Venue Type & Location
Overview
The medieval foundation of St Bartholomew's Hospital was situated outside the city against the steep N bank of the River Frome's original course. The buildings were converted for use as a grammar school in the early 16th c.
The site has been mostly redeveloped although the original name is recalled in a modern office complex. A medieval arched entrance survives on the S side, leading into an area excavated in 1977--8 before redevelopment. A few of the foundations remain exposed and the legal chambers along the W side incorporate some medieval fabric.
Performance History
In August 1590 the Queen's Men, featuring rope-walking by a Turkish acrobat, performed tumbling acts before the mayor and council somewhere in the school precincts.
Current Status
History of the Venue
ca. 1230--40 St Bartholomew's Hospital founded.
ca. 1538 Hospital buildings converted for use as St Bartholomew's Free School.
16th c. Main domestic range of the hospital demolished, the space remaining possibly left as an open courtyard.
17th c. Medieval chapel partly demolished.
1758--62 Buildings very dilapidated. Some reconstruction work done.
1767 School relocated to another site on College Green, swapping places with Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School.
1847 Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School relocated to Brandon Hill. Subsequent uses of the site included as model lodging-houses for the poor and as factories.
1900--76 Burleigh Press Limited occupied the site. Many alterations, including the sub-division and roofing of the courtyard.
1977--8 Excavation of the site.
1984 Redevelopment for office buildings by Moxley, Jenner & Partners.
Record Source
REED Bristol 135--6
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Foyle, Andrew. Bristol. New Haven & London: Yale UP, 2004
- Gomme, Andor, Michael Jenner and Bryan Little. Bristol: An Architectural History. London: Lund Humphries, 1979
- Hill C.P. The History of Bristol Grammar School. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd., 1951
- Price, Roger. Excavations at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Bristol. Bristol: The Redcliffe P, 1979