St Mary Redcliffe Project 450 Planning Pre-App

2.0 SITE CONTEXT
2.3 HISTORIC EVOLUTION
The historic evolution of Redcliffe, and St Mary Redcliffe in particular, is
extraordinarily rich and varied. It is beyond the scope of this document to
provide anything other than a summary overview but, in both doing so and
evolving the current proposals, reference has been to the following key
sources:
• Redcliffe Conservation Area Appraisal BCC
• St Mary Redcliffe Conservation Management Plan Michael Drury
• Redcliffe Heritage Observations Robert Bevan
• Redcliffe Mansion House Report Roger Leech
• St Mary Redcliffe Historic Landscape Survey Pearson Assoc
Historic Summary
In 1373, Redcliffe, formerly a distinct settlement within the County of
Somerset, was absorbed into the city of Bristol. It consisted of the church
of St Mary Redcliffe, located upon the red sandstone outcrop of the ‘red
cliff’ surrounded by lower-lying streets of narrow burgage plots, fronted by
merchants’ houses, with workshops to the rear.
This pattern appears long-established, the earliest extant elements of St
Mary Redcliffe dating from C12, although it is of course possible that an
earlier church stood on the site.
However, most of the church’s fabric dates from C14 and C15 when, due
to both industrial processes and the increased importance of Bristol
as a trading port, Redcliffe became home to many wealthy merchants,
including William Canynges II, by whose benefaction much of St Mary
Redcliffe was rebuilt at this time.
During this period, Redcliffe also became associated with maritime
voyage and expansion, a pattern that arguably began with John Cabot’s
1497 voyage to discover Newfoundland and the North American Continent
and, through C16-C18, Bristol’s involvement in the early colonialisation
of the Caribbean and Americas, the import and processing of colonial
goods, including sugar, tobacco, and coffee, and its subsequent role in the
‘Triangular Trade’ of Transatlantic Slavery.
The first recognisably cartographic depiction of St Mary Redcliffe dates
from this period, in the form of Rocques’ Map of mid-C18. Referring to this
and subsequent historic maps, it can be seen that:
1742
• the south churchyard is recognisably similar to its contemporary
form but contains an additional pathway from the south-west to the
north-east, presumably providing a route to the Processional Way; a
structure to the south-west of the west front, known to have been a
C13 chantry chapel, converted in C16 to provide ‘Queen Elizabeth’s
Free School’; a walled garden between the south porch and south
transept, believed to have been the headmaster’s garden;
• the north churchyard is of a much smaller scale with buildings in
close proximity to the church’s north elevation and extending beyond
the west front;
• the north porch is accessed solely by steps from the west;
• Redcliff Hill is markedly narrower than its current form, with a
consistent line of buildings in close proximity to the church’s west
elevation;
• The first terrace of C18 merchants’ houses has been built in Guinea
Street.
1828
• the south churchyard has been altered by the demolition of the former
chantry chapel, and the realignment of the south-western pathway to
terminate on the south porch;
• the north churchyard boundary appears to have been formalised
but buildings remain in very close proximity to the church’s north
elevation;
• the gentrification of Redcliffe, facilitated in no small part by
transatlantic slavery, has continued in the creation of Colston Parade
and Redcliffe Parade.
Indeed, the wealth generated by this ‘morally monstrous destruction of
human possibility’ is found in the merchant houses of Redcliffe Parade,
Guinea Street, and Colston Parade, the production of Guinea Goods in the
glass and pottery works of Prewett St, Redcliffe Wharf, and Portwall Lane,
and in St Mary Redcliffe’s association with slave traders and owners,
including Colston, Saunders, King, Lawford, Yeamans, Vickris, and others.
16
All maps extracted from BCC Know Your Place Website