Features / things you probably didn't know
Inside the hidden church in the city centre
The long derelict former Seamen’s Church & Institute “demands imaginative reuse”.
That’s the wish of the authoritative book, Pevsner Architectural Guide to Bristol, but it could be a while yet as Yorkshire’s Samuel Smith brewery remain tight-lipped on the building that they own.
An open window recently gave a tantalising glimpse inside the building, built around 1880 as an institute with a chapel above.
is needed now More than ever
Facing onto Prince Street is probably Bristol’s worst bit of conservation, bolted onto the west front of the Seamen’s Institute after it was bombed in 1940.
According to Pevsner, it has been “appallingly refronted with the most utilitarian concrete structure”, with what remains of the chapel and its steeple best viewed from Royal Oak Avenue
But what still lies within?
Someone seems to have been braver than Bristol24/7’s cameraman and has uploaded their photos of the interior to the wonderful Know Your Place website:
Main photo: Know Your Place Bristol
Read more: The gaol ferry that was here before Gaol Ferry Bridge
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