The Past - The heart of Bristol

The site was once the city's medieval commercial quarter, housing a mix of shops, churches and warehouses, many backing onto the busy river.

Between the wars, the area became one of the best shopping quarters in Britain. Many retail chains and small local businesses were housed side by side in an atmospheric mix of medieval, Georgian and art deco buildings. It became the place to be seen and between the wars young people would promenade on a Saturday night to visit theatres, the music hall or wander the shops. Indeed, Castle Street became so busy it was closed to traffic on a Saturday night.

This splendid and historic district was sadly obliterated in the Blitz of November 1940 when the entire area was razed to the ground. The ruins of St Peter and St Mary-le-Port churches are monuments to this destruction and a memorial to those who died.

After the war the part of the site was redeveloped for offices whilst another was used as a surface car park until the late 1970s.

A site at the junction of Wine St and High St was first identified by Bristol City Council for development in its Broadmead Shopping Area: Expansion & Development Strategy in 2000 and in the 2001 updated version of the strategy. It is also shown in the latest version of the City Centre Strategy.

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    Medieval map extract from Millerd's Map dated 1673

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    1973 Aerial view of the river Avon and Bristol Bridge (Reece Winstone BAIW 1937-1939)

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    10 March 1961: High Street Bridge Street: the remains of St Mary le Port Church encircled by cars parked on blized sites (Reece Winstone BAIW 1960-1962)