewett Street and Colston Parade. Today the full restoration of the Redcliffe Pipe,
which had lain neglected for fifty years, is within sight.
From the 16th century onwards a greater number of surviving documents relate to the history of the
area around the church. The overall impression in the period c.1500-1700 is of Redcliffe Hill as a
busy thoroughfare, but other streets having a mix of rows of tenements and large gardens. Scattered
amongst these gardens were lodges, often used by wealthier citizens as second residences in the
suburbs.
The dissolution of the religious houses had some considerable impact. The Hospital of St John on
Redcliffe Hill and the Augustinian Friary in Temple Street both literally vanished from sight. Historians
and archaeologists can only speculate as to their respective locations. Immediately to the north and
south of St Mary Redcliffe church two further religious houses similarly vanished from view. To the
north of the churchyard was the house of the successive Prebends of Bedminster and St Mary Redcliffe
who retained ownership of the property until the 1840s; by the 16th century it was known as a
‘mansion house’. To the south of the churchyard was the college of chantry priests founded by William
Canynges in the later 15th century
1.1.15 Busy thoroughfares
Some of the earliest domestic buildings shown on surviving illustrations are those in Redcliffe Pit and on
Redcliffe Hill. The painting by James Johnson, water-colours in the Braikenridge collection and a drawing
by J.C.Buckler give a good impression of the very urban character of this street and Redcliffe Hill to the
south by the 17th century (fig.17-23). Three and four storey houses gabled end-on to the street on
narrow plots characterised this part of the city’s southern suburb. The inhabitants were in turn
characterised by a range of occupational groupings. A good number of widows and mariners lived
here. Amongst trades people those concerned with the cloth industries predominated, for instance

Peter Harris sergemaker, Griffith Lascombe milliner, and James Middleton silk maker. On the west
side of the street George Davis, father and son, and Nicholas Mortimore were all pinmakers, at
nos.8 and 18 Redcliffe Hill.
1.1.16 Other streets
Other streets were less busy, with rows of houses of urban form interspersed with large gardens. Three
such rows are shown on early illustrations. On the south side of Pile Street a row of houses was
from the 1620s onwards always referred to in leases as ‘little tenements’. A water- colour of 1827
shows that at least six of these houses were probably two roomed cottages of one storey plus an attic,
amongst the smallest houses known of in Bristol during the 17th century; these were built on the
site of the Prebends’ mansion .
To the east in 1620 was a ‘little cottage’, next to the Three Cups and Salmon in Redcliffe Pit. A second
water-colour shows a row of four 17th-century houses, gabled on to the street, nos.26-29 Pile Street.
No.26 was ‘lately new built’ in 1684; no.29 recently rebuilt in 1684. A third illustration is from the St
Stephen’s plan book, of three 17th century houses clearly built as a uniform row. These were nos.12,
13 and 14 on the north side of Pile Street, built in a ‘great garden’ still extant in 1685 (fig.26). A fourth
illustration is of another of the small houses built on the site or garden of the Prebends’ mansion, on the
west side of Pump Lane .
From the leases of these smallest houses come some of the earliest references to Bristol’s working
population, those who in 17th century parlance were below ‘the middling sort’. At least three labourers
and their families occupied houses in Pile Street by the early 17th century, John Walle at no.18, Owen
Lewis at no.19 and John Reece at no.29. Some may have worked for George Illing, the furzey comber at
no.18 in 1658. Some possibly worked for Toby Wells the basketmaker, whose property interests in
Pile Street were considerable, at nos.22-4, 25, 52 and 52. The withy beds recorded at nos.51 and 53
were an essential resource for basket making.
1.1.17 Gardens and lodges
In these streets rows of smaller houses were interspersed with large gardens. These seem to have been
a feature of the area from at least the 14th or 15th centuries, and have already been noted in
looking more fully at the immediate surroundings of St Mary Redcliffe in the later middle ages.
On the east side of Redcliffe Hill were a number of gardens, first recorded from the late 16th century. A
large garden next to Temple Gate is recorded as early as 1316. In 1448 the property of St John’s
Hospital on the south side of Pile Street was described simply as a garden; it was subdivided into
tenement plots by the 17th century.
On the north side of Pile Street were more such gardens. Nos.22-24, part of the lands of Lord Lisle, was
in 1556 the garden of Walter Symondes a glazier. Nos.31-2, part of the lands of St Mary Redcliffe were
by 1629 two large gardens. Nos.12-16 were prior to the building of a row of tenements still one great
garden in 1685. Some of these gardens on the north side of Pile Street had been enlarged to take in
land that was formerly occupied by the ditch on the south side of the Portwall, for instance as
happened at nos.31-2 and further to the east. The presence of so many large gardens in these streets

y the 16th and 17th centuries indicates that this was an area away from the urban core, on the very
periphery of the city.
The purposes to which large gardens were put in these centuries varied. Some certainly served as
settings for urban lodges, the second residences of wealthy citizens. The term ‘lodge’, in common
usage in the 15th to early 17th centuries, was synonymous with both `garden house' and `summer
house', in more common use in the later 17th and 18th centuries. These were terms used to describe a
house which was a place of retreat from the city, a house which was seen as one with its garden. Such
houses stood most often within one corner or at one side of a high walled garden. The house was best
seen from the garden, or from afar. The view from the house was first of the garden and then into the
distance. Such houses were emphatically different in their setting from houses built in continuous
rows, such as those in Redcliffe Pit or at various locations on the north and south sides of Pile Street. As
an addition to a residence elsewhere in the city, such houses were owned by wealthier citizens. A
recently published study has shown for instance that most of the smaller garden houses on St Michael's
Hill were owned by citizens who lived in the wealthiest city-centre parishes, notably that of St
Werburgh centred on Small Street (Leech 2000, 22-6).
The higher ground around St Mary Redcliffe, was a favoured area for the siting of such residences,
evidently pre-dating St Michael’s Hill in its popularity for this purpose. We might link this to the
importance of the Redcliffe Fee in the late medieval period for the cloth trade and the prosperity it
brought especially to this southern part of the city. In a number of instances the location of lodges
appears also to have been linked to the presence of cloth drying racks; the large garden of a
peripheral urban residence for occasional use would lend itself to such purposes.
The earliest lodges recorded were of the 15th century. In 1430 John Crosse took the lease of a ‘logge’
on the north side of Pile Street. In 1448 a second lodge, that of Isabella Waryn, was recorded at the
west end of Tomlinson’s Close to the south of Pile Street. By the 16th century the property of St
Peter’s church extending from Pile Street to Red Lane had been put to similar use. On the Pile Street
frontage no.56 was leased to a merchant by 1553 and was by the 18th century termed a ‘summer
house or late summer house’. Extending to Red Lane the greater part of the St Peter’s holding
included by 1592 a ‘lytle house called a lodge’. In the 17th century more such properties were
noted. In 1625 the lodge and gardens later to become the Phoenix Inn were recorded at the eastern
end of Pile Street close to Temple Gate.
Two such lodges appear in early illustrations. Both were within the grant of 1662 of a lodge and garden
of c.1 acre extending from Pile Street (no.58) to Red Lane. On the higher ground overlooking the
garden was the lodge where William Barnes recently lived, shown on Millerd’s map of 1673. Fronting
Pile Street was a second lodge, not mentioned in 1662 and first described in 1691, ‘a little tenement or
lodge and garden’, late of Nicholas Pattfield, a woolcomber. This lodge is shown on two watercolours
from the Braikenridge collection and of the 1820s. The juxtaposition of elaborate provision for
entertainment and minimal provision for service and sleeping marked this house out as a lodge.
Another lodge shown on an early illustration and in plan had by the 19th century become part of the
Hope and Anchor Inn. In 1684 this was the garden, lodge and tenement leased to Daniel Gwillim, by
1692 used as a dwelling house.

1.1.18 Industrialisation - the later 17th to early 19th centuries: Introduction
In the 18th to early 19th centuries the area around the church and Redcliffe Hill was much changed
under the impact of industrialisation. Redcliffe Wharf became an important portside location. Pottery
and glass production were established here and elsewhere. Tobacco and sugar imports provided work
for then inhabitants of Pile street in particular. Local sources and ingenuity lay behind the founding of
lead shot manufacture. The need for workers for all these industries in turn created a demand for
workers’ housing. Further from the various industrial works, on the higher ground and closer to the
New Cut, were built larger houses, meeting a demand for larger and more expensive houses.
Whether to possess a lodge or occasional country house was for those who could afford it a
matter of personal inclination. Samuel Pepys for instance was strongly of the opinion that it would be
an encumbrance. A house built as a lodge by one proud owner could always be converted to a
permanent residence by a successor, or might be seen as of little value, perhaps on account of its
minimal accommodation for everyday living. On the north side of Pile Street (nos.17-18), one such
property had become ‘a ruinous tenement called a lodge’ by the late 17th century.
Large gardens with or without lodges could also serve other purposes. It is noteworthy that a
number were at various times owned by innholders. In 1701 Tomlinson’s Close was late of Thomas
Tomlinson, an innholder. We might see these large gardens as the 17th-century equivalents of the car
parks that today occupy spaces close by. An innholder needed the facility of grazing for the horses of his
guests, much as a modern hotel owner needs to be able to provide car parking.
Towards the end of the 17th century and in the early 18th century another use for such gardens was
also more evident. The garden at no.30 Redcliffe Hill was before 1662 held by Nicholas Weston, a
gardener. In the 18th century a number of the gardens in Red Lane and Pile Street were held by
Thomas Sanders, a seedsman. Such gardens were most probably market gardens, providing both
produce and seeds for the now rapidly expanding population of the city.
One garden may have served as a public garden from the late 17th or early 18th century. This was
the formal garden between Red Lane and Pile Street, shown on Rocque’s map of 1742 and in
consummate detail on the St Mary Redcliffe plan of 1798 with its parterres, canals and other features.
The layout of the garden shows it as focussed on the Rose and Crown. Possibly it originated as a
commercial enterprise by the landlord of the Rose and Crown. The Red Lane / Pile Street garden
could be seen as Bristol’s equivalent of similar gardens in early 18th-century London, of which Vauxhall
gardens are the best known.
1.1.19 The city walls
In the 16th and 17th centuries the city walls remained a prominent feature in the urban landscape,
separating the more densely developed areas within the walled city from the areas more dominated
by gardens and lodges beyond. The gates to Redcliffe Street and Temple Street were no longer, indeed
had probably never been, of importance to the defence of the city. As rebuilt in the classical style in the
1730s and evoking memories of ancient Rome, these and others of the city gates served to symbolise
the importance and authority of the city. The gates remained though an inconvenience to traffic.
Redcliffe Gate was demolished in 1771.

The 19th and 20th centuries have brought further sweeping changes. Industries closed or moved. New
streets and street improvement schemes greatly affected the area from the 1840s onwards. The
building of the Bristol Harbour Railway in the 1870s led to the destruction of most of Pile Street. In the
20th century the building of the new Western Road in the late 1930s and the widening of Redcliffe Hill
in the 1960s led to further demolitions. The present landscape of Redcliffe Way and Redcliffe Hill is the
inheritor of these various schemes.
1.1.19 Redcliffe Wharf
In 1666 Redcliffe Wharf was evidently a carpenter’s yard. Timber was possibly landed here for
processing. In the 18th century it became important first as the location for the manufacture of glass
and pottery (see below). Both were much exported by sea, especially to the sugar islands of the
Caribbean. The earliest detailed plan of Redcliffe Wharf is of 1875.
1.1.20 The new cut
The New Cut was a diversion of the tidal Avon made between 1804 and 1809 (Buchanan and Cossons
1969, 31-9). Its construction enabled the existing Avon to become the Floating Harbour with permanent
high water. It also divided the parish and area of Redcliffe, the area to the south of the New Cut now
becoming topographically a distinct neighbourhood and much more part of Bedminster.
1.1.21 Pottery production
In the early 18th century the pottery works of Richard Franks was established close to the Avon at
Redcliffe Wharf (Pountney 1920). Pountney’s sources are not given, but his statement is confirmed by
a deed of 1783 to the effect that situated on Redcliffe Wharf were the messuage, buildings and yard,
formerly of Richard Franks and Thomas Franks potters, were now leased by Joseph Harford to
Vigor and Stephens glass makers. These were in turn sub-leased by Vigor and Stephens in 1784
to John Curtis dealer in earthenware. The buildings included a tenement, warehouse, back kitchen
and part of the yard.
The kiln was possibly on Redcliffe Wharf, or possibly on the property above the slope or cliff. Richard
Franks lived at nos.28-30 Redcliffe Hill immediately above Redcliffe Wharf. The large quantities of
Delft pottery found infilling one or more of the caves below could have been tipped there as
waste from the manufacturing site located here (pottery finds noted from verbal information from
Dr Roger Price). No kiln is shown on the detailed early 18th- century plan of Franks’s house and
garden.
1.1.22 Glass manufacture
The history of glass manufacture in Bristol has been summarised by Witt, Weeden and Schwind (1984).
A number of glassworks were situated in the area close to the Portwall and towards St Mary Redcliffe:

1.1.23 Redcliffe Wharf
The glassworks here was established in the late 17th or early 18th centuries. Possible owners have
been cited as the Dagnia family for the mid 17th century, John Lowden for c.1673 onwards, and
Thomas Ewens for c.1700 onwards. It is most likely to have been established after 1673, since it is not
shown on Millerd’s map of that date. It is shown on the revised map of c.1710, as a rectangular building
with a central cone or chimney, and labelled ‘glasshouse’. This structure must have been replaced by
1742, the date of Rocque’s map showing here a circular glass cone. From 1767 the glass works were
associated with Robert Vigor, first as Longman and Vigor, then as Vigor and Stevens. The glass house
is shown on Donne’s map of 1773. The glass works closed after its amalgamation with Ricketts and Co.
in 1802.
1.1.24 Redcliffe Gate
The glassworks here were built by c.1710 when shown on Millerd’s map. This was on the plot leased by
the Corporation to John Baker and Richard Warren in 1718. Witt et al suggest that it was demolished to
provide better access to Redcliffe Backs (op.cit., 37). The reason for its demolition was probably to
remove an annoyance from that immediate neighbourhood. In fact Warren was given the lease of a
plot on Redcliffe Back on condition that no ‘glass house, soap house, pot house, work house’, all of
which might ‘annoy the neighbouring inhabitants’, be built there. The site of the cone was
possibly converted to a lime kiln, the plan of the limeworks being shown in detail on a plan of
1809 (see no.81 Redcliffe Street).
1.1.25 Red Lane
The glassworks here were built by c.1710 when shown on Millerd’s map. The glass cone shown
by Millerd was close to the junction with Temple Street. Established by the Perrotts c.1700, it was
from 1752 the works of Daniel Taylor and others. From 1782 it came into the possession of Elton,
Miles and Co. By 1797 it had expanded up Red Lane, a second cone having been built closer to St Mary
Redcliffe church and shown on the detailed plan made of the glassworks for the St Mary Redcliffe book
of plans of that date. This cone was given a separate existence in the study by Witt et al (1984, 55-
6), but from the leases from St Mary Redcliffe it appears to have been always part of the
Taylor/Elton/Miles/and others’ glasshouse. The base of this second cone is now the hotel restaurant.
1.1.26 Nos.89-92 Temple Street, Perrott’s
The glassworks at nos.89-92 Temple Street was founded c.1707, when Benjamin Perrott glassmaker
leased nos.89-90 from the Corporation. The glass works was probably spread over several properties,
extending northwards to no.92 which was leased by Humphrey Perrott from 1719 onwards. Humphrey,
Benjamin’s son was probably responsible for the management of the glass works, and the glasshouse,
now void, was described as formerly his in 1741. It passed then to Richard Cannington, a glassmaker
with premises on the other side of Temple Street. Cannington’s address was given as here in 1775.
Some of the buildings shown on plans of no.92 in 1850 and 1857 originated as buildings within the
glassworks.

The estimate of the value of Humphrey Perrott’s estate in 1736 (UAD 3239) can be correlated with
the data now available for his various property holdings. The lease from the 3 Kings of Collen relates
to nos.89-90 Temple Street; the lease from St Mary Redcliffe relates to the gardens on the north side of
Pile Street; the lease from St James’s church relates to no.92 Temple Street; a second lease from St
Mary Redcliffe for a garden in Portwall Lane relates to Avering Hayes.
1.1.27 Portwall Lane, at Avering Hayes
The glassworks here are not mentioned by Witt et al (1984). This glass works was probably initially
part of the same business as that at nos.89-92 Temple Street. When leased to Thomas Warren glass
maker 1766 it had belonged previously to Humphrey Perrott. Leased to James Stevens glass
manufacturer in 1792 it was now described as ground whereon ‘an old glass house stood’. Stevens’s
interests lay also in the Phoenix Glassworks to the south of Portwall Lane, and it possibly now
formed part of that business. The glassworks is shown in detail, including the locations of the old and
new glasshouses, on a plan of 1797 .
1.1.28 Workers’ housing
The increase in industry in the locality was probably a major reason for the great increase in the
provision of courts of small houses, many occupied by workers in the glass and other industries. On the
south side of Pile Street, one such row of houses (nos.1-8) was built by 1717. The greatest number
of such houses was built on the south side of Pile Street, closer to the glassworks on either side of
the street towards Temple Gate. Over 80 small tenements, of one room on each floor, had been built
in various courts towards the eastern end of the street by 1828. Those on the south side of Pile Street
were all demolished for the building of the Bristol Harbour railway. Similar courts of small tenements
were to be found by the 1880s in Cathay and on the west side of Redcliffe Hill.
1.1.29 The Phoenix glassworks, Portwall Lane and Pile Street
The glassworks here was established c.1788, being built on the site of the Phoenix Inn. It closed in 1851,
the last of the glass houses to be operating in Bristol. The works are shown in outline, with some detail,
on plans of 1848 and 1862.
1.1.30 Tobacco and sugar
From the late 17th century onwards inhabitants of Pile Street and Redcliffe Hill can be identified as
being involved in the processing of tobacco: John Heal, at 9 Redcliffe Hill in 1683, and then (all in Pile
Street) Henry Fry, at 28 in 1679, John Tyler at 50 in 1709, Thomas Sartain at 22-4 in 1740 and John
Phillips at 52 in 1751.
1.1.31 Lead shot manufacture
An improved method of shot manufacture was discovered and patented by William Watts, a
plumber, in 1782 (Buchanan and Cossons 1969, 111-4). From 1785 Watts had established his premises
at nos.28-30 Redcliffe Hill, adding his shot tower to the ‘fair messuage’ built by William Wren after
1698. The shot tower is shown on drawings and a water-colour in the Braikenridge Collection as a
dominant feature in the urban landscape . A detailed plan of the ground floor was made in 1857. There

are detailed drawings, elevations and sections made prior the demolition of the tower in 1969. The
last show that the tower must have been rebuilt some time after the 1820s.
1.1.32 Housing for the more prosperous
The development of existing or new streets for housing commenced with the development of
Guinea Street, formerly the lane to Trim Mill, in the 1720s. The west part of Redcliffe Parade and the
north and west sides of Somerset Square were both developed by 1773. Colston Parade was developed
from 1776 onwards. These developments provided larger terraced houses. By 1826 several streets of
smaller houses had been built, notably Colston Street, Wellington Street, Somerset Street and Langton
Street, together with several separate rows of slightly larger houses fronting on to the New Cut and
Clarence Road. The investigation in more detail of the development of these streets has not yet been
undertaken.
1.1.33 Recreation
A tennis court on the east side of Redcliffe Hill is shown on the revised map by Millerd of 1710. In 1775
a property on Redcliffe Hill was known as the Old Tennis Court. Its location is shown on a detailed plan
of 1797.
1.1.34 Schools
Mention has already been made of Queen Elizabeth’s Free Grammar School, initially established on
the south side of St Mary Redcliffe church. At later dates two schools were built in Pile Street. On the
north side was the Pile Street Charity School, established in 1738. It was later famed for its association
with Thomas Chatterton. The facade of the school was evidently repositioned against the house
constructed for the schoolmaster at the rear of the school (where Chatterton, son of the schoolmaster
was born) at the time of the construction of the new Western Road c.1936. On the south side was the
infant school, relatively new when demolished for the Bristol Harbour Railway c.1870. The 1884 map
shows a school for boys and girls in Redcliffe Parade and schools for girls and infants between Ship Lane
and Redcliffe Hill.
Planning History
1.1.35 19 th century background
As has been explained in the previous section, the city had extended far to the south of St Mary
Redcliffe by the beginning of the 19th century. The New Cut, constructed in 1804-09 still forms the
boundary to that part of the parish of Redcliffe that projects westwards today (fig. 46). That part of
the parish that extends to the south of the New Cut reflects the earlier development of the parish
towards Bedminster.
Earlier, as described previously, the restricting Port Wall and gates had been cleared away and
this part of the old city suburb had become more concerned with commerce. Factories and kilns
were built, most of which brought in raw materials and sent out finished goods by sea and were
thus concentrated upon the water frontages. They prospered and their buildings grew amidst the
smoke and grime of the steam age, surrounding St Mary Redcliffe and the remaining crowded

courts and alleys of crumbling medieval Redcliffe. Citizens who could afford it moved up into the
surrounding hills to the north and west, or to south Redcliffe.
The church was almost entirely surrounded by the poorest development, except upon its western
frontage. Here dramatic views of the truncated spire could be had from the street below but
little of the church could be seen behind, high on its retaining wall and screened by houses on its
northern side. Its earlier more open environs are often forgotten today, replaced by an image of the
great church within a tight packed city, glimpsed between the tenements huddled at its foot but
towering over its neighbours when seen from a distance – the iconic medieval image but in fact
one that springs from early 19th century images rather than any medieval reality.
Bristol’s wealth and progress attracted I K Brunel, the famous engineer from London, who
persuaded local merchants to invest in his proposed Great Western Railway. He was successful in
constructing it as far as Temple Meads on the Bath Road (completed 1841), where his Bristol
investors stopped him, well short of the harbour where he had hoped to create a transatlantic
rail / ship terminal. But the city docks still needed the railway. The south side of Pile Street was
demolished (OS 1885) and a line was built from Temple Meads on bridges over Victoria Street and
Pile Street, past the smoking glass cones south of the line to a tunnel through the red cliff to the
south of and almost under the church. The tunnel remains today, though closed to traffic.
To the north of the church, the impoverished housing in Pile Street still remained. To rescue the
church the City Council demolished what remained after the railway had cleared so much on the
north side of Pile Street, laying out Phippen Street to join St Thomas Street as a formal
crescent to Redcliffe Hill, relatively tight to St Mary Redcliffe, opening up views of the north front
and allowing something of a new green foreground to be created for the church.
To the north-east, the City Council built Victoria Street, another new road connecting Temple Meads
and the commercial heart of the city via Bristol Bridge. Victoria Street, lined with magnificent stone
built, multi storey warehouses, cut diagonally across Redcliffe’s medieval street pattern. This
opened up the rest of the Redcliffe area for redevelopment as the city’s railway distribution
centre.
1.1.36 20 th century pre-war planning
In the period before the Second World War public pressure grew to re-plan our old and
inefficient cities. In 1923, on the initiative of Bristol Town Planning Committee and at the
invitation of the Minister of Health, the cities of Bristol and Bath, with surrounding authorities,
formed a Joint Regional Planning Committee. This Committee “realised that no effective scheme
could be produced for their area without considering the development of neighbouring areas”
since “no authority can plan successfully in isolation” and that “the whole tract of country lying
west of the Cotswolds and north of the Mendips formed in reality one economic unit, or
‘Region’”.
Sir Patrick Abercrombie was therefore commissioned to prepare a Regional Planning Scheme for
Bristol and Bath which was published in 1930. It treated the Region as ‘one economic unit’ and
sought to balance land use with transport for the first time.

Supported by surveys and findings from the Ministry of Transport’s 1925 Traffic Census, the Plan
identified the lack of ring roads around the City centre and the absence of adequate coastal
connections as the two main defects of the existing transport structure in Bristol. Abercrombie
concluded that the antique road system ‘not only retards development and hinders
intercommunication’ but also forced traffic to use other routes, adding to and worsening the
congestion. As a solution to this, Inner and Outer Ring roads were proposed which would make
‘considerable use of existing roads’ together with plans for a Somerset coastal road and the
projected Severn crossing .
The ring road policy, aimed at serving the city centre, was adopted and the Inner Ring Road put
rapidly in hand. Land was bought by the City Council, buildings cleared and a new dual carriageway
road built c1936, from Temple Meads Station, across the north front of St. Mary Redcliffe to a new
bridge over the river. The corner buildings were removed from Queen Square and the road
continued diagonally across it. Finally, more of the Frome was culverted, from Baldwin Street south
to the Quay Head, so that the road might be constructed creating the new Tramway Centre. From
conception, the first stage of this huge project to encircle the ancient city centre with a modern,
Inner Circuit Road, was built in ten years.
Where the new dual carriageway passed St Mary Redcliffe, adjustments in land ownership were
made between the City Council and the church, giving the latter more land and the space to
build a grand flight of steps to a terrace over a vaulted undercroft, completed in 1941 and up to
the North Door. The whole magnificent length of the north side of the church could now be seen
from the wide new dual carriageway, whilst the great spire and northwest corner of the church
could be seen from the other side of the new Bascule Bridge, across the new roundabout. No doubt
all those concerned viewed the results of this planned redevelopment with great pride and this
perception, still held by many today, was only challenged by the growth in vehicle numbers and size
in the post-war period.
With the Minister of Health behind him, Abercrombie had also set about planning the use of land for
the first time. He based his ‘land use zones’ upon the need to ‘facilitate the economy, preserve
existing beauty and safeguard health’. He acknowledged that the designations were very broad and
that a great deal more detailed work would need to be done to develop methods of control.
The centre of Bristol was by this time almost entirely industrial and commercial and the city centre
was thus proposed as a single industrial zone. Abercrombie was though most concerned that
beauty, both rural and urban, should not be forgotten and his survey includes much on the history
and great buildings of Bristol. There is no direct reference to St Mary Redcliffe, which was in the
middle of the city centre industrial zone. But these were early days for the planning profession
and it was not until after the war that the complicated legal apparatus of Town and Country
Planning was at last put in place, enabling planning to be implemented. For a long while it
continued to be based on the ideas that Abercrombie had advocated.
1.1.37 20 th Century Post War Planning
Bombing during the Second World War destroyed much of the city centre. This included the area
around St. Mary Redcliffe church, which itself sustained limited damage. A bomb blew a tram rail
over the church, burying itself vertically in the grave yard. It remains there as a memorial today.

Long before the end of the war Bristol City Council, continuing debates that had begun in the
1930’s, began re-planning the city centre. A Planning and Reconstruction Committee was set up,
many grand schemes were considered and historic buildings were not forgotten but the main
concerns were to complete the Inner Circuit Road, to rebuild the flattened Wine Street shopping
centre on a new site to the north at Broadmead and to re-accommodate those who had lost their
homes, most in new and distant suburbs, but some in the city centre. A Reconstruction Plan for
central Bristol was published in 1944.
Soon these aspirations could be delivered via the new 1947 Town and Country Planning Act. All
development was to be controlled and every Local Planning Authority had to produce a
Development Plan. In 1952, the Bristol City Development Plan was published covering a 20 year
period ending in 1971. The Plan followed Abercrombie’s lead, concentrating on ‘the correct use
of each area of land within the City’. The Plan would be reviewed at the end of each five-year
period so that it could be updated and ‘operate in a reasonably flexible manner.’ With 1,100 acres
of bomb damage in the city centre, a clean sweep was to be achieved by the compulsory
acquisition of almost all of the land in the Comprehensive Development Area Map (Central Area) No
1). While this did not happen, a great many of the proposals did.
St. Mary Redcliffe Church was surrounded, north and south, by bomb sites. It was planned that
north Redcliffe ‘be mainly taken up by the pre-war interests’, namely warehousing and so it was:
single storey, asbestos roofed, cheap, post-war warehousing, still based on distribution of goods
delivered by rail, but soon to be overtaken by the availability of ever larger road vehicles for both
delivery and distribution.
South Redcliffe (from St Mary Redcliffe to the New Cut) was to become one of the first of the new
‘Neighbourhood Units’ planned to house between 6-10,000 people and designed to create new
‘small districts, each complete with such services as it may need’ and ‘in the hope that this policy
will foster increased local interest in public affairs’. The intention was to restore the population
to pre-war levels, at one family per self contained residential unit (a wonderful aspiration after
wartime over-crowding).‘126 dwelling units in blocks of flats from two to five storeys in height
is proposed, to be followed without delay by a similar proposal for 128 units’. This was
achieved, at first in mid height blocks and later in far higher ones, all in local authority
ownership. Many residents have remained there ever since.
During the war, construction of the Inner Circuit Road had stopped and the Plan’s Central Area
Map confirmed the Council’s intention to complete it. The improvement of the radial route for
traffic heading to the southwest was proposed via Redcliffe Hill (A38 directly west of St. Mary
Redcliffe), to meet with the proposed Exeter-Leeds Trunk Road at Ashton Bridge.
1.1.38 The first review of the development plan
The first complete review of the 1952 Development Plan was conducted in 1966. Between 1951
and 1961, Bristol’s population had risen from 640,081 to 688,534. It was by now fully appreciated
that the motor vehicle would be the transport of the future. To tackle this, the Report proposed
a second ring road - the Outer Circuit Road. ‘This road will act as a primary distributor inside
the area which it bounds. It is intended that the road be a two-way dual carriageway or urban
motorway standard … certain sections will be operating at capacity by the year 2010 … the junctions

with the main radial roads will be grade separated, facilitating the free flow of traffic and
encouraging motorists to use this route rather than the more congested roads inside the ring.’ The
Inner Circuit Road had almost been completed and was operating ‘as a primary distributor of
local traffic as well as a route for through traffic.’ However, the Report also proposed to upgrade
it to dual three-lane carriageways to ‘accommodate anticipated future flows’ with several grade
separated junctions and flyovers.
Of these, the A38 radial route, via Redcliffe Hill would become ‘an elevated by-pass for through
traffic. At Bedminster Bridge, this radial will join Cumberland Road/Coronation Road at a two-level
junction, consisting of a ground level roundabout and flyover in a north- south direction … North of
Bedminster Bridge the by-pass will continue [dual carriageway standard] via Redcliffe Hill and
terminate in a multi-level junction with the Inner Circuit Road.’ This would clearly have seriously
damaged St Mary Redcliffe’s setting.
Post-war environmental protest in Bristol had lead to the creation of an Urban Design Section in the
City Planning Department and to the inclusion of a City Centre Policy Report (CCPR) in the 1966
Review of the Development Plan. This document was a non statutory, well illustrated explanation of
the huge range of new proposals contained in the Review, particularly those for road building.
Around St Mary Redcliffe, the highway designers’ intentions were amplified by Bristol’s first ever
‘comprehensive development scheme’. Redcliffe Way was to be re- aligned to ‘follow the present
line of Portwall Lane. This will facilitate the radical redesign of the Redcliffe Hill junction and an
improvement to the setting of St. Mary Redcliffe Church. The redesigned Redcliffe Hill junction will
incorporate a “trumpet” flyover linked to the north carriageway of Redcliffe Way.’ The realignment
would release land to the north of St. Mary Redcliffe, where a new shopping precinct would be
‘enclosed by buildings accommodating ecclesiastical and community uses in order to shelter the
church from traffic noise.’ Pedestrian ‘decks’ were also proposed across Redcliffe Hill and the
Inner Circuit Road and around the scheme. A new ten-storey block was to be ‘sited within the
“trumpet” intersection.’ New buildings would be ‘positioned in such a way that views of the church
are preserved.’
Redcliffe Hill was dualled and local traffic movement across the road was stopped. The central
reservation was fenced off and a pedestrian underpass was provided. As it transpired these
measures cut residential south Redcliffe in half. The trumpet junction, programmed for a later
phase, never materialized and the trees planted on the reserved route are now quite large. The
hotel east of St Mary Redcliffe, which was built shortly afterwards, incorporated the beginnings of
the proposed pedestrian deck system, which can still be seen, but no further development
took place.
East of the church, another grade separated junction was proposed (CCPR, p186) around the
Grosvenor Hotel at Victoria Street . A ‘temporary’ steel fly-over was built carrying traffic from
Temple Way across Victoria Street to Redcliffe Way. Had both junctions been built, they would
have visually dominated St Mary Redcliffe, as the illustrations in CCPR suggest.
Public transport in Bristol also formed an integral part of the proposed communications
structure. In transport surveys, Redcliffe Hill proved to be one of the main bus routes, with 50-100
buses using the road every hour during morning peak time. Rail closures were described in the plan

as ‘unfortunate’ since ‘the closure proposals seem to have been made without consideration
being given to the possibility of a balanced transportation plan being achieved in Bristol.’ Monorail
and underground systems had been ruled out due to topographical constraints leaving
‘interchange’ centres for bus/rail/car parking schemes as the only way forward, since it was
acknowledged that even if the huge road systems proposed were built, they would still not be able
to cope with the anticipated vehicle growth. St. Mary Redcliffe could not escape the effects of
growing traffic volumes.
In tandem with the City Centre Policy Report, the 1966 Bristol Development Plan Review revisited
plans for the Redcliffe area. The 1952 Neighbourhood Unit scheme, by now well under way; was
hailed a success with the Plan describing Redcliffe’s new schools, shops, blocks of flats and new
church as forming ‘an attractive setting for the famous church whose spire still dominates the
scene.’
In 1967, barely a year after the Development Plan Review had been completed, the City Docks were
closed to commercial traffic and a parliamentary bill was raised by Bristol City Council (BCC) to
cancel navigation rights and fill the docks in. An environmental battle ensued which BCC lost.
At this time recession in the national economy deepened and national policies gradually
removed power from local authorities. By the early 70s commercial development and planning work
had slowed almost to a halt.
1.1.39 The City Docks Plan
However, after the unexpected closure of the City Docks and after much debate, a special City
Docks Local Plan was adopted in 1980. Almost unnoticed, the plan boundary included Redcliffe Way
and the adjacent public car park. BCC explained that since grants were no longer available for
moving roads for aesthetic reasons, the road must stay in its present position. A planning brief for
the site was published in 1981 for the development of the public car park (between Redcliffe
Way and Portwall Lane) opposite the church. Owned by BCC, it appeared that this land would be
offered for development and sold.
The reversal by BCC of its own long held policy caused uproar. Bristol Civic Society (BCS) was
enraged and by 1982 had published a series of broadsheets concerning the need to recreate
an appropriate environment around St. Mary Redcliffe Church. Alarmed by the prospect of
heavy traffic thundering past, not to mention the increase in pollution, vibration and noise, BCS
insisted upon retaining the policy of realigning the road from Redcliffe Way to Portwall Lane thus
creating a traffic-free setting for the church and produced their own proposals. New buildings
would be built on the car park site, creating a ‘green close’ or a hard piazza around the church.
BCS also proposed the roads on either side of the Cut be used as the main route for through traffic.
St Mary Redcliffe, the press and the Royal Fine Art Commission (in an unusual intervention), had
become involved but although the row hit national headlines, nothing happened.
It was not until 1990 that the City Centre Draft Local Plan was published. It introduced itself as ‘the
first Plan dealing with the Bristol city centre for over 20 years.’ It covered a wider area than the
former city centre plan, included ‘the entire area previously covered by the City Docks Local Plan’
and was to ‘guide land use and development activities over the next 10 years’, all in accordance

with the Avon County Structure Plan, the new county which had been created and put in charge
of the whole of Abercrombie’s ‘region’ in 1974.
The Plan promoted the view that ‘the City Centre should be an accessible, stimulating and vibrant
place in which people live, work and play.’ More than ten years of limited local authority
spending had changed the City development balance from public to private investment, although
by this time another recession had hit the country and little private development was taking
place.
Proposals were put forward to improve the City Docks area as well as to restore Bristol’s historic
and derelict buildings. Complementing this, the impact of rising traffic levels was to be resisted and
pedestrian and public transport routes in the Centre were key to improving the immediate
environment. Housing was to be encouraged in the city centre once again. ‘Conservation’ and
‘Environment’ were two buzz words that emerged strongly from new planning policies. The new
‘Environment Strategy’ merited its own chapter, (Ch 2) which highlighted St. Mary Redcliffe (pages
34 & 35), where principles for guiding change were to be to reduce traffic impact, to define and
provide new public spaces and to promote new development. A new plan was included showing
the dual carriageway now realigned down the middle of the space between St Mary Redcliffe
and Portwall Lane, leaving insufficient space to either improve the environment of the church or
to provide a public car park adequate to the church’s needs.
St Mary Redcliffe decided to make its own contribution to the debate on the Draft City Centre
Local Plan and in 1992 commissioned a detailed study from a professional team, comprising
urban designers, traffic engineers, quantity surveyors and valuers. Redcliffe Way, was carefully
designed to minimum width, realigned to Portwall Lane and the roundabout abandoned. A close
the size of Brunswick Square, over a public car park, was proposed about the north front. The
scheme was designed, costed and valued to ensure that it was attractive, practical and
commercially viable and was launched at a public exhibition held in the church.
In 1993 BCC published a Redcliffe Way Draft Enhancement Framework, ‘based upon the Draft City
Centre Local Plan’ and ‘committed through the Plan to substantially enhancing the environment which
surrounds St Mary Redcliffe, in particular to the north and east where post war development and
highway construction have fragmented this part of the city’s townscape’ It reverted to the old
realignment of Redcliffe Way to Portwall Lane and abandoned the roundabout. The urban design
scheme on the site of the public car park – a replacement for which was not included, was based
upon the resurrection of Phippen Street, without the crescent, but with a layout based upon low rise,
high density buildings with no more open space around the church than the present churchyard. Luckily
perhaps, this proposal was rather overtaken by the events that were happening at the same time.
1.1.40 The Bristol Development Corporation
Bristol was again facing difficulties at national level. The government formed Bristol Development
Corporation (BDC), with its own planning and transport powers, which was originally to have taken
large areas of the city centre out of the hands of BCC but which, after a long battle, was charged with
the redevelopment of an extensive derelict area east of Temple Way and particularly of Temple Quay,
north of Temple Meads Station.

This ambitious project, which fell outside the powers of Bristol City Council, required traffic access
and a new roundabout was proposed, called Temple Circus. However, the design of this junction would
not accommodate both Redcliffe Way and the new access to Temple Quay, so BDC proposed the
removal of the flyover and realigned and reduced the importance of Redcliffe Way, for which they
would pay, as a part of the whole redevelopment scheme. This would fit in with BCC’s proposal to realign
Redcliffe Way between Temple Gate and Redcliffe Hill and BCC acknowledged that the existing
road ‘is both a major intrusion on the setting of St. Mary Redcliffe Church and isolates the Redcliffe
area from the rest of the city’ (Clarence Road, along the north side of the Cut, was proposed as the
new main through route).
The flyover was removed, Temple Circus was built, the Redcliffe Way access was realigned and the
road reduced in importance. Detailed design studies were pursued between Avon County
Council, BCC, BDC and St Mary Redcliffe but it proved too expensive to realign the whole of
Redcliffe Way. Temple Quay got its access and was redeveloped, but nothing happened at St
Mary Redcliffe. Having completed its work the BDC was wound up.
1.1.41 The Millennium (later renamed the Brunel) Mile
Throughout the 1990s increasing interest also prompted the development of the city docks, now
known as the Historic Harbour, for leisure, tourism and housing. Brunel’s contribution to Bristol was
acknowledged by the restoration of his original station at Temple Meads and by the return and
continuing restoration of his steamship, The Great Britain. In 1996 it was suggested that a link
might be created between them, to be called the Millennium Mile and which would also offer an
attractive route between the city centre and the main railway station. Most of this had already
been completed, the main exception being the section between the Bascule Bridge and Temple
Meads, past St Mary Redcliffe. A full Advocacy Study was completed in 1997, which included St
Mary Redcliffe amongst its seven sponsors, but funding for a full study was not forthcoming.
A new non statutory City Centre Strategy was first prepared in 1998, part of the next Bristol Local
Plan, published in 1997. This included the Millennium Mile amongst its policies and the use of the
roads on the northern side of the Cut as a part of a ‘Loop’, more commonly referred to as the
‘Scope Route’, to remove through traffic from the city centre. The policy for Redcliffe Way (City
Centre Strategy, p 13) was to reduce the number of general traffic lanes and to restrict access
from Redcliffe Way to the roundabout at Temple Circus and from Temple Way to Redcliffe Way.
Later stages would realign Redcliffe Way to Portwall Lane and enable an enhanced setting for the
church, as part of the Millennium Mile study. The proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) scheme made
its appearance in a side panel (p 13) with a route reservation from Temple Meads/Temple
Circus/Victoria Street, but with ‘alternative options being considered’ along Redcliffe Way and
across The Bascule Bridge, to Prince Street.
An Update published in December 2001) included the renamed Brunel Mile and the proposed LRT
tram route, now north of the church and the existing roads both north and south of the Cut as a
part of the Scope through traffic route. The policy for Redcliffe Way (p 46) was to create an
appropriate setting for St Mary Redcliffe and enhance it as the major focus, to consider land use
options, including potential for a city centre primary school. A design/planning framework was
to be established to achieve effective integration of the Brunel Mile, Rapid Transit and other
access/movement requirements and to consider measures to control/manage through traffic.

1.1.42 The developing situation
Much has been achieved over the past few years. The City Centre Strategy offers an excellent
background for the future development of the city centre and the City Council’s efforts have
resulted in much new development and restoration of public spaces, including College Green, The
Centre, Harbourside and Queen Square. Temple Quay is well forward as Bristol’s new major office
area. The very lively private market has seen the development of new housing, particularly blocks of
flats, all across the city centre and into Redcliffe, where land use is changing from commercial to
residential.
But Redcliffe, though changing fast, still has no detailed plan. With Brunel Mile now BCC policy
and with only the link from Temple Meads to Queen Square remaining to be done, continuing
talks between BCC and St Mary Redcliffe indicated BCC’s intention soon to prepare a new study
of the circa 10 acre site, from Redcliffe Wharf to Temple Circus, almost all once again owned by BCC,
following the demise of Avon County Council, previously the owner of the roads.
Elsewhere in Redcliffe, Bristol Urban Village Initiative, a group interested in sustainable
development, had seen Redcliffe as a changing area which should be re-planned as a whole.
Pressure was brought to bear on BCC at a time when they too were developing similar ideas and
investigating different ways of reinventing the old neighbourhood concept in a newly sustainable
context. In August 2001 a large body of local residents, business people, the church, voluntary
organisations and city councillors came together to call for action.
As a result BCC took the unusual and courageous step of setting up and funding, for four years,
two voluntary stakeholder groups: Redcliffe Forum to represent the interests of local residents in
the long term and Redcliffe Futures, a group of local organisations, including professionals,
serviced by officers of BCC, to prepare a more detailed plan for the whole of Redcliffe. The Redcliffe
Futures Group, upon which St Mary Redcliffe is represented, worked through 2002 and circulated
their Redcliffe Neighbourhood Framework Stage 1 report that November.
The following statement about significance of location is extracted from St Mary Redcliffe
Conservation Plan Part 1 Section 4:3
Significance of Location
1.1.43 The relationship between the church, the wharf and the Portwall makes the location of St
Mary Redcliffe fundamentally significant in the development of Bristol, both as a port and in turn as
a city. The vital maritime importance of Bristol historically is such as to make this a location of
national significance.
1.1.44 Within the medieval plan, St Mary Redcliffe’s boundaries remain fundamentally unchanged to
the west, south and east sides. The integrity of the site is important and of regional significance.
1.1.45 The spire of St Mary Redcliffe may not dominate the city in quite the same way that it did in
the past, nor may it any longer be authentic in medieval terms, nonetheless it somehow remains the
iconic symbol of ‘medieval’ Bristol. This image of the great church within a tight packed city,
glimpsed between the tenements huddled at its foot but towering over its neighbours when seen
from a distance, is one that springs in fact from early 19th century images rather than medieval

eality. By the time the 19th spire was rebuilt on its truncated base, the suburban townscape that
prevailed when its medieval predecessor fell, with its more loose knit and partly open environs, was
long gone. Despite this misconception and the spire’s 19th century provenance, it remains of
national significance within the cityscape, irrevocably associated with Bristol’s maritime ascendancy
and the most accessible link on the city skyline with a glorious past.
The following statement about archaeological significance of setting taken from St Mary Redcliffe
Conservation Plan Part 1 Section 4:6
The significance of the setting of St Mary Redcliffe
1.1.46 The vital importance of the archaeology of the church in its setting should not be
underestimated as evidence for understanding the past and for informing the present in changing
times. An understanding of the archaeological setting of the church is a prerequisite for a proper
understanding of the church itself. To divorce the archaeology of the church from that of its setting
is to compromise the totality. As the church itself is of national, indeed international significance,
thus its archaeology and that of its setting is also collectively of national significance at least.
1.1.47 The archaeology of the late 12th/early 13th century setting, prior to the building of the
Portwall is of national significance. When first built or nearing completion, the "impressive 13th-
Century building about which little is now known" (Monckton 1997, 57) must have been almost
unique in the land - a church of cathedral-like proportions and aspirations serving the extra-mural
parish of a town founded only in the late Saxon period, but by the mid 12th century already "almost
the richest city" in England. This church was built on the high ground to the south of the main part of
the un-walled suburb, which extended northwards to Bristol Bridge, and to the walled town on the
north side of the Avon. In this setting, prior to the building of Portwall in the mid 13th century, the
church of St Mary Redcliffe must have dominated the new Redcliffe suburb. We might also expect
the archaeology of the new suburb to reflect the wealth of the new parish, which enabled the
building of a church on this scale.
1.1.48 The archaeology of the 14th/15th century setting is similarly of national significance. By this
date there is sufficient historical evidence for us to be able to see the church in its immediate
setting, now separated from the main part of the Redcliffe suburb by the building of the Portwall. By
the early 16th century the churchyard of St Mary Redcliffe had something of the character of a
cathedral close in miniature, surrounded on three sides by houses of the ecclesiastical and urban
élite. These houses have entirely disappeared, though much may remain of their archaeology,
notably of the College to the south and the mansion house of the Canon of Salisbury Cathedral to
the north.
1.1.49 The chapel of the Holy Ghost lay immediately adjacent to the south-west corner of the
church. To the south of the churchyard,stood the residence of the Canynges’ chantry priests. To the
east of the churchyard, archaeological evidence of Canynge’s lodge may remain. The Salisbury
Canon’s Prebendal mansion house that stood immediately to the north of the porch until the 19th
century is less well known, other than from documentary sources. The archaeology of all these
structures is individually important and of regional or local significance. Collectively their
archaeology should be seen as of national significance, representing that of a cathedral-like close in
what was not a cathedral city.

1.1.50 On the west side of the line of Redcliffe Pit/Redcliffe Hill stood a diversity of interesting
buildings, including the Hospital of St John the Baptist and the vicarage. Later development included
the shot tower and other evidence of the areas industrial past included pottery and glass kilns to the
north east and west of the church. Once again it is the rich diversity of the area, from the almost
collegiate arrangement of ecclesiastically associated buildings in the late middle ages to the density
of the industrial townscape of the 19th century, that is of greatest significance, the archaeology of
individual structure being of local or regional significance.
1.1.51 St Mary Redcliffe stood within an area dominated in the late medieval and early modern
periods by lodges or garden houses. These second residences gave the hill around the church a
feeling of rus in urbs. Being relatively unknown, this archaeology may be of national significance -
and could be significant also in providing a historical justification for a future landscape that might
reflect something of this earlier suburban and semi-rural past.
1.2 The Living Churchyard
What is the significance of the natural heritage of the site?
1.2.1 St Mary Redcliffe sits on slightly raised land – a red cliff - not far from what is now the floating
harbour and what was the natural course of the River Avon before the major harbourside works
which took place during the early C19th. The significance of the historical situation of the church,
close to the waterfront and the sea, the chief reasons for the city’s prosperity and growth, is now
almost entirely obscured by modern developments, including major roads which have ‘cut off’ the
church from its former natural proximity to Bristol’s waterways. In fact, St Mary Redcliffe could be
said to be marooned in the sense that it is cut off on two sides by dual carriageways and on the
other two by modern commercial and housing developments. The natural heritage of the site is,
therefore, limited, but it is an important green lung in the city. The church retains an enclosed
portion of land to the south of the church building which forms the south churchyard, and there is a
smaller, open area of grass in front of the church on the north side next to Redcliffe Way. The
church’s significant green space, the south churchyard, retains three large patches of lawn, divided
by two diagonal paths which lead from the south east and south west corners of the churchyard to
the south porch. There are two avenues of trees alongside each path and in 2000 the churchyard
was altered to accommodate a belt of shrubbery and trees on the eastern boundary of the
churchyard.
1.2.2The Southern Churchyard
On the south side of the church lies a green space that, for centuries, served as the burial ground for
the parish. Most of the tombstones have been cleared since its closure in the 19th century yet some
memorials remain, such as the grave of the Chatterton family and that of the church cat. Next to the
railings of Colston Parade, a tramline lies embedded in the churchyard after a bombing raid during
the World War II, as a reminder of how near the church came to being destroyed. Other historic
treasures are hidden or have been totally lost such as the Preaching Cross, where once the Council
and citizens of the city would gather to hear the great preachers of the day and the Chapel of the
Holy Spirit, which were taken down during the 18th Century.
The Following is taken from the SMR South Churchyard Historic Landscape Survey.

1.2.3 Historical and cultural significance of the southern churchyard
As the site of the historic burial ground of St Mary Redcliffe Church, the southern churchyard is a
critical element of the heritage of the entire place of worship. It also contributes to the history of the
city and its development, in particular, the 18th century gentrification of the urban environment,
both in terms of the Georgian re-landscaping of the 1760s and the schoolmaster’s town garden of
the early 1700s. The latter forms an uncommon and intriguing aspect to the history of the
churchyard. St Mary’s churchyard can also claim direct associations with the Chatterton family and
was partially re-designed by a nationally important architect, Sir George Oatley. The area along the
south side of the church that forms the focus of this study is largely an earlier 20th century
remodelling of an earlier [pre 1884] paved area with a central, subterranean drain. The role of Sir
George Oatley in the design of the hard landscaping and memorial cross increases its historic value
as an example of his work. Further research into the Oatley papers held by Bristol University may
reveal whether this was a rare example of his work to churchyards and cemeteries. However, as the
work of an architect, Oatley limited his involvement to fairly minimal hard landscaping and it seems
very likely that he was keen not to distract from the beauty of the medieval building with planting or
a more elaborate scheme at the base of the building.
1.2.4 Archaeological significance
The churchyard has significant potential for archaeological finds, burials and evidence in the ground
that reveals more about the development of the churchyard in terms of former paths, drains and the
location of the old School House and preaching cross. However, it has undergone a number of
events and phases that may have significantly compromised archaeological potential, including the
several levelling, ground lowering and drainage schemes, the construction of the railway tunnel and
the 1930s hard landscaping works. There is potential for graveyard archaeology as the documentary
record has revealed burials right up to the foot of the church. Below-ground evidence may also
identify the location of other post-medieval features, such as the school master’s garden wall,
however, as already mentioned above, successive re-working of this area, as part of levelling, ground
lowering and drainage schemes, has probably compromised much of its pre-19th century
archaeology.
1.2.5 Aesthetic significance
The southern churchyard forms a essential part of the setting of the grade I listed building and
contributes to the character of the St Mary Redcliffe Conservation Area. It is a tranquil and restful
green space in a busy city centre, enjoyed and valued by local people. The proximity of this area to
the medieval building means that it plays a critical role in views of the church from the churchyard
and its treatment has the potential to have a significant impact on how the whole building is
perceived and appreciated.
1.2.6 Social significance
Despite the removal of many of the graves, and 159 years as a redundant burial ground, the
churchyard will still have significance for the community St Mary Redcliffe September 2013. The war
memorial, the Second World War section of tram rail, and the more recent memorial garden will be
of the most social significance to today’s residents. Benches provide seating along the south and

west sides of the nave and transept and further seating is provided around the war memorial, all
adding to the value of the green space for quiet recreation by the local community.
1.2.7 The Western Churchyard
1.2.8 Northern Churchyard
1.2.9 Ecological/wildlife significance
As a green space in the city, the churchyard is an important wildlife habitat. A wildlife survey in 20XX
revealed the use of the churchyard by the following: As a wildlife resource it is of local significance
to the community.
1.3 Social History
What is the historic and present use of the church and churchyard by the congregation and wider
community? How does this contribute to its significance?
1.3.1 The grandeur of the Parish Church of St Mary Redcliffe has been admired through the ages. On
a visit to Bristol in 1574 Queen Elizabeth I is reputed to have declared it to be ‘the goodliest, fairest
and most famous parish church in England’. The scale and beauty of the building gives the
impression that it was intended to be a cathedral yet its purpose, like all parish churches, has always
been to serve as a gathering place for the Christian community in the district to worship God. The
local Christian community certainly built this wondrous feat of architecture and each generation has
adapted the building to create what we see today to express their interpretation of the good news
of Jesus Christ and reflect the glory of God.
A visitor to St Mary Redcliffe cannot fail but be impressed by the splendour of the building, some
parts of which date back to the beginning of the 12th century, however, it is the work of the 14th
and 15th century masons that fills so many visitors with awe. The building’s strong ‘perpendicular’
style vertical lines direct the eye upwards giving an impression of great space and height which is
bathed in light filtering through Victorian stained glass windows created by some of the finest
studios of that period. The ceiling is a vast stone vault, made up of integrate patterns of stone ribs
and some 1200 bosses.
The Church is built in the form of the cross, the Roman instrument of execution on which Jesus
Christ was put to death. The cross is the symbol of the Christian belief that through his death and
resurrection, Jesus Christ saved the World and opened the kingdom of Heaven to all people. With its
fully-aisled cruciform plan, the layout is unique amongst Parish Churches. This church was built to
reflect that kingdom with its once brightly painted walls, coloured glass and statues of the Saints
soaring above the squalor of the crowded smoke filled wooden housing of the parish. Some of this
medieval splendour can be witnessed once a year when the Church invites the Lord Mayor of Bristol
and the city council to hear a sermon preached by the Vicar at the Rush Sunday Service. This service
on Whitsunday, the Festival of the Holy Spirit, follows many of the customs that would have been
familiar to worshippers over 500 years ago, among them the scattering of herbs and rushes over the
floor and the holding of posies of flowers to ward off infection.

St Mary Redcliffe may have been altered by each generation yet it still retains a sense of majesty,
peace and prayer.
The principal entrance to the church is through the seven-pointed archway of the north porch. Built
in the early 14th century, the porch has an unusual hexagonal shape and the outside is richly carved,
almost Moorish in its appearance and unique in Britain. Originally the niches on the outer walls were
filled with statues of the kings of England, standing on wonderfully carved corbels depicting
townsfolk. The statues have long been lost but the corbels have survived, being removed to the
safety of the interior of the church. Copies replaced them during one of the major restorations of
the 19th Century. The porch is the subject of a report, made in 2015 by Jon Canon for the gazetteer
of the North Porch.
Tradition has it that pilgrims and sailors came to this porch to pray to God before an image of the
Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, which was lost during the period of the Reformation. The doors on
each side of the porch allowed a procession of pilgrims to pass the shrine whilst being observed from
the window above. This window looks out from a small but comfortable room that once held a
fireplace and still possesses a medieval toilet. There is a wide ledge passing round the porch where
perhaps, the offerings of model ships and statues from the seafarers were displayed. Above the
vault of the porch is the muniment room, the ancient strong room of the church where the records
and treasures of the parish were originally stored. This room, where much of the material for the
boy poet Thomas Chatterton may have come, is now known as the Chatterton Room. Thomas
Chatterton is regarded as one of the first of the ’romantic’ poets and his association with the church
is of national significance.
The inner porch dates from the end of the 12th Century with its prominent blue lias, surmounted by
capitals boldly carved with leaf motifs. There has been much speculation why this porch was
retained when the church was rebuilt. One suggestion is that the niche above the door may have
been the original site of the special image of the Virgin Mary. During the Victorian restoration
several finely decorated tombs were discovered under the floor facing the niche, indicating that this
was hallowed ground of special significance.
From Saxon times, the wealth of Bristol developed from its importance as a safe trading port for
seafarers and the income thus gained provided a major contribution towards the cost of building St
Mary Redcliffe.
Much of the church as seen today dates from the 14 th and 15 th centuries. The building is filled with
Merchant Marks (medieval corporate logos) by which the benefactors can be identified. The Mark of
the members of one family, the Canynges, can be seen around the church, carved in stone and on
stained glass.
For a period Bristol was the second commercial city in England after London. Its wealth developed
from trading of woollen cloth, manufactured in Redcliffe and a fishing industry based on cod fished
off the coast of Iceland and preserved in salt. Such produce was traded by the merchants of the city
for wines and other luxuries from France, Spain and Portugal.
The city of Bristol had been a centre for the slave trade from the Saxon period and during famines it
was common for people to place themselves into bondage to be sold as slaves. The 11th Century

Saint Wolfstan, Bishop of Worcester, condemned the people of Bristol for participating in this trade
which continued through the medieval period; many merchants were censored for abducting
children off the streets to sell into slavery.
By the 17th Century the enslavement of Europeans was rare but a new source for this brutal trade
had been found in Africa. Everyone’s life was tainted by this deplorable trade, even so, many slaves
became Christians and founded the vibrant Gospel Churches that preached freedom through Christ.
For over 800 years the congregation of St Mary Redcliffe have been gathering around the Altar as
the priest leads them in the celebration of the Eucharist. This service commemorates the Last
Supper at which Jesus gave thanks, then offered and shared the bread and wine, his body and blood,
with his disciples. The Altar is dressed with the finest materials, the richly embroidered frontal and
the sacred vessels beautifully crafted in silver and gold, are fitting signs of devotion to God at His
table where the living Christ is amongst his people.
St Mary Redcliffe Church has a large collection of beautiful embroideries which range from medieval
vestments reworked and given by Mrs Elizabeth Fry, a local member of the famous family of
chocolate manufacturers, to the recent work of members of the congregation. Some items of Mrs
Fry’s own work contain over a million stitches. The Church also possesses a fine collection of
communion vessels and other silver items, some of which date back to the 17th Century.
Latin was originally the universal language of the Western Roman Empire and the Western Church
but as time passed it became the language of the few. The Reformation of Henry VIII in the 16th
Century ordered the use of English in churches throughout his realm. English translations of the bible
had to be imported from the reformed churches of Geneva. St Mary Redcliffe possesses one of these
bibles. It was not for another century that King James authorised the publication of a new English
translation of the bible, making its texts accessible to all. The Lectern dates from this period and
follows the common medieval style of an eagle above a globe with the bible resting on its wings,
symbolising the word of God being proclaimed all over the world. The Pulpit, where the preacher
teaches on the word, was carved in the 19th Century. The figures of the twelve apostles hold a
symbol by which they are identified, mostly these are the instruments of their execution at their
martyrdom. St Bartholomew holds a knife as he was flayed alive for preaching the Gospel, the Good
News that God had provided a way of salvation for all peoples. He is now the patron saint of
butchers and surgeons!
We enter into the Christian life through the water of baptism, a symbol of acceptance and of
repentance, available to all in their parish church. St Mary Redcliffe possesses three fonts dating
from different periods. The oldest stands at the west end due to the ancient tradition that those to
be baptised gather here before entering the main part of the church and their new life as Christians.
Through baptism they have turned away from their old world before entering into a new one where
Jesus Christ is Lord. A carved dove, which was once part of the 18th Century pulpit, hangs above this
font as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The other fonts stand in St Johns Chapel, one carved out of
marble by Thomas Paty for the early 18th Century remodelling of the church and the other, dating
from the 15th Century, is one of the last surviving fragments of St John’s, Bedminster, the mother
church of St Mary Redcliffe.

The Virgin Mary was especially venerated in England during the medieval period and chapels were
added to churches and cathedrals in Her honour. The Lady Chapel at St Mary Redcliffe was
completed in 1494 by Sir John Juyn, a wealthy barrister. Only a generation later, during the
reformation, the Virgin Mary became a controversial figure and many of the Chapels dedicated to
her were either destroyed or put to other uses.
The parish school, founded in 1571, moved to the Lady Chapel during the 18th Century from a
chapel which stood in the churchyard near to the south porch. This chapel, dedicated to the Holy
Spirit, was demolished during the 1710 remodelling of the church, when a wall was also erected
between the Lady Chapel and the rest of the building. The hard wooden benches on which the pupils
sat, can be found around the church. The school rapidly outgrew the chapel as the church developed
its commitment to education, a commitment still maintained in two local church schools bearing its
name. The Lady Chapel is now once more dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is a peaceful refuge that
is set aside for private prayer.
Education was not the only social concern of the church, St Mary Redcliffe Church also supplied fresh
water for the parish. The Lord of the Manor of Bedminster, Sir Robert de Berkeley, gave the water
supply to the Church in the 12th Century from a spring over two miles away on a hill south west of
the parish. His wife gave the land for the water to be brought to the parish through a pipe, which
flowed until it was broken during World War II. The Vicar, Churchwardens and members of the
congregation walk the pipe’s full length each year to maintain their ancient right to inspect the
condition of the pipe.
Much of the medieval church decoration was lost during the Reformation and the Civil War. Once a
great screen stood behind the High Altar filled with images of saints. Also in front of the quire stood
another screen with a carving of the crucifixion often referred to as a Rood, from the old word for a
cross. This screen allowed the church to be used for worship whilst allowing the nave, clear of pews
and chairs, to be used by the community as a place to meet. There were also small chapels around
the building in which prayers were sung for the souls of benefactors. These chapels were called
Chantry Chapels named after the chanting of the prayers and each was highly decorated, being
dedicated to the favourite Saint of the benefactor. William Canynges, the rich merchant buried in
the south transept, paid for the upkeep of two, St Catherine the patron saint of Merchants, and St
George the patron saint of England. There were also Chantries dedicated to St Stephen, St Nicholas
and St Blaise.
In 1497 John Cabot set sail in his ship, the Matthew, on a journey of discovery in which he reached
mainland America. King Henry VI ordered the then Sheriff of Bristol, Richard Ameryck, to find funds
for Cabot’s journey and on his return, Cabot gave thanks for the voyage by presenting a whalebone
to St Mary Redcliffe. Five hundred years later the crew of the second Matthew, a replica of the first,
gathered in the north porch to pray for a safe voyage before embarking on the same route across
the Atlantic as John Cabot. Earlier at a service of dedication and blessing, they had presented the
Church with a model of the ship which now rests above the north porch door. Like Cabot, they also
returned with a gift of a whalebone for the church, a symbol of the wealth of the fishing grounds
discovered around Newfoundland. The links to America are strong and could be further developed.
There is, however, a legend that the merchants of Bristol had been fishing off the coast of
Newfoundland some years before Cabot set sail. John Jay, a merchant buried in the church, was

charged with breaking the King’s treaty with the King of Norway by fishing in disputed waters off
Iceland. He claimed successfully at court that his ship was heading due west for the fabled land of
Brasilia, a well known fishing ground to the Bristolians.
Cabot is not the only connection that St Mary Redcliffe has with the Americas, Admiral William Penn,
father of the Quaker William Penn is buried in the Church. He had been a parliamentarian in the Civil
war, commanding the naval forces of Oliver Cromwell. On Cromwell’s death he offered the fleet to
King Charles II, building a close relationship with the King. Penn had captured the island of Jamaica
from the Spanish and, as its first British governor, stripped it of its wealth causing terrible hardship
for its people. He loaned the majority of this wealth to fund the King’s building plans but on Penn’s
death, his son requested repayment of the loan. The King had no money to repay this debt but
instead, offered William Penn land in America on the condition that it was named after the Admiral.
The State of Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woods) still incorporates the coat of arms of the Admiral. The
Penn memorial is visited by many American visitors each year and this reinforces the importance of
St Mary Redcliffe’s American connections.
By the 18th century the effects of the civil war and the lack of money for repairs had taken its toll on
the building. Little of the stained glass remained and some of the pinnacles on the flying buttresses
had been removed.
Queen Anne, disturbed by the condition of the Church of England, gave some of her wealth for the
upkeep of the Churches. St Mary Redcliffe received some of this money enabling the congregation to
decorate the interior of the building in the flamboyant Baroque style. A great three-piece painting by
William Hogarth was commissioned to fill the east end of the chancel and iron gates were made for
the west end of the church. This remarkable painting is now owned by Bristol City Council and can be
found in St Nicholas’ Church in the old city. The finest organ builders of the time, Harris and Byfield
were employed to replace the organ lost in the civil war. The Church, filled with marble, with white
washed walls and bathed in bright light from the clear glass of the windows became a far cry from
the mysterious gloom of the once Gothic interior.
There was not only a revival of architecture during the 18th Century at St Mary Redcliffe: music and
poetry also flourished. Since the reformation, the spoken word had reigned supreme with little
music being heard in the church. This changed dramatically under the European influence of the
Hanoverian kings of Britain. Handel, who composed many works as well as the oratorio Messiah,
would often flee his debtors in London, to spend time with his friend Thomas Broughton, Vicar of St
Mary Redcliffe. Almost certainly Handel, Samuel Wesley and his son, Samuel Sebastian played the
Harris and Byfield organ, some parts of which are preserved in the present organ. This instrument,
built by the organ builders Harrison and Harrison between 1911 and 1912, is considered by many to
be one of the finest and most characteristic of their work. Music is commemorated in a number of
the church windows.
At the early age of fifteen, Thomas Chatterton wrote a collection of poems that he claimed to be
written by a medieval Priest named Rowley, a Chaplain of William Canynges. His forgery was soon
discovered and though his work was brilliant, he was discredited and shunned. He took his own life
at the age of seventeen, yet his work is credited by many as being the impetus behind the Romantic
Movement that later characterised the Victorian period.

The tragic life of Thomas Chatterton has attracted many poets to his beloved church such as Shelley
and Wordsworth, to see where the boy poet found his inspiration. In the same year of 1775,
Coleridge married Sarah Fricker and Southey married her sister Elizabeth at St Mary Redcliffe.
Samuel Johnson, compiler of the first complete English dictionary, curious about the “wonderful
boy”, is reputed to have become stuck half way up the spiral stairs to the Chatterton Room above
the north porch.
In the 19th Century pollution had replaced war as the major threat to St Mary Redcliffe and a
committee was formed 1848 to raise money to restore the building to its former Gothic splendour.
Taking the name of one of the merchants responsible for 15th Century rebuilding, the Canynges
Society spent the next thirty years uncovering and restoring the medieval building.
In 1872 the Canynges Society (Friends of St Mary Redcliffe) completed its task by rebuilding the spire
to a height of 292 feet, making it the second highest church spire in the country, but it was William
Worcestre’s accurate descriptions that allowed the architect George Godwin, to restore much of the
building to its medieval splendour. When further restoration was necessary, the Canynges Society
was revived in 1927 and has continued to support the upkeep and adornment of the fabric of the
church.
Other prominent Redcliffe inhabitants with strong associations with the church include the Penns,
the Cabots, the Jays, the Ameryks and the Medes. Samuel Plimsoll, born in Colston Parade, was
responsible for conceiving the Plimsoll Line that saved thousands of sailors’ lives by stopping ships
from being overloaded. His house was rebuilt when a railway tunnel was driven through the
Churchyard and the Parade.
St Mary Redcliffe Church fulfils the same function today as it did when it was first founded, standing
as a meeting place for the worship of God and a witness to the active presence of the love of God. A
large number of people collaborate to ensure that the doors of the Church are open to both visitor
and pilgrim. The Church is maintained, not only by the clergy and the salaried staff, but by everyone
who enters this building to give of their talents, their time and their prayers; it is the people who
meet here to give thanks to God in times of joy and to find comfort in times of sorrow who
constitute the Church. St Mary Redcliffe is not a museum but a living church whose walls have
provided shelter to all who enter.
Significance

1.4 The church building in general
Provide a description of the church.
1.4.1 The current church building was constructed from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and it has
been a place of Christian worship for over 900 years. The church is renowned for the beauty of its
Gothic architecture and is classed as a Grade I listed building by English Heritage. It was famously
described by Queen Elizabeth I as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."
The first church on this site was built in Saxon times as the port of Bristol became established and
the present building is most likely to be the fourth or fifth church that has been built on this site.
In medieval times, St. Mary Redcliffe, sitting on a red cliff above the River Avon, was a sign to
seafarers, who would pray in it at their departure, and give thanks there upon their return. The
church was built and beautified by Bristol's wealthy merchants, who paid to have masses sung for
their souls and many of whom are commemorated there. The spire dominates the east view from
the floating harbour, the former course of the River Avon.
Parts of the church date from the beginning of the 12th century although much of the church as it
now stands was built between 1292 and 1450, with the south aisle and transept in the Decorated
Gothic of the 13th century and the greater part of the building in the late 14th-century
Perpendicular. The patrons included Simon de Burton, Mayor of Bristol, and William Canynges,
merchant, five times Mayor of Bristol and three times MP.
In the 15th century, Canynges' grandson, the great merchant William II Canynges, also five times
Mayor and three times MP, assumed responsibility for bringing the work of the interior to
completion and filling the windows with stained glass. In 1446 much of this work was damaged
when the spire was struck by lightning, and fell, causing considerable damage to the interior.
Although the spire was to remain incomplete for the next 400 years, Canynges continued in his
commitment to restore and beautify the church and the vaulting of St John’s Chapel is clearly
attributable to the Canynges family. He took Holy Orders after the death of his wife, and is buried in
the church.
The 17th century saw the loss of many of the church fittings and much of the stained glass during
the Reformation and the English Civil War. During the reign of Queen Anne, and partially funded by
her, the interior of St. Mary Redcliffe was refitted in the Baroque style.
St Mary Redcliffe is cruciform in plan, with a chapel extending to the east of the chancel, and a large
tower placed asymmetrically to the north of the west front. There are porches on either side of the
nave; that on the north side having been extended with a more elaborate polygonal outer porch in
the 14th century.
St Mary Redcliffe is one of the largest parish churches in the England, and has been recorded as
being the largest parish church in the country. The spire is also the third tallest among parish
churches, and it is the tallest building in Bristol.

The north porch has an inner component dating from 1200, with black Purbeck Marble columns, and
an outer hexagonal portion built in 1325 which is ogee-cusped with a Moorish appearance. A
wrought-iron chancel screen built by William Edney in 1710 still stands under the tower.
The church is adorned with monuments to individuals from the history of the city, including Sir
William Penn (the father of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania). His helm and half-armour are
hung on the wall, together with the tattered banners of the Dutch ships that he captured in battle.
The church also displays a rib of a whale that John Cabot brought back from one of his voyages.
Little of the early stained glass remains but in the St John's Chapel windows, the medieval glass
barely survived the destruction (said to have been caused by Oliver Cromwell's men). Most of the
higher portions went untouched, but others were severely damaged. In some cases the windows
were impossible to repair, and clear glass was eventually introduced to replace the missing scenes.
The Victorian stained-glass windows were created by some of the finest studios of that period.
1.4.2 Architectural styles and approximate dates
Early English
The inner North Porch dates from around 1180. The lower courses west wall, lower stage of tower
with the lancet arch and the Corbel on the south wall of the tower are all early 13th century.
Decorated
The upper stage of the tower; the outer north porch; the south aisle; the south porch; and the south
transept, date from 1290-1350.
Perpendicular
The nave, north aisle, north transept, ambulatory aisles, the Lady Chapel, the clerestory windows
and the vaulting date from 1350 through to the end of the 15 th century.
The following statement about the architectural significance of the church has been extracted from
St Mary Redcliffe Conservation Plan Part 1 Section 4:4
Architectural significance of the Church of St Mary Redcliffe
A high value of architectural significance is likely to be set against the:
12th and 13th century origins, especially the inner north porch.
14th century re-modelling, especially the outer north porch.
15th century completion, especially the vaults.
19th century restoration, especially the spire.
Despite the undoubted creative and technical architectural accomplishments, especially of those
elements identified above, their degree of significance is influenced by their authenticity. In many
instances the authenticity of the fabric has been compromised by 19th century restoration, although
these restorations also have value in their own right. The originality of key elements must be
appraised within a regional context and within a national and even international context also. Other

aspects of the church, its surviving glass, ironwork, bells and monuments are important. Some are of
regional significance, others of more limited significance.
The following statement about the historical significance of the church is taken from St Mary
Redcliffe Conservation Plan Part 1 Section 4:5
1.4.3 Historical Significance of the Church of St Mary Redcliffe
The historical development of St Mary Redcliffe is of vital importance as an index of the changing
status of the port and the city. As such, it is likely to prove of national or even international
significance.
Historical associations with the Canynges and with Chatterton are important and of national
significance.
The importance of the place as evidence for understanding the past has been compromised on two
counts, firstly by the falsification of authentic surfaces by restoration and secondly by the
falsification of documentary evidence, in some instances by Chatterton. Only relatively recently have
the true origins of St Mary Redcliffe begun to re-emerge from the romantic shadows cast by such
well-meaning predecessors.
The academic credibility of the association between the Canynges, senior and junior and the rebuilding
of the church requires still further rigorous re-assessment. Potential for
research/interpretation still remains.

1.5 The church building in detail
Assess the significance of either each historical phase of the building or of each area within it.
The significance of the site and setting
The site and setting of the church is covered in part 1 of the conservation plan. Nonetheless, the
architectural significance of the church cannot be considered out of context with its setting. The
steep natural fall of the site, its dramatic location on the red cliff above the harbour and its
relationship with the Port Wall and the city are collectively of national significance.
A comprehensive description of St Mary Redcliffe church can be found in the Conservation Plan
section 9. Below is a summary of each area of the church followed by information pertaining to the
significance of each part.
1.5.1 Inner North Porch
This is typically early English, and relatively unaltered except for the 14 th century south doorway and
the floor. The door on the east side of this porch leads by way of a stone staircase to the “Muniment
Room” where Chatterton alleged he discovered the Rowley manuscripts. The plastered surfaces and
wall decoration has been lost from above the ???????, but traces of paint remain in the architectural
detail.
1.5.2 Outer North Porch
This has been described as one of the loveliest “Decorated” rooms in England. It was probably built
as a shrine to house some relic. Note the beautiful shoulder arch window of the priest’s room above
the inner north porch and the numerous carvings below the walk way. Also note the carvings outside
the porch, which are Victorian copies of the originals.
1.5.3 North aisle of the nave
Note the elaborately carved screed wall of the inner north porch. This was possibly repaired with
stone from the medieval altar screen as the upper stage incorporates part of the Lord’s Prayer. The
lower arches once read “I would rather be a door keeper in the house of the Lord, than live in the
tents of the ungodly”. The roof bosses are very varied and can easily be studied; The Redcliffe Maze,
St Catherine’s wheel, Green men (There are several of these in various parts of the church), a
mermaid with traditional long tresses and mirror, a number of designs for rose windows; and are
historically interesting: the arms show the marriages of some of the church’s past benefactors;
Stafford, red chevron on gold field, Montacute, three red lozenges on silver, Beauchamp, the gold
“fess” between six “cross-lets”, Berkeley, a silver chevron and ten “crosses patty” on red. The carved
figures found by the south wall were removed from the North Porch at the time of the 19th century
restoration.
1.5.4 North transept
The handsome bench at the north end of the transept were used by the scholars of the ancient
grammar school last housed in the Lady Chapel. The transept is also home to the Edward Colston
memorial window. It was in Redcliffe and by Redcliffe men that the first of the great Colston

Societies was founded five years after Colston died in 1721. The carved effigy at the end of the East
Aisle is traditionally identified with Robert Fitzharding, Lord of Berkeley, one of the church’s earliest
and greatest benefactors. But it is certain he is buried in the Cathedral. This effigy may not be Lord
Berkeley but is, none the less, a fine effigy. The dog at his feet, tells us that he died in his bed. If is
had been a lion he would have died in battle.
1.5.5 North choir aisle
Attention is drawn to the very handsome 14th century arched door way with typical ogee moulding
leading to the vestry. The figures of St Michael and St Uriel in the niches above the door are a
memorial to members of the choir who fell in the two world wars.
This area is home to the “breeches” bible published in Geneva, and includes, bound in the back, a
copy of King Edward’s Book of Common Prayer.
The 15th century tomb is that of Philip Mede three times mayor of Bristol and his wife Isabella. The
elegant brass at the back of the tomb is thought to be that of Richard Mede, son of Philip, with his
two wives, Elizabeth and Anne. Philip Mede’s daughter, Isabella, married Maurice Berkeley. The
eastern end of this choir aisle was a chapel dedicated to St Stephen and was the chantry chapel of
the Medes.
The east window is a memorial to Handel and depicts passages in “Messiah”. Handel was a friend of
Thomas Broughton, vicar 1744-1774 and is said to have revised some of his oratorios here. Thomas
Broughton also wrote the text for Handel’s Opera Hercules
The three Spanish chairs were acquired in 1929. Note the finely carved ram’s heads - typically
Spanish - and the quarterings of the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain embossed upon the
leather backs of the chairs. They are reproductions.
1.5.6 Lady Chapel
This Chapel holds the Reserve Sacrament and is set aside for private prayer.
It is unusual in a parish church to find a Lady Chapel behind the high altar. Originally it had one bay
only; the eastern bay, the last part of the church to be built as we see it today, was added towards
the end of the 15th century and had to be built upon arches to accommodate a processional way.
From 1766 until 1854 the Lady Chapel was used as a Free Grammar School which was originally set
up by the Vestry under Letters Patent from Elizabeth I for which the Vestry paid £65.7.9d. The
school was originally housed in an early 13th century chapel which stood in the south west
churchyard.
The fine brass candelabrum is dated 1650 and served as a model for the smaller 19th century ones in
the church.
On the north side of the altar is the splendid brass of Sir John Inyn, died 1439, Recorder of Bristol,
Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Judge of the King’s Bench, who may have funded the building of
the chapel.

The fine Elizabethan Linen chest on the south side of the altar is dated 1593, was found in Bath in
1881 and restored to the church.
The windows are by Stamners of York and were installed between 1960-65. They are based on
(clockwise) All generations shall call me blessed, a Jessie Tree, birth and death of our Lord, our Lord
lost in the Temple and Pentecost with a Crucifixion over the door.
It is believed the Lady Chapel screen was heavily restored by the Victorians. The arms in the
spandrels (apart from the “arma virginis” over the entrance arch) are those families with Redcliffe
connections.
In the 18th century this eastern end of the church was walled off from the remainder and upon this
wall and over the eastern most arches of the choir, north and south, the famous pictures by
Hogarth, commissioned by the Vestry, were hung. The Vestry paid Hogarth five hundred guineas for
these three pictures in 1766. They are now to be found in the St Nicholas Tourist information
centre.
1.5.7 South choir aisle
The eastern end is thought to have been the chapel of St Nicholas. There are the remains of the
Sedillia (Clergy seats), and prisina (wash basin).
The cope chest was made in Bristol in 1932, a superb piece of furniture and splendidly designed for
its purpose. It holds ten copes mainly made by Mrs Fry.
The two models of the church are made from card. The taller of the two was exhibited at the Great
Exhibition of 1851, the other was the gift of Sir George Oatley, one time Church Architect. The first
shows the proposed design for the spire not what was built.
This area also contains a strong box of St Johns Church, with hidden lock 16th Century
The two ancient brasses where recovered from the ruins of the Temple Church. One is interesting as
it is a palimpsest (two-sided).
1.5.8 South transept
Although the end windows of each of the transepts are similar, the clerestory windows of each are in
marked contrast. Those in the south transept are, possibly, late “decorated” work. The vaulting is
much lower in this transept. It contains the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost bosses. The quatrefoils of
the outer lights are very unusual and contain some medieval Glass.
The south window, erected in 1914, is by Sir Ninian Comper and portrays a number of Redcliffe
worthies.
The tombs and memorials in the south transept are worth attention, especially, the two Canynges’
tombs. Upon the “altar” tomb are effigies of the younger William and his wife Joanna. Note the
position of the rings on Joanna’s fingers, she may have had arthritis. Joanna died in 1467 and within
a few days of his wife’s death, William then aged 65 entered the College of Priests at Westbury, was
ordained deacon and then priest and celebrated his first mass in Redcliffe on Whitsunday in 1468.

He duly became Dean of Westbury (a post created for him) and the second effigy of Canynges in
alabaster shows him robed as a priest. Redcliffe owes much to the generosity and to the
determination of both grandfather and grandson.
The tomb at the end of the west aisle is unknown.
In the floor of this transept we have also the graves of William the Cook (another servant of
Canynges), John Blacker, who ministered to the needs of his fellows by pursuing the calling of a
brewer, and one Rd Coke and his wife Tibota. On this last memorial stone one Lucas Stritch
managed to commemorate himself by having his name carved thereon. There is also the memorial
stone to the Master of the Grammar School, and the son of a plantation owner.
The great black tomb slab at the north end of the transept is that of Sir William Penn who died 1670,
father of the founder of Pennsylvania. His rise to eminence in the Royal Navy was meteoric. He and
Pepys the diarist, did much for the Restoration navy and although they entertained each other
frequently, there was jealousy and friction between them as might be expected between the
assiduous civil administrator and the battle scarred service chief.
There are other interesting memorials, but spare a thought for William Prewett who lost his wife and
three children in June and July 1645. This sad record will be found on the east wall of the transept
and near this there is a memorial to the “marvellous boy” the young poet Thomas Chatterton, who
was born in the shadow of the church and who despairingly took his own life on 24 August 1770
when he was just three months short of his 18th birthday.
1.5.9 South aisle of the nave
Note the stellate tomb recesses, peculiar to the West Country. In one is found the effigy of John
Lavyngton, a Chantry Priest of the chapel which stood in the south west Churchyard in the 14th
century. In another is the tomb slab of John Babecari of whom we know nothing except that we may
deduce from the mark on the slab that he was a merchant.
In 1661, in the early days of the Restoration, Charles II ordered all churches to display the Royal
Arms; the Vestry of St Mary Redcliffe commissioned the magnificent example seen over the south
porch door.
There is a strange mixture of bosses here: another Jack in the Green (Green Man), the Passion
emblems, a man making a meal of the rib of the vaulting, and the head of a dog following the man’s
example.
The iron work gates of the shop form part of that constructed in 1710 by William Edney for Temple
Church and placed here in 1997. The others are a copy of Edney’s style, placed here by the
Victorians.
Some visitors may be interested in the Charities Board now at the west end of this aisle. Joseph
Leech writing in the “Bristol Times” in 1845 says of a visit he made to the church one Sunday that he
found a heap of quartern loaves in the north aisle so large as partly to cover up one of the windows,
giving that part of the church the appearance of a baker’s shop.

1.5.10 The nave
There are two outstanding vistas in the church, one of these is from the west end of the nave, from
which we can best observe the slender, graceful beauty of the perpendicular lines, especially in the
soaring clustered pillars which with their small capitals seem to leap straight up to the stone
vaulting. (The other is to be obtained by standing in the north-east corner of the Lady Chapel as the
sun is setting and the light streams through the great west window. The rays of the sun have the
effect of lighting up the bosses so that the gold itself seems to shine with a light of its own.)
These gilded bosses number in all throughout the church are said to be around about 1200. They
are all reputed to be different in design and it has been said that the large keystone bosses of the
nave weigh about a ton each. There is a tradition that the ladies of Bristol in the 18th century
provided for their gilding by donating their gold trinkets. The gilded dove which hangs over the font
is made of wood and was part of the tester of the 18th century pulpit.
Note the beautiful early English corbel on the south side of the tower. There is also here a possible
indication of the height of the nave arches before the raising of the clerestory windows.
The armour on the south wall of the tower is that of Sir William Penn who gave his name to
Pennsylvania in the USA. If it is possible to read the wording on the memorial it is worth doing so.
The bosses of the nave will be found to be worth examining, and there is a mirror to assist the
visitors.
To the east are the Victorian pews which replaced those of Queen Anne’s day. These ancient pews
which were proprietorial, were commodious and comfortable and being square in shape it was
possible for the members of the family which owned them to sit (and even recline) facing north,
south, east or west.
Towards the central crossing, there is a brass sword rest on the great south west central pier, used
for the City Sword.
The Pulpit is Victorian (1856) and the splendid carving of the twelve Apostles is often admired. It is
said that William Bennett - a Quaker of Portishead - who made the pulpit, insisted on working from
life and got the Friends to sit for him. In a sense this could be a collection of Quaker saints from the
Portishead meeting house. The Vestry paid £100 for this magnificent piece of work.
The Lectern is of brass, and is dated 1638. It was given by James Wathen, a one-time Churchwarden
and pin-maker of the parish.
The Organ, famous throughout the country, is by Harrison and Harrison and was installed in 1911,
but since that date there have been numerous additions and improvements. There are four
manuals, 71 Speaking stops, 21 couplers and 4359 pipes.
1.5.11 The chancel/choir
The Vicar’s stall is a fine piece of modern carving and dates from the restoration of the early 1930s.
The uppermost figure is that of St George and this is flanked by figures of St Nicholas and St Thomas
a’ Becket.

The marble stellate pavement was originally the base for the 18th century patty font in St John’s
Chapel the west end. For many years it formed part of the floor of the crypt whence it was brought
to the floor of the chancel when this was extended in 1933.
The vaulting of the nave is of a different pattern to that of the choir, the latter being a more
geometrical.
The ornate cross at the High Altar is Victorian, is made up of about three hundred pieces and is said
to weigh nearly a hundredweight.
The altar itself - also Victorian - has the marble top of the 18th century Altar inserted into it, the rest
being superbly carved in wood, but these details are rarely seen because of very fine Mrs Fry frontal.
The altar rail is a memorial to the elder brother of Lord Redcliffe Maud (Christopher) who died at
Eton in 1911 aged 15.
A reredos used to stand behind the altar, a part of the 19th century restoration erected in 1871 at a
cost of £800. It represented the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. At the time of the
erection, it was much admired, but by 20th century standards it was thought to be too fussy and
ornate and it was sent to America in 1956.
There are two fine brasses in the chancel. The one on the north side depicts John Brook who died in
1522 and his wife Johanna. He was a legal luminary; a judge of assize he administered the temporal
affairs of Glastonbury Abbey, and he was also Churchwarden of Redcliffe. His wife was the daughter
of Richard Amerike who paid John Cabot King Henry VII’s bounty upon his return from the voyage of
discovery in 1497: hence the claim that the newly discovered continent was named after Amerike.
From this point turn northwards towards the vestry arch and above the head of the Archangel
Michael will be seen the little squint that may have been used by a priest in medieval times to see
the sanctuary from his little room above the Vestry.
The brass on the south side is a memorial to John Jay (died 1480c) and his wife who was a sister to
William Worcester (the Bristol topographer and analyst) and it should be noted that both these men
appear in the Comper window in the south transept. John Jay (one time Sheriff) and his wife
produced a large family as is shown by the representation of their six sons and eight daughters.
All the clerestory windows of the choir are filled with representations of the Te Deum, saints and
other heroes of the church together with the four Archangels, Uriel, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael all
praising God. The original intention was to fill all the clerestory windows with stained glass, but
once the choir had been completed and one window of the south transept, the effect upon the light
in the church was so noticeable that all further stained glass at this level was abandoned.
1.5.12 St John’s Chapel
Sometimes called, the American Chapel, is as we have seen, one of the oldest parts of the church.
The thickness of the walls at ground level is seven feet, at the top of the tower five feet. The tower
is one hundred and twenty feet high, and the weather cock is some two hundred and ninety feet
above the ground.

Note the fine mock Early English lancet arch, built to strengthen the Tower when the Spire was reerected
in the 19th century the windows are also of this period. The beautiful 18th century wrought
iron Edney gate surmounted by the arms of Bristol once closed of the nave from the West End.
There are a number of interesting memorials in this chapel including one to Mrs Fortune Little (obit
1711) for whom Mrs Hannah More wrote the little verse which appears here and which is addressed
to visitors. Those interested in social history and finance may care to have their attention drawn to
what is recorded on the brass plate concerning the Frayne legacy of £10,000 which was used to
purchase 2¾ Consols in 1896. The Vestry had to pay a premium for this stock, bequest like these still
fund the care of the building through the Redcliffe church land charity, what we call the Vestry.
The windows contain fragments of the medieval glass and should be studied carefully. Puritans
troops are said to have destroyed the ancient glass and at the same time destroying the organ.
The bosses here, although neither gilded nor coloured, are interesting. One shows someone doing
the toilet; this may seem distasteful to our eyes but as in many churches show such acts we should
not try to judge the medieval mason.
The mounted bone is the rib of a whale brought back by Cabot in 1497.
The fittings where bought for the church by the friends of St Mary Redcliffe in the USA the kneelers
show the arms of the original states and diocese of America.
There is a wooden effigy of Elizabeth I, who is regarded with considerable veneration in Redcliffe as
she gave back some of the endowments seized by her father and her brother. This curious wooden
carving may have been part of the adornment of the grammar school and for many years it was
placed in the Lady Chapel.
The strange memorial of Sir Rd Yeamans Bt, depicts one of Bristol’s swords of state together with
the civic maces. Yeamans was Mayor of Bristol in 1669.
For centuries the tower has housed a great peal of bells, and William Worcester writing in the 15th
century said there were then six bells in the tower “the largest of which weighed 7024 lbs and the
smallest 1300 lbs”. No wonder bell ringers have always been great ale drinkers. There are now
fourteen bells in the tower, the largest of which weighs fifty two hundredweight.
Please note the model of the “Matthew”, John Cabot’s ship placed over the inside of the door to the
North Porch.
1.5.13 Outside
The buildings on the East of Colston Parade are Georgian the first being the Colston Room where the
Vestry used to have their great Dinners. It and Frys House of Mercy (nothing to do with the
chocolate firm) suffered extensive damage in 1941 from fire bombs in the same German air raid that
caused the destruction of many fine buildings and one high explosive bomb throwing a tram line
over the parade into the South churchyard burying it.

The sand stone houses are Victorian built over the railway tunnel that runs under the churchyard, in
the west one, Samuel Plimsoll was born. He invented the load line on ships saving countless lives.
Next to this house are the Parish Offices and Sixth form centre for St Mary Redcliffe and Temple
School, the building is again Georgian.
Below the balustrade on Redcliffe hill is the outlet for the Redcliffe pipe. The Redcliffe pipe was
given to the Church by Robert de Berkley in 1190. The pipe originally came out at the east end of the
Church Yard hence the name Pump Lane.
Beside the Flag pole is the large “altar” tomb of James (Slasher) Phillips who was given a city funeral
as he claimed to have been at the Victory at Trafalgar.
To the west of the south porch stood the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, which was built around 1235. The
effigy in the south aisle John Lavington was found in this chapel, The Chapel housed the first boys’
school at SMR in 1571.
There is a fine Virgin and Child by Walker (1930’s) above the South porch he also carved the statues
over the North Porch Door.
The Church Cat is buried on the bank of grass outside the South Transept. His grave is marked with a
small stone slab dated 1912-1927. Further along is the family tomb of the Chattertons.
The following statement about the architectural significance of the church is extracted from St Mary
Redcliffe Conservation Plan Part 2 Section 18
1.5.14 The significance of the origins of the church
Documentary evidence establishes the presence of a church at Redcliffe by about the middle of the
12th century but although only the merest fragments of that building remain, the survival of a multiphase
church, probably of Romanesque, Transitional and Early English design, is likely until the 14th
century. That the comprehensive 14th century rebuilding involved the demolition of a recently
completed major church of entirely 13th century construction seems far less likely. Architectural
fragments dating from the late 12th century were found in the 19th century but had disappeared,
presumed lost by 1985. Such fragments can now only be of possible significance. Two surviving
pieces of mid 12th century chevron ornament carrying polychromy are however still extant,
displayed in the north transept. If these are the last surviving fragments of the first church on this
site then they are important and possibly of regional significance.
1.5.15 The significance of the early English church
Its scale and plan
Surviving evidence shows Redcliffe church in the 13th century as an important and very substantial
building of at least regional significance. Collectively features such as the scale of the church, its
aisled plan, its vaults and its galleried west front mark it out as exceptional and probably of national
significance. A better understanding of the Early English plan would inform this assessment.
The west front

Sufficient survives to indicate a west front that was truly remarkable for a parish church. Although
the reconstruction of the architectural arrangement of this elevation is fraught with difficulties due
to the paucity of remaining 13th century fabric, the arrangement of the galleries was evidently akin
to those at cathedrals such as Wells rather than to parish churches of that date. This alone makes
the Early English west front and its surviving features of national significance in their own right.
The early English nave and aisles
The 13th century nave was aisled and vaulted and was of at least regional significance.
The early English north porch
The early English (inner) north porch was not large but, heavily enriched with shafts and mouldings,
rib vaulted and delicately arcaded, carrying fragmentary evidence of decorative schemes, it remains
of regional significance in its own right.
Early English roofs and vaults
The 13th century nave was stone vaulted although its aisles were not. Certainly the roof pitches of
both aisles were steep and a more complex pattern of transverse gables may have existed over the
north aisle. Such features are certainly of local significance.
The tower and spire
The massive late 13th century tower, of a proportion more appropriate to a cathedral or substantial
monastic church than to a parochial building, was almost certainly designed to carry a spire.
Previously thought to be based on the design of that at Salisbury, our current understanding of the
work at Redcliffe now suggests a co-terminal construction date for both spires of around 1320,
enhancing the significance of the tower and spire, already acclaimed as of national importance.
1.5.16 The significance of the 14th century rebuilding
The scope of the rebuilding
The church as we see it today is almost entirely the product of a massive rebuilding campaign of
national significance, carried out during the course of the 14th century from about 1320 onwards.
The 14th century fully aisled plan
The double aisled transeptal plan is of national significance, being found in only a small number of
major cathedral, monastic and collegiate churches, the closest being Wells Cathedral. Such plans are
rare at any date and the possibility of the origins of the fully-aisled plan at Redcliffe pre-dating the
14th century rebuilding, although fairly unlikely, have not yet been completely ruled out.
14th century (outer) north porch
Uniquely elaborate, idiosyncratically planned and difficult to parallel in contemporary English church
architecture, the porch is of exceptional national significance. The arrangement of its opposing
secondary entrances, to NW and SE, its ancillary chamber to the SW and its open gallery or wall walk
suggests a specific devotional purpose; the details of which are uncertain but assumed to be linked

to a shrine and associated pilgrimage. This, together with the porch’s specific dedication to Our Lady,
is an integral part of the porch’s significance, as is the muniment room above with its complex
security, designed to guard the possessions of a church that must by this date have been
substantially wealthy.
The 14th century south transept and the southern rebuilding sequence
After the north porch came the great rebuilding, beginning on the south side. Our understanding of
the sequence has developed, the south transept having now been identified as the starting point.
Disjunctures in the south wall here suggest a complex programme but construction may have
continued almost without a break. There is possible significance in this sequence, not yet fully
understood.
The 14th century crossing and the abutting roof-spaces
The construction of the crossing was integral with the south transept and there is further possible
significance in the building sequence here also. A crossing tower was intended but never raised
above the revised roof level of the transept and the form of the doorways to the four roof spaces
suggests an early date, before the present crossing vault. If the level of these doors suggests a
crossing gallery, it is incompatible with the four crossing arches in their present form. The
columbarium (dovecote) in the raised roof space over the south transept is of local significance in its
own right, for reasons of rarity within church building.
The 14th century south aisle and porch
After the transept came the south aisle of the nave with the south porch possibly following
subsequently. The tomb-recesses in the south aisle wall, compromised to a degree by restoration in
the spirit of the grand tomb recesses in Bristol Cathedral, are of local significance. One at least (the
westernmost) has had a complex relationship with the access arrangements to the south porch. The
south aisle is significant as being the only part of the church preserving clear evidence that it was
initially unvaulted. The porch originally had no upper floor, the existing vault being possibly the
original one lowered to its present position. Carved detail survives in an unrestored state within the
porch, significant in comparison with much of the heavily restored carved detail elsewhere in the
church. A possible association with William Joy, master mason at Wells makes the porch of possible
regional significance.
The remaining 14th century sequence
The order in which the remainder of the church was rebuilt can only now be elucidated by careful
archaeological investigation, coupled with a programme of dendrochronology on the roof carpentry.
The Lady Chapel is significant for its two stage building sequence and for the processional way
beneath the later of the two bays, itself of seemingly later date than the bay through which it
passes. The vault and bosses within the processional way are significant for their quality and their
original condition in this heavily restored church. The north transept was almost certainly the last
part of the church to be built, or rebuilt. It is significant as being the only part of the church to be
built in ashlar between arcade and clerestory level. The north transept undercroft below is on a
grand scale. Although its precise purpose originally remains unclear it is of possible significance. The

three storey vestry is probably of regional significance, there being few vestry buildings constructed
on this scale in parish churches.
Vaulting
For a parish church, the stone vaults at St Mary Redcliffe are unsurpassed and of national
significance. The collection of decorative bosses, said to exceed 1100 in number, are of course an
integral part of the ensemble. Individual bosses are of great significance in their own right. These
include superb figurative compositions such as the Marian group in bay 2 of the south transept,
eastern aisle and others of especial architectural interest such as two bosses in the north transept
and one in the north aisle which depict models of vaults.
Roof and spire carpentry
The surviving medieval carpentry is of regional significance in its own right and of great importance
as an archaeological resource for dendrochronology, being one of the richest repositories of as yet
untapped dating information for the construction sequence.
1.5.17 The significance of changes in the later medieval period
The fall of the spire
Although the current understanding of the architectural development of the church places less
emphasis on the importance of 15th century work, all structural evidence pointing to the walls and
vaults generally being raised together ab initio, the fall of the spire was a significant event and must
have resulted in remedial work. Despite various claims that the fall resulted in major rebuilding,
there is no clear indication even of the direction of the fall, if indeed it was directional.
15th century additions and alterations
Among 15th century alterations and additions of local significance are:
• the rebuilding of three bays of the south nave clerestory,
• insertion of a low vault, creating an upper room in the south porch,
• the infilling of the space between the vestry and the north transept (the parish library).
• 15th century alterations to the vestry block itself.
1.5.18 The significance of the post-Reformation period
Locally significant changes in the wake of the reformation included:
Dismantling of chantries (followed by the setting up of a school in the former chantry chapel
of the Holy Spirit)
Stripping of stone altars
Painting of church internally to obliterate ‘superstitious images’
Levelling of the chancel

1.5.19 The significance of the restorations
18th century restorations
Locally significant changes in the early 18th century included:
Re-paving in black-and-white marble
Extension of chancel eastwards into ambulatory
Alternative access arrangements to the Lady Chapel
Re-ordering including screens, organ case, galleries, fittings and furnishings
Godwin’s restoration of 1846-1877
Proposals by Britton and Hosking followed the setting up of a restoration committee in 1842 and
included the re-building of the spire. The regionally significant restoration did not commence until
1846 by which time George Godwin had been appointed. He was responsible for the majority of the
Victorian restoration which included:
Lowering of ground levels around the church
Drainage
Restoration of the north porch
Re-building the south-east angle of the south chancel aisle
Restoration of east end masonry
Renewal of chancel and aisle roofs
Restoration of south transept
Reopening of south aisle tomb-recesses and the north aisle to north transept undercroft
stair
Restoration of south side of nave and south porch
Restoration of Lady Chapel
Introduction of stained glass
Internal restoration, redecoration and re-ordering including reredos, font, pulpit, pew
replacement, organ, etc
Restoration of pinnacles
New and replacement statuary on the tower
Restoration of the spire (regionally significant in its own right)
Oatley’s 20th century restoration
Arthur Blomfield followed Godwin but although much activity took place in the early 1900s, the
majority of 20th century restoration was the work of Sir George Oatley who undertook a major
restoration between 1927 and 1933. Collectively the 20th century restorations were also of regional
significance and included:
a chamber for part of the organ over the clergy vestry (between the vestry block and the
north transept)
replacing the Victorian stair turret to the south porch with the present one
re-ordering the chancel

second restoration of the north porch
another re-ordering of the chancel
constructing the strong room below the Lady Chapel
restoring the conduit
general restoration of the fabric in Clipsham stone
construction of the new undercroft beyond the north porch
Later 20th century restoration
War damage repair was of local significance, as was the work of Brentnall, Franklin and Rome
thereafter. This included another general restoration in the mid 1960s and, perhaps more
significantly, the disposal of the Godwin font and reredos in about 1958 without the introduction of
the latter’s replacement, designed by Oatley. Later 20th century changes include:
Re-paving of the north porch, first in tile and then in stone
Alterations to chancel furnishings and pavement, removal of pews in the south transept and
other minor re-arrangement of the Victorian ordering
Renewal of lead roofs generally
Masonry and glazing repair and restoration
Redecoration and stone cleaning
1.5.20 Historical significance of the church of St Mary Redcliffe
Introduction
The architectural history of the church is collectively of national significance, as covered in
chronological sequence in section 18 above.
Historical associations
The Port and the City
The historical development of St Mary Redcliffe is of vital importance as an index of the changing
status of the port and the city. As such it is of national significance.
The Canynges family
Although the Canynges were important benefactors to the church and influential men in the history
and development of Redcliffe and the City of Bristol, the understandable desire to interpret
documentary evidence to support their direct association with the great rebuilding of the church
resulted in a mis-understanding of the architectural development. Nonetheless the importance of
such figures should not be underestimated and is of regional significance. Further potential for
research remains.
Chatterton
The association of Thomas Chatterton with St Mary Redcliffe is of national significance because of
his importance as a literary figure. However, his romantic view of the medieval period and his

cavalier attitude towards the church’s muniments resulted in confusion between fact and fiction
that has been unhelpful in disentangling its true history.
1.5.21 Archaeological significance of St Mary Redcliffe
Introduction
The importance of the surviving fabric as an archaeological resource is of national significance.
Nonetheless its value as a tool for understanding the past has been compromised on two counts,
firstly by the falsification of authentic surfaces by excessive restoration and secondly by confusion of
documentary evidence, the latter in some instances by Chatterton and in others by those desirous of
perpetuating the myths associated with the Canynges. Only relatively recently have the true origins
of St Mary Redcliffe begun to re-emerge from the romantic shadows cast by such well meaning
predecessors.
Archaeology above ground
The above ground archaeology of the church is of national significance. Of particular importance
within this context are:
Original masonry, holding stylistic and constructional information relating the history,
architecture and building sequence.
Historic timberwork, possibly offering dendrochronological data.
Re-used masonry in the roof spaces and elsewhere, a complete record of which might offer
a fuller understanding of the 13th-century church.
Fragmentary remains of masonry ex situ.
Archaeology below ground
The below ground archaeology of the church is of national significance. Of particular importance
within this context are:
Archaeological remains of earlier church buildings on this site, presumed to be largely, if not
entirely, below the present church.
Archaeological remains of buildings within the churchyard and beyond, both associated with
the church and of secular origin.
Documentary Evidence
Documentary evidence relating to the church fabric is of national significance. Of particular
importance within this context are:
Archival material held by the Church, including drawn and illustrative material, particularly the
contents of the strong room and the drawings collection.
Archival material held elsewhere, including drawn and illustrative material.
The Church Inventory (1997)

1.6 Contents of the Church
Provide a description of its contents and their significance. It is reasonable to group these if there
is a contemporary scheme which is significant as such, for example one could say a complete
scheme of 18 th -century furnishings, of high significance.
The following statement about significance of location extracted from St Mary Redcliffe Conservation
Plan Part 2 Section 11 Provisional Notes on the Fabric and Fittings of the Church, 11.4 Fittings
1.6.1 Lady Chapel
i) The windows were glazed by Wailes and O'Connor in the 1850s and 1860s. They were, however,
replaced by H.J. Stammers, 1960–65.
ii) The oak sanctuary rail (with a sliding brass pole in the centre section) is delicately carved with
Gothic tracery
iii) North of the altar is a fine medieval brass, (Fig. 81) obviously repositioned. The indent is of coarse
Purbeck marble, inset with a central figure of a knight having an inscription panel beneath his feet,
and flanked by a pair of shields; all bounded by a border containing an inscribed fillet. Only half of
one of the shields is missing. The monument commemorates Sir John Juyn (d. 1439).
iv)Standing in the chapel is a superb carved oak chest, (Fig 82) the front panels of which depict Faith,
Hope and Charity. The bottom rail is inscribed, `Sainte Marie Redclyffe Bristole. 1593'. At an
unknown date the chest had been removed from the church: it was discovered in Bath in 1881 and
returned to its place of origin.
v) Various artefacts are kept in the strong room, including several pieces of mid-18th-century
wrought iron scrollwork, apparently from the west end of the nave; also sections of cast iron pipe (3
ins diam.) with collars and lead-caulked joints. These are from the late 19th-century hydraulic blower
for the organ.
1.6.2 Chancel and Chancel Aisles
i) The Crucifixion in the high east window is by Clayton and Bell (1904), and the clerestories were
glazed by the same firm (1889, 1893). The windows in the south aisle are also by Clayton and Bell
(1861, 1872, 1882), and in the north aisle they are by Clayton and Bell (1864, 1870) and Hardman
(1872).
ii) Medieval consecration crosses were painted around the aisle walls, in the plain panels below the
windows. Two survive in the north aisle, in bays 2 and 3 (east of the vestry door). The crosses were
first lightly incised on the ashlar masonry, and then painted (red, it seems). Only a shadow now
survives. Also in bay 3, west of the vestry door, are vestiges of a much smaller cross incised in a
circle. N.B. Another consecration cross survives at the west end of the nave.
iii) In 1755 William Hogarth was commissioned by the Vestry to paint a huge triptych which was
mounted on the clerestory walls, the centrepiece obstructing the great east window and the two
flanking panels returning along the side walls. The east window was infilled with brickwork, as were
the main lights of the clerestory windows in bay 5.96 The altar was then directly below, where the

eastern ambulatory now is. In 1858 the triptych was taken down, the east window unblocked, the
ambulatory reinstated, and a reredos installed. But this was not grand enough, and in 1871 a
towering new reredos of Caen stone, designed by Godwin, was erected on the site of the present
screen behind the High Altar. The Victorian reredos was a magnificent example of ornate tabernacle
work which provided a suitable visual `stop' at the end of the chancel. Its removal (apart from the
lower register of screenwork) in the early 1950s is a serious loss.
iv) In front of the window in the easternmost bay of the north aisle stands a fine limestone doublemonument
of the Mede family, consisting of two canopied and buttressed chest tombs set end to
end, topped by a continuous cornice and cresting. The tomb is all that remains of the Mede chantry
which stood before the altar of St Stephen. The fronts of the chests are panelled, and each canopy
comprises five bays of elaborate tabernacle work with supporting angels. The interior walls are
panelled, as are the three-centred vaults, but the patterns differ: the western tomb has quatrefoils
in squares, the eastern one has double-ended trefoil panels. The tomb was certainly designed to fit
into a corner, as now, and there is no reason to suppose that it has been moved. On Lyons' plan
(1717) the monument is shown in this position.
v) Lying on the western chest are two separate effigies, male and female, both with their heads
supported by pillows and angels. The man has his feet resting on a dog, while the lady has two
smaller dogs. The effigies appear to have been jammed into the available space, with structural
damage being caused in the process. Almost certainly, this was not the intended arrangement, and it
is more likely that the male figure alone initially occupied the western recess and the female was in
the adjoining one (subsequently moved to make way for another member of the family?). Twothirds
of a brass fillet inscription, to Thomas Mede, remains on the front edge of the top slab. In the
back of the tomb is an armorial shield. Lyons (1717) described this as `Mr Thomas Mede and his
Lady, 1475'. Pevsner followed this identification, but Smith (1995, 91) identifies the tomb as Philip
Mede's (d. 1471).
vi) The top of the eastern chest is made from several ill-fitting pieces of stone and was clearly
intended to support an effigy. A brass fillet inscription has been lost from the edge of the top slab. In
the back of the tomb is a blank shield, beneath which a rectangular area of the panelling has been
chiselled away to form a recess to receive a secondary brass plaque, but the plate currently
occupying this recess is too small and does not belong here. The plate has variously been assigned to
depict Richard Mede (d. 1491; son of Philip) and his two wives, or to Philip. Lyons, however,
described this as `A tomb without date or inscription'. The brass plate was, however, in its present
location by 1823.
vii) The stone chests must have been at least partially dismantled in the 19 th century, since the
central heating pipes (later removed) passed right through them. Various graffiti have been carved
on the tomb, some with dates in the 17th century.
viii) The Victorian tiled floors to the aisles contain various memorial slabs of black marble, blue lias
and white marble. These have been re-set to conform with the 19th-century layout. In the north
aisle is a particularly fine brass (Sarah King, d. 1837) set into a grey granite matrix. The central
feature is an elaborate cross, flanked by individual shields, and framed within an ornate border. All
the elements were formerly inlaid with coloured enamels, which have been entirely lost. The shields
are, unusually, made of silver.

ix) Set into the floor of the chancel are two superb medieval indents and brasses. On the south side
is John Jay (d. 1480), his wife Johanna, and six sons and eight daughters, all under a double canopy.
On the north is John Brook (d. 1522) and his wife Johanna (daughter of Richard Amerike); their
figures stand on a long inscription panel, and are without canopy or border.
x) In the floor of the ambulatory is a plaque which reads, `From 1756 to 1858 three paintings by
William Hogarth stood above this tablet. They were placed in the Bristol Art Gallery in 1955'. The
triptych is now displayed in the redundant church of St Nicholas, Bristol.
xi) A piped hot-water system around the wall benches of the aisles includes specially made waterjackets
to fit against the curved respond bases: cast in these jackets are the manufacturer's details,
`V. Skinner, Bristol. 1874’.
xii) Two encased wooden models of the church and churchyard deserve mention:
a. The larger model, said to have been made by a schoolmaster in the 18 th century. Originally, it
displayed the truncated spire, but a new one was made to show the restoration of 1872. The old
spire is preserved.
b. The smaller model is said to have been made for the Great Exhibition in 1851. It later belonged to
Sir George Oatley. The model shows a truncated spire.
There are many points of difference between the models, especially concerning fenestration,
doorways, etc. For example: one shows the existing geometrical tracery in both the north and west
windows of the tower (ground stage), while the other has graduated lancets in the north and
complex Perpendicular tracery in the west; both show doorways in the east side of the north
transept undercroft, and one has a door in the vestry undercroft too. As well as these differences of
uncertain consequence, there are clearly many inaccuracies of detail in both models. Problems of
age and authenticity are compounded by the fact that both models depict statue niches on the west
front, in the buttress between the tower and nave. No niches have ever existed in this position, and
their introduction was part of the Britton and Hosking proposal of 1842.
xiii) Now in the north aisle, but formerly in the sanctuary, are three finely carved elbow chairs with
tooled leather backs and seats. Of Spanish origin, they were brought to England in c. 1910, but only
arrived in the church in 1929. Although they are emblazoned with the arms of Ferdinand and Isabella
of Spain, the chairs are probably 19th century reproductions, not 15th century.
ix) A fine modern cope chest in oak stands in the south chancel aisle.
1.6.3 Vestry
i) A small stained glass window in the north side of the crypt depicts Canynges holding the church of
St Mary Redcliffe. It is by Arnold Robinson of Joseph Bell & Sons (1933). Glass in the east window is
identical to that in the windows of the transept undercroft (q.v.).
ii) In the east window of the vestry are fragments of medieval glass, including parts of four figures
and Canynges' merchant's mark. The centre light of the window in the inner vestry contains more reset
medieval glass.

iii) Lying loose on the window sill of the outer vestry is a fragment of 14 th century brown inlaid floor
tile and a piece of border tile, which were found in the churchyard.
1.6.4 Nave and Nave Aisles
i) The Moses window in the west wall is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne (1857), and that in the end of
the south aisle is by Hardman and Co. (1868). The remaining glazing in the south aisle is all by
Clayton and Bell (1886–88, 1896). In the north aisle it is by Clayton and Bell (1873, 1888) and Joseph
Bell & Sons (1886).
ii) The medieval west door comprises a pair of leaves, one having an original wicket with a twocentred
arch. Externally, it shows vertical planking. Internally, there are numerous, closely spaced
ledges, pegged into the stiles. The hinge straps are secured with numerous clenches and diamondshaped
roves. The reveals contain two draw-bar sockets. There is no reason to suppose that the
door is other than coeval with the external masonry and the window above. Hence, dating the door
by dendrochronology would provide a fixed point in the 14th-century reconstruction of the nave.
iii) Over the south door is a particularly fine Royal Arms of Charles II, carved in wood and coloured
to look like stone. The arms are contained within a classical frame with caryatids supporting the
entablature.
iv) The dark oak pulpit, profusely carved in the Gothic style, is an unusually fine example of its date
(1856). It is contemporary with the oak benches in the nave. These too are of fine quality and some,
but not all, are embellished with carvings. The pulpit, benches and choir stalls were all made by
William Bennett of Portishead. The brass eagle lectern is also very good and dates from 1638; in
1717 it stood centrally under the crossing.
v) Built against the westernmost pier under the south arcade is a medieval stone font, with an
arcaded octagonal bowl and carved foliage beneath. It is an unexceptional piece apart from the
presence of a bracket on the face of the pier directly above, in the form of a carved angel bearing a
painted inscription. Traces of a second painted inscription are visible on the face of the pier itself.
The font was moved into the north transept in 1762, and returned to its proper place in 1839.113
Until it was disposed of in 1957, a highly ornate Victorian font stood close by, in bay 6 of the nave.
vi) High on the north wall of bay 6 is the memorial to Admiral Sir William Penn (d. 1670), together
with his funerary armour. He was buried at the entrance to the south transept (where there is still a
floor slab), and his memorial, armour and pennants were originally mounted on the pier between
bays 1 and 2 of the east aisle of the South transept. A sketch of 1854 shows the assemblage before it
was moved. The pennants, now in tatters, have been taken down and are stored in the strong room.
vii) The exquisite iron screen under the tower arch is by William Edney, 1710. It was made for the
chancel entrance, but later moved to the west end of the nave where it closed the central alley
between the blocks of box pews. Also incorporating ironwork by Edney is the screen across the
south aisle, enclosing the shop. It was rescued from Temple Church after the Blitz. Other fine
screenwork has been placed under bays 6 and 7 of the south nave arcade: it includes two pairs of
gates which formerly opened from the crossing into the transepts, as well as two pairs which were at
the western ends of the nave aisles. These may all be work by John Jones, 1756 (Pevsner 1958, 403).

1.6.4 South Transept
i) The glazing is by a variety of artists: Clayton and Bell (1872, 1878, 1901), Joseph Bell & Sons (1885),
Carl Almquist (1905) and Sir Ninian Comper (1914).
ii) Centrally against the south wall stands the impressive but coarsely executed canopied tomb of
William Canynges the younger and his wife (d. 1460). Pevsner (1958, 403) suggests that the
monument was carved c. 1460–65. The whole structure has been re-coloured, although to what
extent this represents the medieval polychromy scheme is unclear. Stewart's view of 1745 shows a
railed tomb enclosure externally, between the two central buttresses. What connection this had
with the Canynges family, if any, has not been ascertained .
iii) At the south end of the east aisle is an alabaster effigy of William Canynges the younger, this time
vested as a priest: he took holy orders in 1467 and became Dean of Westbury College, dying in 1474.
The effigy, which is clearly only part of a more complex monument, stands on a plain ashlar base: it
may have been removed from Westbury. At the end of the west aisle is a 15th-century effigy of a
male with a purse and dog; he is said to have been Canynges' almoner. In the floor of the west aisle
is a memorial to William Coke, who was cook to Canynges. The indent carries an inscription and
incised motifs representing a colander and a knife (Britton (1813, 22; Paul 1882, pl. VII, fig. 2).
iv) The foregoing three monuments were shown in their present locations on both Lyons' plan of
1717 and Britton's of 1813. The latter also shows the slab, still extant, to John Blecker, who endowed
a chantry in the chapel of St Katherine in 1434. The tomb slab to Admiral Sir William Penn (d. 1670)
is set into the floor in bay 1 (his memorial and armour are wall-mounted at the west end of the
nave).
v) Prior to the mid-19th century, the lower lights of the main south window contained medieval
glass depicting figures.
vi) Lying loose on the wall-bench are two oak carvings from the 18th-century organ case: one is a
bishop's mitre, the other a godrooned cup-and-cover type of finial (see other fragments in the room
above the inner north porch).
vii) Scaffolding was available in January 2003 to inspect the higher parts of this transept. The great
north window is by Clayton and Bell (1870). It is flanked on the west by stained glass of 1859 by
Joseph Bell, and on the east by a window made by the St Helen's Crown Glass Co. (1854). The
windows in the west aisle are by Burlison and Grylls, 1879, (added to by Joseph Bell, 1915) and 1886;
the single window in the east aisle is by Clayton and Bell(1889).
viii) The glazing of the main clerestory lights was largely replaced after the Second World War, and
most of the glass is modern. However, some old glass has been incorporated. In bay 3 (west) several
pieces of Victorian secular glass with acid-etched patterns have been reused in the traceries. An
incised inscription on a quarry in bay 2 (west) reads: `Henry M(ig)llianu (?) and J. Sperring fixed these
windows 1863', reset after recent re-leading.
ix) Resting on a plain ashlar base against the north wall of the eastern aisle is a limestone effigy of a
cross-legged knight in chain mail (Paul 1882, pls. V and VI). This has popularly been attributed to
Robert de Berkeley, but the style of the monument indicates a later, rather than earlier, 13th-

century date. It has also been identified with Simon de Burton. On Lyons' plan (1717) the figure is
shown under the central bay, and is described as `a Knight Templar without date or inscription'.
Britton (1813, 17), whose plan shows it in bay 2 of the west aisle, says that tradition identifies the
monument with a William Burton.
x) The windows contain late Victorian stained glass with repetitive leaf and floral motifs and
coloured borders containing various emblems. Three memorials are attached to the walls.
xi) One of the most interesting and important furnishings in Redcliffe church is the vestment armoire
(Fig.130), now demoted to a cleaner's cupboard. Although not quite unique, it is an extremely rare
survival and must be late medieval in date, probably 15th century. In her comprehensive study of
medieval furniture, Penelope Eames (1977, 49–52) suggested that the armoire in St Mary's Church,
Aylesbury, could be a unique survival: she was clearly unaware of the Redcliffe piece, which is far
superior. The Aylesbury armoire, which has lost its doors, is dated to c. 1480–1500.
xii) The armoire is of oak-framed construction, jointed and pegged, and is trapezoidal in plan, clearly
having been made to fit into a splayed reveal (but not where it now stands). The right-hand end is of
V-edged oak boarding (but falling apart), and the left-hand end is of modern pine boarding.
xiii)The front of the cupboard is divided into three unequal parts, the left-hand section being plain
boarded while the centre and right-hand sections comprise a conjoined pair of folding doors. They
are of plain oak boarding, supported on three wrought iron T-hinges with long plain straps extending
across the full width of the doors; these are difficult to date, but there is nothing to suggest that they
are not original. The wrought iron drop-handle has crenellated punching and two escutcheons in the
form of four-lobedknobbly leaves: it is typically late medieval.
xiv) The boards are fixed to the framework with large-headed iron nails and on the front panel,
where intermediate supports were necessary, the nails were driven through chamfered battens and
their shanks clenched over. The front of the armoire is finished with a 15th-century moulded oak
cornice, and there is another on the right-hand end; the latter is more elaborate, being crenellated.
The roof is of V-edged oak boards, and there is a raised floor (19th century). Inside, at the right-hand
end, are six long arms for vestments projecting from vertical posts which are pivoted in the framing
of the cupboard. The arms and pivots, which appear to be 19th-century replacements, are
strengthened with knee-brackets.
xv) Inside, on the back, are the initials `IB' crudely daubed in grey paint: 17 th century.
1.6.5 North Porch
i) The stained glass in the outer porch is by Clayton and Bell (1877).
ii) The upper chamber of the inner porch contains four ancient chests which have been moved here
in recent years from the outer porch, where two more recent ones still remain. 18th-century views
of the muniment room show these chests.
iii) Various classical motifs carved in oak lie loose in the inner room; these are remnants of the great
organ case built by John Harris (son of Renatus) and John Byfield, in 1726 (Morgan and Marsh 1990).

iv) A section of oak beam removed from the belfry in 1904 carries an inscription dated 1636.
Another section of oak beam with an inscription records that it was `placed here' (wherever that
was) in 1823.
v) Under a glass dome are the remains of a once very fine cork model of the church, with its
truncated spire, and dating from c. 1870. This item is in urgent need of repair and conservation.
1.6.6 Tower and Spire
i) The north and west windows in the ground stage contain an important assemblage of medieval
glass (14th and 15th century), collected from various locations in the church. The north window
mainly comprises roundels, and the west window figural subjects. The latter are 15 th century, and
are said to have come from the south transept.
ii) The floor of the ground stage is a museum of memorials, the paving consisting of a mixture of
complete and fragmentary slabs of varying dates and materials (Fig.159). Few, if any, are in situ.
However, an area of limestone paving around the north-west corner is clearly ancient and
undisturbed. This is the oldest intact flooring in the church, and for this reason is historically
important. Sepulchral fragments set into the tower floor include:
a) In the south-west corner is a tapered coffin lid in limestone, with remains of a marginal
inscription. Now very worn, it may once have had a raised central cross or other motif.
b) Several parts of other tapered limestone slabs, now worn smooth. At least two of these are
from children's coffins.
c) Part of a medieval slab of Purbeck Marble.
d) Parts of an indent in blue lias for a brass; 15th-century. This indent held a central cross in
brass with an elaborate base, and a broad band of marginal inscription.
e) Worn ledgers of the 17th and 18th centuries.
f) Squares of blue lias and white marble bearing late 18th- and early 19thcentury inscriptions
have come from a diagonally-laid chequered pavement (similar to the early 18th-century
paving surviving in parts of the eastern arm of Bristol Cathedral).
iii) In the south-west corner of the tower, standing on the floor, is displayed a small collection of
sculptured fragments:
a) A caryatid-corbel from the north porch, depicting a bearded male head on an animal's body;
early 14th century. This is in poor condition and needs to be removed from the floor and
conserved. Resting on top of it is item viii.
b) Two fragments of a child's coffin lid in limestone, with a hollow chamfered edge and a raised
foliate cross; also a relief-carved detail, possibly a head; 14th century? (Paul 1882, pl. V, fig.
1).
c) Section of limestone panelling, probably the side from a tomb-chest, consisting of 3. bays of
cinquefoil-headed blind arcading containing uncarved shields. 14th or 15th century.
Standing on top of it are items x, xi and xii.
d) Half of a limestone tomb-slab with chamfered edges which carry an inscription in large
Lombardic letters; also some lettering cut into the upper face of the slab. In the centre is an
incised, bas-relief cross with tapering arms; early 14th century.

e) Less than half of a tomb-cover of shelly limestone, decorated with a floriated cross in high
relief; 14th century.135 The edges of the slab are only roughly dressed, showing that it was
intended to be recessed into the floor.
f) Part of a limestone tomb-cover with a roll-and-hollow-moulded edge, a bas-relief cross with
tapering arms, and four pointed leaves in the angles between the arms; early 14th century?
iv) Items x, xi and xii all exhibit traces of red soil embedded in the inscription and decoration,
demonstrating that the slabs had been used as floor paving and were laid face-down on the ground.
All these sculptures are in need of conservation.
v) A carved wooden figure of Queen Elizabeth, formerly in the adjoining school (demolished in
1762), stands on another 14th-century caryatid-corbel from the north porch. On the wall above is a
painted timber board (1729), recording a benefaction by Sir Thomas Yeamans in 1686.
vi) Projecting from the north reveal of the arch to the aisle is a curious stone corbel, crudely carved
with a Green Man. It is doubtfully medieval and is more likely to be 18 th century. On it rests a
whalebone which is alleged to have been brought back by Cabot on his first voyage to
Newfoundland. However, the display of whalebones as objects of antiquarian curiosity is a
phenomenon especially associated with the late 18th and early 19th centuries (cf. `whalebone
arches' at Glastonbury Abbey and elsewhere).
vii) A small 15th-century limestone font, originally from St John's Church, Bedminster, was set up
here in 1974. Close to its stands a white marble Italianate font of 1755 by Thomas Paty and an early
18th-century pine chest with a domed lid. The marble font was designed for a baptistery in the north
transept. Paty made a similar font for Bristol Cathedral.
viii)The walls are bedecked with good monuments of the 17th to 19th centuries, but mostly
repositioned. The mid-20th-century oak cupboards fixed to the east wall conceal further
monuments. One of the finest monuments (Sandford/Challoner) is much marred by trunking for
electrical cables wrapped around it. High up on this wall can be seen part of a small 13 th century
chamfered window which provided borrowed light for the staircase leading to the upper room in the
north porch.
ix) A section of fine 18th-century wrought iron screen with gates has been adapted to fill the
southern arch. These were formerly the gates to the chancel made by William Edney, 1710; modern
additions to the flanks. A pair of 20th-century iron gates closes the eastern arch.
x) The ringing chamber contains a fine series of 19th- and 20th-century painted peal-boards, and
two boards of 18th-century coat pegs. There is a massive rectangular block of oak used by the
bellringers as a platform to stand on: it is presumably medieval and is derived from something
structural, having at least one mortice and a housing in it.
xi) The clock is housed in the ringing chamber, and has been adapted for electrical winding. The
mechanism is in two parts: a wrought iron frame of 18th-century date containing the going and
striking movements and, alongside, is a cast iron flatbed frame containing the quarter-chiming
mechanism. The setting-dial has a mid-20th-century trade-plate attached to it: `Gillett & Johnson,
Croydon'; also a refurbishment plate of Smith's of Derby, 1969. The latter must refer to the
electrification of the winding. A cast plate on the frame of the chiming mechanism records:`Designed

and erected by Langford, Bristol, Easter 1892. Charles E. Cornish M.A., Vicar. Edward B. James Henry
T. Rudge, Churchwardens'
The following statement about the significance of fixtures and fittings is taken from St Mary Redcliffe
Conservation Plan Part 2 Section 21 The Significance of the Fixtures and Fittings
1.6.7 Introduction
The significance of fixtures and fittings is tabulated below, relating to paragraph reference numbers
in section 11 (Provisional Notes on the Fabric and Fittings of the Church). Significance is assessed not
only on the basis of the individual item, but also on its contribution to the whole. Collectively the
fixtures and fittings of such a major church are of national significance, indeed certain collections
such as the 19th century stained glass are of national significance in their own right. Significance of
individual items is categorised, as elsewhere, in the following way:
• important significance or regional significance.
• vital significance or national/international significance
• limited significance or local significance.
• possible significance or unknown significance.
• minimal significance or slight significance.

1.6.8 Tabulation of significant fixtures and fittings

The following section is taken from the church pamphlet entitles Embroideries.
1.6.9 Church embroidery
i) An unrivalled collection of church embroidery
St Mary Redcliffe is fortunate in having a very fine collection of vestments and altar frontals to add
beauty to its worship, and many of these are on display today.
The church is also fortunate that, during the period between the wars, it possessed a parishioner
with exceptional interest and enthusiasm for embroidery, Mrs Roderick Fry.
Her range of interest both as a collector and embroiderer was used to the full for St Mary Redcliffe.
She made vestments for other churches in the West Country too, and also the cope and mitre worn
by the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Coronation of King George VI in 1937.
Some of the copes and chasubles at Redcliffe were made in their entirety by her. Others had older
and already existing decoration, much of it from the Continent, applied to a new basic material
woven to her designs at the Braintree Silk Mill.
ii) Medieval influence
Mrs Fry was responsible for the Redcliffe Cope, worked between about 1928 and 1938 under the
influence of the medieval embroidery for which England was famous throughout Europe, 'Opus
Anglicanum'. This style is characterised by fine satin-stitching in silks, given subtlety by using
directional stitches and by the fine gradation of colour. It is enriched by being slightly padded, and
by the use of gold thread. The figurative design used for the Redcliffe Cope recalls Opus Anglicanum,
and it derives from an English example seem by Mrs Fry in the Vatican, the decoration of which was
copied from the Coronation robes of the Emperor Charlemagne, 800 AD.
Three copes exist in a form reconstituted by Mrs Fry, using fine early embroidery from her own
collection sewn down to modern velvet or damask. The Spanish Cope of cream damask has been

enriched with polychrome silk and gold embroidery from the late 17th century, both outlined in gold
thread by Mrs Fry.
Two other copes employ early embroidery, 17th century Spanish embroidery upon a cream-coloured
damask, and heavy embroidery in metal thread, bullion work, sequins, paste stones and foiled,
coloured areas for a crimson and gold damask with red velvet detail. The origin of the crimson and
gold damask cope is unknown, but Middle European embroidery is suggested.
In addition to the copes made by Mrs Fry the modern red "Holy Spirit" Cope is also exhibited.
Presented in memory of Sir Egbert and Lady Cadbury the front of the cope is decorated with the
arms of William Canynges and badges associated with Sir Egbert's life and interests. The hood
carries the figure of a dove, the traditional symbol of the Holy Spirit.
iii) Altar frontals
Mrs Fry was also active in working and applying a remarkable series of altar frontals. Two creamcoloured
festival frontals employ Spanish or Italian embroidery in gold of extreme richness, applied
to a corded silk ground. It has recently been renovated by members of the congregation.
Mrs Fry herself worked four other frontals. They illustrate a variety of design, sometimes strongly
reminiscent of earlier Art Needlework of the last 19th century.
For Passiontide a purple satin frontal was worked with a figurative design of the Passion,
embroidered in silks heightened with gold: it is markedly two-dimensional, suited to the medium of
embroidery and to the type of stitch used.
The frontal on the High Altar today is a white frontal worked by Mrs Fry, recalling the technique
Opus Anglicanum of the Middle Ages.
The frontal in the Chapel of St John the Baptist (The American Chapel) beneath the tower, was
presented in 1973 by Mrs Helen Van Dyke of Milwaukee, U.S.A. It is made of cream silk and
embroidered by the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, flanked by the Royal Arms of England and the
Arms of the United States
iv) Mrs Fry's gifts
Altar Frontals
1) Of white brocade with panels depicting the Annunciation, after designs by Matthew Paris
(c.1200) and Fra Angelico.
2) Of violet silk velvet representing the Crucifixion, after Fra Angelico.
3) Green embroidered with Madonna lilies, after a design by William Morris and Company.
4) Silk tapestry of the Madonna and Holy Child and adoring angels in a field of flowers to a design
by William Morris and Company.
5) Antique gold italian bullion on a cloth of silver specially made in Rome.
6) Of red brocade with medieval bullion.
Antependia
1) Silk tapestry on white brocade of the Madonna and Holy Child adored by angels and friars.

2) Of violet silk velvet embroidered with design from a medieval Pietà.
3) Of green brocade with Madonna lilies.
4) Of cloth of silver adorned with the Sacred Monogram in medieval bullion.
5) Of ruby velvet decorated with medieval bullion.
Veils
1) Silk tapestry on white brocade representing St John the Baptist - from the Vatical Dalmatic AD
800.
2) Of green brocade with Madonna lily.
3) Of violet brocade with cross in gold thread.
4) Of red brocade with very old gold and silver monogram of Our Lady.
5) Of white satin restored needlework (? of the 14th century) representing the signs of The Passion.
6) Veil and burse with antique Italian floral embroidery.
Burses
1) Silk tapestry on white brocade depicting St Eustace (or St Hubert) with his stag.
2) Of green brocade with Madonna lilies.
3) Of red silk with very old bullion showing "The pelican in her piety".
4) Of violet brocade with gold cross.
5) Of white brocade with old Italian silk embroidery.
Alms Bags
Twelve each of white, green, violet and red brocade embroidered with a cross in gold thread (fortyeight
in all).
Pall
This is of dull blue brocade, with velvet cross and border, the centre being ornamented with very old
bullion and modern shields, bearing the signs of The Passion, the inscription being formed in gold
letters around the border.
For the Lady Chapel
1) White Frontal with antique gold and silver bullion and Veil, Burse and two Stoles to match.
2) Violet Frontal with antique gold and silver bullion.
3) Blue Frontal embroidered with adoring angels, and Veil, Burse, Stole (decorated with antique
gold and amethysts) and Alms-bag to match.
Copes
1) Of white brocade, the design on the hood being copied from the Dalmatic worn by the Emperor
Charlemagne in AD 800. (This was worn by the Bishop of Bristol).
2) Of violet brocade, the design on the hood being from Fra Angelico, with a morse of paste and
silver gilt.
Of red cloth of gold specially woven, with a Raphael design, at Braintree; the hood and orphreys
being composed of ruby velvet and the hood enriched with the monogram of Our Lady in medieval

ullion, and the morse made of original Genoese velvet with bullion from an ancient robe on a
statue of the Blessed Virgin.
(Mrs Fry had some time previously also made a personal gift to the Vicar of a Cope of white brocade
covered all over with old [probably 16th century] Italian silk embroidery and bullion with a jewelled
cross.)
Stoles
1) Two of white brocade embroidered with figures of William of Wykeham and Archbishop
Chichele, both of whom held the prebend of Bedminster cum Redcliffe at Salisbury.
2) One of white brocade with medieval embroidery.
3) Two of green brocade with Madonna lilies.
4) One of green brocade with medieval embroidery.
5) One of red brocade enriched with bullion taken from the sash of one of the Popes.
6) One of red brocade with old embroidery.
7) One of violet brocade embroidered with a cross in gold thread.
1.7 Significance for mission
What are the strengths of the building as it is for worship and mission? What potential for adapted
and new uses do the church and its setting already have with little or no change?
1.7.1 Strengths of building for worship:
1. SMR is a liturgically traditional church: we have robed choirs, three sacred ministers at
services of Holy Communion and our worship is accompanied by an organ. Hence, within our
tradition, the church building is admirably suited to the worship we offer. Long processions
are possible within the church building and further enhanced when we use the Great West
Door for Easter and Pentecost.
2. SMR has two chapels (one fully refurbished and brought back into use as a space for
worship in 2014) both of which are used every week for worship. The Lady Chapel ‘works’
very well for the Daily Offices and for Services of Holy Communion with prayer for healing. St
John’s Chapel is a more intimate space focussed on a new boat-shaped altar.
3. SMR is one of the ‘civic’ churches in the city and hosts an annual service (founded prior to
the Reformation) for the Lord Mayor, Councillors and Aldermen of the city. It is one of the
highlights of the Lord Mayoral year and an opportunity for significant local pageantry! The
church, which can accommodate around 800 people with ease) is packed for this service
which underlines and affirms the established nature of the C of E.
4. SMR has two church schools, both of which use the church for worship around a dozen
times a year. The church is, again, packed for those services.
5. Christmas services are similarly busy and we are able to accommodate all those who wish to
attend.
6. At the other end of the spectrum, our monthly Taize service fits well into the un-chaired
transept.

1.7.2 Strengths of building for mission:
1. Every month we have new potential members coming to see what we are like: the
‘attractional’ model of mission still works at SMR.
2. We have recently adopted a new Vision Statement in which we acknowledge our role as a
beacon of Christian faith within the city: this, though, is not a place of privilege but one of
vulnerability. We have put this affirmed understanding of our role to good use recently.
Working with a local branch of a national charity as our Lent Project, we have opened the
church to an inspiring exhibition about childhood hunger and welcomed a national figure to
speak to a meeting of some 300 people. We are beginning to see how much the building and
our role in the city can add value to a Lent Project that had generally been aimed at our own
congregation making a financial contribution to a worthy cause.
3. We welcome some 30,000 – 50,000 visitors / pilgrims every year. From March to November
we have volunteer stewards on duty to offer a welcome and information about the building.
Throughout the year employed vergers are on duty to assist with those in need some of
whom can be very challenging.
What potential for adapted and new uses does the church and its setting already have with little or
no change?
1. Very little; for a number of reasons:
a. Our plans do not envisage much change to the way the church building is used. We
want to increase the numbers of people visiting the building and their understanding
of our heritage, and we want to increase the number of people joining the church
and deepening their faith. Neither of these require significant change to the church
building
b. The land on which are sited changes in height by 5m (five meters) from street level
on the north to the south porch entry door. Any developments to make the building
more accessing will have to incorporate more than “little or no change”
c. With regard to heritage display and interpretation, hospitality and catering, toilets,
facilities for us as a thriving Christian community (youth/meetings rooms etc.), and
facilities for us to be an “effective” parish church meeting some of the needs of
those in need in our parish (start-up units, community spaces, etc.) … none of this
can be achieved without significant change to the setting of the church.
2. Overall, SMR has a beautiful and magnificent worship space, a small set of toilets (down a
flight a stairs), a café hidden from view and six rooms in the parish office. In order to bring
about any shift in our ability to grow into our vision statement, significant change is needed
on the church site and, if we are to make the church building readily accessible, some
change to the fabric of the church itself.

Section 2: The significance of the area affected by the proposal.
2.1
Identify the parts of the church and/or churchyard which will be directly or indirectly affected by
your proposal.
2.2
Set out the significance of these particular parts.
Section 3: Assessment of the impact of the proposals
3.1
Describe and assess the impact of your proposal on these parts, and on the whole.
3.2
Explain how you intend, where possible, to mitigate the impact of the proposed works on the
significance of the parts affected and the whole.
Sources Consulted
List the sources consulted
St Mary Redcliffe Conservation Plan
St Mary Redcliffe South Churchyard Historical Landscape Survey
St Mary Redcliffe Historical Guide
Wikipedia