ACCOMMODATION IN BRISTOL

John Wesley's Chapel Broadmead Bristol (date not known)

Broadmead is a name known throughout the world, among Nonconformists at least. It is not the street of that name of which they think, but the Baptist Chapel with its early history of "bonds and imprisonments," and its roll of famous preachers, among whom John Ryland, Robert Hall, in old time, and in our own time Charles Clark, the Dickensian, stand out preeminently.

Senior citizens of the present generation well remember Broadmead Room, which was opened in December having been built at the expense of the followers of Robert Owen, the social reformer, to afford them a meeting place, and, as it was thought, to supply a need for a public hall, for at that time neither the Victoria Rooms nor Colston Hall existed, and there were practically only the Assembly Rooms in Prince Street available for general use.

The Broadmead Room, how-ever, was mainly intended for the propagation of Owen's political and social principles, and he himself delivered the opening lecture. But there was not as much readiness to pay as to talk among the local Owenites, and at the beginning of 1843 they were glad to get rid of the responsibility of the room by selling it to a few Liberals, who named it Broadmead Rooms, and made it the usual place for Liberal meetings until Colston Hall was opened some 24 years later.

These Rooms were approached by a narrow passage, being built behind the street on the right-hand side approaching from Union Street. The access was inconvenient and the accommodation of the poorest. On occasions of political excitement, which were pretty frequent, the scenes were lively; even dangerous to life and limb.

An old newspaper friend of mine used to tell how he was ignominiously passed over the heads of a dense crowd in the room so that he might get away with his report of the rowdy proceedings. In the sixties, when dock development was much discussed, meetings were held in Broadmead Rooms. Once Spurgeon preached there to a crowded assembly of citizens. In 1875 the property passed into the hands of the Corporation, and gradually the public use was discontinued, and the site is now adapted to manufacturing purposes.

Another instance of history repeating itself is the passing of the Colston Hall (built by Liberals) into the possession of the Corporation in 1920. The Baptist community in Bristol dates back to the middle of the seventeenth century, and their first chapel was in the Pithay. Broadmead Chapel was not used by Baptists until 1671 nearly 20 years later. It had previously been the Quakers Meeting, and consisted of four large rooms.

They moved in 1670 to the old Dominican Friary,where they built a chapel, which is still used by the community, and the chapel and older buildings are now known as Quakers Friars. Some Baptists had been meeting in Whitson Street, and they moved across the Horsefair to these rooms and, subsequently became wealthy enough to build a more convenient chapel.

Their meetings were subject to much interruption from the zeal of the magistrates in prosecuting dissenters, for their 'false' doctrines. The dissenters were not to be suppressed or even discouraged. As soon as they were out of prison they resumed their form of worship. Mr. Hard-castle, the first minister appointed at Broadmead, came out of Newgate Prison early in 1676, after serving a second term of six months, and preached in the chapel on the very day of his release.

Unexpected relief from persecution came in the spring of 1687, when James II suspended all the laws making Nonconformists liable to the proceedings for worshipping according to their consciences, and ordered all who were in prison for that reason to be released forthwith. The 'Broadmead Records' merely refer to this great thing by saying that at length they 'had peace,' but the real object of the order was to grant indulgence to the Roman Catholics, and the Baptists and other Protestant Nonconformists of the 17th Century would not like being associated with them even in an act of clemency.

1981 - The Dallas look in Bristol? It certainly sounded like it the day the Press revealed plans for the city's most unusual office block. The site was of huge importance . . . slap bang at the end of the M32 motorway and its dual carriageway extension which brought visitors whizzing straight into the heart of Bond Street and Broadmead.

It was The prestige site and it demanded something very special. On October 22nd the Press reported: 'One of Bristol's biggest-ever property deals, a ?15 million office and flats project, was unveiled today.

'The glass fronted seven-storey office block would look out on Bond Street and the Broadmead shopping area and stand at the corner of Newfoundland Street. 'If the suggestion that 'mirror' glass be used is accepted, it would make the building one of the most unusual and exciting in Bristol.

'At developers Espley-Tyas today, it was said the scheme would bring to Bristol a major, prestigious complex providing the type of accommodation 'normally found in central London but at half the cost to the occupiers.' ' The Spectrum building opened on October 4th, 1984 and was in trouble from the start.

Some loved it, including the Press architectural correspondent Michael Jenner, some loathed it, like Avon's planning committee chairman Don Dolling who took a leaf out of Prince Charles' book by slating such hi-tech modernism as a 'glass monstrosity. . .if that is modem architec- ture, I'm sorry someone should have that point of view'.

Then Spectrum failed to find tenants. Then those famous mirror glass windows started picking up nasty stains from the heat of the sun, so Bristol University expert Steve Lubetkin, son of one of the world's most famous modernist architects Berthold Lubetkin, who also lived in Bristol, was called in to devise a method of removing the stains.

After two empty years the first occupants arrived. Five years after the official opening ceremony. Spectrum was working at full stretch at last. On March 13th 1989 the Post reported: 'Spectrum, Bristol's futuristic office building which opened in 1984 and for a time seemed destined to become a 'blue' elephant, is now fully let.

' For the first two years no tenants could be found for the attractive glass-house that is illuminated in blue at night and lends an air of Dallas to the inner-city ring road at the mouth of the M32.

'Then the city council's development office was invited to move in rent-free. 'This was a wise move because it meant representatives of firms wishing to move to Bristol had to call at Spectrum—and their visit was an eye-opener.

'Eventually the economic development office had to move out to make way for other tenants. Spectrum has become the place to be.'