Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 / "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"

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the eye. This church stands in Castle Street, which commemorates the castle of Robert, earl of Gloucester, the walls of which were 25 ft. thick at the base. Nothing remains of this foundation, but there still exist some walls and vaults of the later stronghold, including a fine Early English cell. Adjacent to the church is St Peter's hospital, a picturesque gabled building of Jacobean and earlier date, with a fine court room. St Mary le Port and St Augustine the Less are churches of the Perpendicular era, and not the richest specimens of their kind. St Nicholas church is modern, on a crypt of the date 1503, and earlier. On the island south of the Floating Harbour are two of the most interesting churches in the city. Temple church, with its leaning tower, 5 ft. off the perpendicular, retains nothing of the Templars' period, but is a fine building of the Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The church of St Mary Redcliffe, for grandeur of proportion and elaboration of design and finish, is the first ecclesiastical building in Bristol, and takes high rank among the parish churches of England. It was built for the most part in the latter part of the 14th century by William Canyng or Canynges (q.v.), but the sculptured north porch is externally Decorated, and internally Early English. The fine tower is also Decorated, on an Early English base. The spire, Decorated in style, is modern. Among numerous monuments is that of Admiral Penn (d. 1718), the father of the founder of Pennsylvania. The church exhibits the rare feature of transeptal aisles. Of St Thomas's, in the vicinity, only the tower (15th century) remains of the old structures. All Hallows church has a modern Italian campanile, but is in the main of the 15th century, with the retention of four Norman piers in the nave; and is interesting from its connexion with the ancient gild of calendars, whose office it was "to convert Jews, instruct youths," and keep the archives of the town. Theirs was the first free library in the city, possibly in England. The records of the church contain a singularly picturesque representation of the ancient customs of the fraternity.

Among conventual remains, besides those already mentioned, there exist of the Dominican priory the Early English refectory and dormitory, the latter comprising a row of fifteen original windows and an oak roof of the same date; and of St Bartholomew's hospital there is a double arch, with intervening arcades, also Early English. These, with the small chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne, Holy Trinity Hospital, both Perpendicular, and the remains of the house of the Augustinian canons attached to the cathedral, comprise the whole of the monastic relics.

There are many good specimens of ancient domestic architecture?notably some arches of a grand Norman hall and some Tudor windows of Colston's house, Small Street; and Canyng's house, with good Perpendicular oak roof. Of buildings to which historic interest attaches, there are the Merchant Venturers' almshouses (1699), adjoining their hall. This gild was established in the 16th century. A small house near St Mary Redcliffe was the school where the poet Chatterton received his education. His memorial is in the churchyard of St Mary, and in the church a chest contains the records among which he claimed to have discovered some of the manuscripts which were in reality his own. A house in Wine Street was the birthplace of the poet-laureate Robert Southey (1744).

Public Buildings, &c.?The public buildings are somewhat overshadowed in interest by the ecclesiastical. The council house, at the "Cross" of the four main thoroughfares, dates from 1827, was enlarged in 1894, and contains the city archives and many portraits, including a Van Dyck and a Kneller. The Guildhall is close by?a modern Gothic building. The exchange (used as a corn-market) is a noteworthy building by the famous architect of Bath, John Wood (1743). Edward Colston, a revered citizen and benefactor of the city (d. 1721), is commemorated by name in several buildings and institutions, notably in Colston Hall, which is used for concerts and meetings. A bank close by St Stephen's church claims to have originated in the first savings-bank established in England (1812). Similarly, the city free library (1613) is considered to be the original of its kind. The Bristol museum and reference library were transferred to the corporation in 1893. Vincent Stuckey Lean (d. 1899) bequeathed to the corporation of Bristol the sum of �50,000 for the further development of the free libraries of the city, and with especial regard to the formation and sustenance of a general reference library of a standard and scientific character. The central library was opened in 1906. An art gallery, presented by Sir William Henry Wills, was opened in 1905.

Among educational establishments, the technical college