St Mary Redcliffe Project 450 Planning Pre-App

2.0 SITE CONTEXT
2.3 HISTORIC EVOLUTION
1900
• coinciding broadly with Godwin’s C19 restoration of St Mary Redcliffe,
the buildings to the north of the church have been cleared and
Phippen Street (1850) created as a crescent connecting the base of
Redcliff Hill with Thomas Street;
• the infilling of Redcliff Pit, perhaps necessitated by the introduction
of trams along Redcliff Hill, has reduced the level change between
the street and north porch, leading to the concealment of the north
churchyard boundary wall and the reconfiguration of the porch’s
stepped approach;
• to the east of the church, the south side of Pile Street has been
cleared to create an industrial works, with railway sidings terminating
at the church’s east end;
• the harbour railway has also been created, with a tunnel extending
below the south churchyard to provide a connection to Temple Meads.
In relation to the current context of St Mary Redcliffe, it can therefore be
seen that the:
• south churchyard represents the most intact component of the
church’s setting, yet still records both change over time and the
presence of built structures in proximity to the church;
• church was, until, mid-late C20 embedded in its community;
• visual exposure of the entire north elevation is a C20 construct,
arising from highways decisions; even in the mid-late C19 the form
of Redcliff Hill and Phippen Street would have presented captured
glimpses, rather than elevational totality;
• late C19 and C20 reconfiguration of the steps to the north porch has
undermined the historic primacy of the west end;
• widening of Redcliff Hill and creation of Redcliffe Way has severed
Redcliffe, isolating the church on an experiential traffic-island;
• post-war developments have created a fragmentary grain that
diminishes both streetscape and urban legibility, producing a hostile
and unwelcoming public realm.
1949
• Oatley’s undercroft (1941) has been constructed at the base of the
north porch, leading to a further reconfiguration of the porch’s
stepped approach;
• Phippen Street has been truncated to enable the creation of Redcliffe
Way (1936), as a segment of the Inner Circuit Road, and is earmarked
for complete demolition to form the surface carpark;
• Redcliffe has suffered significant Blitz damage, although arguably
more damaging still are the proposals to widen Redcliff Hill (shown
red), necessitating the demolition of the entire west side of the street,
including the at-least nationally significant Lead Shot Tower, and the
comprehensive clearance of South Redcliffe (shown yellow) to create
the social housing estates of Francombe House (1960) and Prewett
Street (1955-66).
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