DOCSLIB.ORG

Time, Space and Power in Later Medieval Bristol Peter Fleming

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Time, Space and Power in Later Medieval Bristol Peter Fleming Time, Space and Power in Later Medieval Bristol Peter Fleming University of the West of England Bristol December 2013 Contents Pages List of abbreviations 1 List of Tables 3 List of Illustrations 4 Introduction 5 Section One: Time 23 Chapter 1: Foundation Myths 24 Chapter 2: The Uses of History 39 Chapter 3: Memory 61 Section Two: Space 88 Chapter 4: The World Beyond the Sea 89 Chapter 5: Britain and Ireland 114 Chapter 6: The Town and County 155 Section Three: Power 183 Chapter 7: Bristol and the Crown 184 Chapter 8: Bristol and the Berkeleys 224 Chapter 9: The Mayor’s Realm 232 Conclusion 251 Appendix I 255 Appendix II 263 Appendix III 266 Bibliography 283 List of Abbreviations BBHA Bristol Branch of the Historical Association BCL Bristol Central Library BGAS Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Record Series BIHR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research BL British Library Bristol Charters, 1155-1373 Bristol Charters, 1155-1373, ed. N.D. Harding, Bristol Record Society, 1 (1930) Bristol Charters, 1378-1499 Bristol Charters, 1378-1499, ed. H.A. Cronne, Bristol Record Society, 11 (1946 for 1945) BRO Bristol Record Office BRS Bristol Record Society Camden Soc The Camden Society CCR Calendar of Close Rolls CFR Calendar of Fine Rolls CIPM Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem CMMBC Catalogue of the Medieval Muniments of Bristol Castle CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls CUHB The Cambridge Urban History of Britain, vol. 1, 600- 1540, ed. D. M. Palliser (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001) CUP Cambridge University Press EcHR Economic History Review EHR English Historical Review GA Gloucestershire Archives GRBB, Text The Great Red Book of Bristol, ed. E.W.W. Veale, Parts 2-4, Bristol Record Society 4, 8, 16, 18 (1931-53) GWBB The Great White Book of Bristol, ed. E. Ralph, Bristol Record Society, 32 (1979) HMC Historical Manuscripts Commission HPHC History of Parliament House of Commons Lee, ‘Political Communication’ James Lee, “Political Communication in Early Tudor England: The Bristol Elite, the Urban Community and the Crown, c.1471-c.1553” (unpublished University of the West of England, Bristol, Ph.D. thesis, 2006) Leech, Topography The Topography of Medieval and Early Modern Bristol, part 1: Property Holdings in the Early Walled Town and Marsh Suburb North of the Avon, ed. R.H. Leech, Bristol Record Society, 48 (1997) 1 Liddy, War, Politics and Finance C. Liddy, War, Politics and Finance in Late Medieval English Towns: Bristol, York and the Crown, 1350- 1400 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2011) LRBB The Little Red Book of Bristol, ed. F. B. Bickley, 2 vols. (Bristol: W. C. Hemmons, 1900) NY New York ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (on-line version, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004-13) Overseas Trade, ed. Carus-Wilson The Overseas Trade of Bristol in the Later Middle Ages, Bristol Record Society, 7 (1937) OUP Oxford University Press PROME Parliament Rolls of Medieval England REED, Bristol Records of Early English Drama: Bristol, ed. Mark C. Pilkinton (Toronto and London: Toronto University Press, 1997) Ricart, Kalendar The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar, by Robert Ricart, Town Clerk of Bristol 18 Edward IV, ed. L. Toulmin- Smith, Camden Society, New Series, 5 (1872) Smyth, Lives of the Berkeleys John Smyth, The Berkeley Manuscripts: The Lives of the Berkeleys, Lords of the Honour, Castle and Manor of Berkeley, in the County of Gloucester, from 1066 to 1618; with a Description of the Hundred of Berkeley and of its Inhabitants, ed. J. Maclean, 3 vols. (Bristol:Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1883-5) TBGAS Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society TNA The National Archives, Public Records Office Topography William Worcestre: The Topography of Medieval Bristol, ed. F. Neale, Bristol Record Society, 51 2000) UP University Press UWE University of the West of England, Bristol Wadley, Wills Notes or Abstracts of the Wills Contained in the Volume Entitled the Great Orphan Book and Book of Wills, in the Council House at Bristol (1381-1605), ed. T. P. Wadley, Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (Bristol, 1886) 2 List of Tables I Home Ports of Vessels paying Customs at Bristol, 1390-1480 II Nationalities given in Bristol Alien Subsidy Returns, 1449 & 1453 III Wills referring to Locations outside Bristol, 1400-1500 IV Wills referring to Locations outside Bristol, 1400-1449 V Wills referring to Locations outside Bristol, 1450-1500 VI Bristol Staple Court Cases, 1489 – 1497 & 1509-1513 VII Admissions to the Bristol Staple, 1489-1497 & 1509-1513 VIII Bristol Debts. 1400-1500 from TNA C241 Certificates of Statute Merchant and Staple & TNA C131 Extents for Debts IX Debts from CP40 Pleas laid in Bristol: Combined Totals for 1450–1510 X Bristol Apprentices registered 1532-1542 XI 1524 Lay Subsidy Returns, Bristol 3 List of Illustrations Please refer to the Facebook Site for these illustrations: ‘Time, Space and Power in Fifteenth-Century Bristol’ 1. Brennius and Belinus, St John the Baptist Church and Gate, Broad Street. 2. The Coronation of Henry III: Robert Ricart, The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 3. William II (Rufus): Robert Ricart, The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 4. William the Conqueror: Robert Ricart, The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar, (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 5. View of Bristol: Robert Ricart, The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar, (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 6. Queen Elizabeth entering the City of Bristol (by permission of Bristol Museum and Art Gallery) 7. Bristol Castle, from James Millerd’s Map of Bristol, 1673 (by permission of Bristol Central Library) 8. The Mayor-Making: Robert Ricart, The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 9. The Bakers’ Charter, 1347 (by permission of the Bristol Record Office) 10. North Outer Porch of St Mary Redcliffe 11. The portals of the Capellas Imperfeitas in the Mosteiro da Batalha, Portugal 4 Introduction Medieval Bristol With a population of almost 10,000, Bristol was later medieval England’s second or third biggest urban place, and the realm’s second port after London. While not particularly large or wealthy in comparison with the great cities of northern Italy, Flanders or the Rhineland, it was a metropolis in the context of the British Isles. As a port, it was the hub of a trading network that began with England, Wales and Ireland and extended as far as the Iberian Peninsula and Iceland, and for medieval Europeans, it sat on the edge of the known world; as a strategic strongpoint it commanded routes from Ireland, Wales and the West Midlands to London and the South; as an industrial centre, it was a major participant in English textile production. By the eve of the fifteenth century Bristol had already enjoyed a position among England’s leading towns and cities for several centuries. In fact, it had probably achieved this position within two centuries of its foundation. Bristol appears to have originated as a late-Saxon (probably ninth to tenth century) burgh built on a promontory at the lowest secure bridging-point of the Avon: its site is reflected in its name, which means “the place by the bridge”.1 Bristol’s situation, on the borders of the late-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia, would have a significant influence on the town’s later history. Before 1542 Bristol stood between two dioceses, Worcester north of the Avon and Bath and Wells to its south, the diocesan borders respecting those of the two kingdoms: its liminal position meant that it did not become a cathedral city until the creation of the Diocese of Bristol in 1542. The somewhat anomalous circumstance of one of England’s largest and wealthiest urban places lacking a cathedral, and therefore also the status of a city, had a number of consequences, among them, probably, being the possession of a rather more secular political and cultural ambience. Whether or not later medieval Bristol was made more susceptible to the influence of heresy by the problems of control and communication it presented to episcopal administrations based many miles away, it does seem to be the case that the absence of a dean and chapter and the other attributes of a diocesan administrative headquarters, meant that neither was Bristol home to a concentration of clerical intellectuals who might have set the tone of its literary, artistic and performative cultures, as well, perhaps, as playing a major role in its local politics. As will be demonstrated, fifteenth-century Bristol was a considerable centre of cultural production and consumption, but this was overwhelmingly secular, and mainly vernacular. Of course, this is not to say that medieval Bristolians were necessarily any more impious, let alone ‘anticlerical‘ than their contemporaries anywhere else in the kingdom, but their cultural milieu was different from that of the inhabitants of most other large towns or cities in later medieval England. By the mid-eleventh century Bristol had a mint, indicating that it was a place of some consequence, and it was engaged in a regular trade with Ireland. By 1088 the Normans had built a castle, blocking the landward approach, and it was probably 1 The following summary of Bristol’s history to the end of the 15th century is based on Fleming, “Crown and Town in Later Medieval England: Bristol and National Politics, 1399 to 1486”, in Negotiating the Political in Northern European Urban Society, c.1400-c.1600, ed. Sheila Sweetinburgh (Tempe, Arizona/Turnhout, Belgium: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies/Brepols, 2013), 141- 162, at 143-9, and Mary D.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Records of Bristol Cathedral
    BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY’S PUBLICATIONS General Editors: MADGE DRESSER PETER FLEMING ROGER LEECH VOL. 59 RECORDS OF BRISTOL CATHEDRAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 RECORDS OF BRISTOL CATHEDRAL EDITED BY JOSEPH BETTEY Published by BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY 2007 1 ISBN 978 0 901538 29 1 2 © Copyright Joseph Bettey 3 4 No part of this volume may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, 5 electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information 6 storage or retrieval system. 7 8 The Bristol Record Society acknowledges with thanks the continued support of Bristol 9 City Council, the University of the West of England, the University of Bristol, the Bristol 10 Record Office, the Bristol and West Building Society and the Society of Merchant 11 Venturers. 12 13 BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY 14 President: The Lord Mayor of Bristol 15 General Editors: Madge Dresser, M.Sc., P.G.Dip RFT, FRHS 16 Peter Fleming, Ph.D. 17 Roger Leech, M.A., Ph.D., FSA, MIFA 18 Secretaries: Madge Dresser and Peter Fleming 19 Treasurer: Mr William Evans 20 21 The Society exists to encourage the preservation, study and publication of documents 22 relating to the history of Bristol, and since its foundation in 1929 has published fifty-nine 23 major volumes of historic documents concerning the city.
    [Show full text]
  • Lithics, Landscape and People: Life Beyond the Monuments in Prehistoric Guernsey
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Department of Archaeology Lithics, Landscape and People: Life Beyond the Monuments in Prehistoric Guernsey by Donovan William Hawley Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2017 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Archaeology Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Lithics, Landscape and People: Life Beyond the Monuments in Prehistoric Guernsey Donovan William Hawley Although prehistoric megalithic monuments dominate the landscape of Guernsey, these have yielded little information concerning the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age communities who inhabited the island in a broader landscape and maritime context. For this thesis it was therefore considered timely to explore the alternative material culture resource of worked flint and stone archived in the Guernsey museum. Largely ignored in previous archaeological narratives on the island or considered as unreliable data, the argument made in this thesis is for lithics being an ideal resource that, when correctly interrogated, can inform us of past people’s actions in the landscape. In order to maximise the amount of obtainable data, the lithics were subjected to a wide ranging multi-method approach encompassing all stages of the châine opératoire from material acquisition to discard, along with a consideration of the landscape context from which the material was recovered. The methodology also incorporated the extensive corpus of lithic knowledge that has been built up on the adjacent French mainland, a resource largely passed over in previous Channel Island research. By employing this approach, previously unknown patterns of human occupation and activity on the island, and the extent and temporality of maritime connectivity between Guernsey and mainland areas has been revealed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chambered Tumulus at Heston Brake, Monmouthshire
    Clifton Antiquarian Club. Volume 2 Pages 66-68 The Chambered Tumulus at Heston Brake, Monmouthshire By the REV WILLIAM BAGNALL-OAKELEY, M.A. (Read August 22nd 1888.)a In Ormerod’s Strigulensia this spot is described as the Rough Grounds, in which is a mound called Heston Brake, raised artificially on the edge of a dingle, and having a seeming elevation very much increased by natural slopes toward the North-east. This mound has a flat summit and commands a view of the Severn towards Aust; it is covered with a venerable shade of oaks and yew trees. In the centre of the summit is a space about 27ft- long by 9ft, wide, surrounded originally by thirteen rude and upright stones, now time-worn, mossed over, and matted with ivy. One is at the East-end, two at the West, and three remain at each side with spaces for the four which have been removed. It has been suggested that this is a sepulchral memorial in connection with the massacre of Harold's servants by Caradoc, in 1065, but I think we may dismiss this idea and consider its erection at a much earlier date. The mound now presents a very different appearance to what it did when Mr. Ormerod’s description was written, but as we are about to open the Chamber you will I hope have an opportunity of forming your own opinion on the subject. The Chamber is erected on a natural mound, increased by the mound of earth which originally covered the stones; elevated sites were generally chosen for these memorials of the dead in order that they might be seen from afar.
    [Show full text]
  • Accounts of the Constables of Bristol Castle
    BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY'S PUBLICATIONS General Editor: PROFESSOR PATRICK MCGRATH, M.A., Assistant General Editor: MISS ELIZABETH RALPH, M .A., F.S.A. VOL. XXXIV ACCOUNTS OF THE CONSTABLES OF BRISTOL CASTLE IN 1HE THIRTEENTH AND EARLY FOURTEENTH CENTURIES ACCOUNTS OF THE CONSTABLES OF BRISTOL CASTLE IN THE THIR1EENTH AND EARLY FOUR1EENTH CENTURIES EDITED BY MARGARET SHARP Printed for the BRISTOL RECORD SOCIETY 1982 ISSN 0305-8730 © Margaret Sharp Produced for the Society by A1an Sutton Publishing Limited, Gloucester Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Burn Limited Trowbridge CONTENTS Page Abbreviations VI Preface XI Introduction Xlll Pandulf- 1221-24 1 Ralph de Wiliton - 1224-25 5 Burgesses of Bristol - 1224-25 8 Peter de la Mare - 1282-84 10 Peter de la Mare - 1289-91 22 Nicholas Fermbaud - 1294-96 28 Nicholas Fermbaud- 1300-1303 47 Appendix 1 - Lists of Lords of Castle 69 Appendix 2 - Lists of Constables 77 Appendix 3 - Dating 94 Bibliography 97 Index 111 ABBREVIATIONS Abbrev. Plac. Placitorum in domo Capitulari Westmon­ asteriensi asservatorum abbrevatio ... Ed. W. Dlingworth. Rec. Comm. London, 1811. Ann. Mon. Annales monastici Ed. H.R. Luard. 5v. (R S xxxvi) London, 1864-69. BBC British Borough Charters, 1216-1307. Ed. A. Ballard and J. Tait. 3v. Cambridge 1913-43. BOAS Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Transactions (Author's name and the volume number quoted. Full details in bibliography). BIHR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. BM British Museum - Now British Library. Book of Fees Liber Feodorum: the Book of Fees com­ monly called Testa de Nevill 3v. HMSO 1920-31. Book of Seals Sir Christopher Hatton's Book of Seals Ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Islandman Translated: Tomas O'crohan, Autobiography and the Politics of Culture
    University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016 University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2005 Islandman translated: Tomas O'Crohan, autobiography and the politics of culture Irene M. Lucchitti University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses University of Wollongong Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorise you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this work may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the author. Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. A court may impose penalties and award damages in relation to offences and infringements relating to copyright material. Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong. Recommended Citation Lucchitti, Irene, Islandman translated: Tomas O'Crohan, autobiography and the politics of culture, PhD thesis, Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, 2005.
    [Show full text]
  • •Œso Hard Was It to Release Princes Whom Fortuna Had Put In
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Iowa Research Online “So Hard was it to Release Princes whom Fortuna had put in her Chains:”1 Queens and Female Rulers as Hostage- and Captive-Takers and Holders Colleen Slater ostage- and captive-taking2 were fundamental processes in medieval warfare and medieval society in general. Despite this H importance, however, only recently have these practices received significant scholarly attention, and certain aspects of these customs have been overlooked; in particular, the relationship of women to these prac- tices, which has been explored by only one scholar, Yvonne Friedman.3 Friedman’s work on female captives, while illuminating, only focuses on women as passive victims of war; that is, as captives to be taken, sold, or traded. In fact, the idea that women could only be victims of hostage- and captive-taking is almost universally assumed in the scholarship. But some women from the highest echelons of medieval society figure in the story as a good deal more than passive victims. The sources are littered with examples that not only illuminate the importance of women and gender to the customs/practices associated with hostages and captives, but also how women used them to exercise power and independence militarily, politically, and socially. Able to take matters into their own hands, these women played the game of politics, ruled their own or their husbands’ lands, and participated in the active taking and holding of hostages and captives. Examining these women is essential not only for expanding our knowledge of the more general processes of hostage- and captive-taking and holding, but also for understanding how and why women were able (or unable) to navigate them.
    [Show full text]
  • Irish Merchants and Seamen in Late Medieval England
    Irish Historical Studies, xxxii, no. 125 (May 2000) Irish merchants and seamen in late medieval England ost studies of Anglo-Irish relations in the middle ages understandably Mconcentrate on the activity of the English in Ireland, and unintention­ ally but inevitably this can leave the impression that the movement of people was all one way. But this was not so, and one group who travelled in the opposite direction were some of the merchants and seamen involved in the Anglo-Irish trade of the period. Irish merchants and seamen travelled widely and could be found in Iceland, Lisbon, Bordeaux, Brittany and Flanders, but probably their most regular trade remained with their closest neighbour and political overlord: England. They visited most western and southern English ports, but inevitably were found most frequently in the west, especially at Chester and Bristol. The majority of them stayed for a few days or weeks, as long as their business demanded. Others settled perma­ nently in England, or, perhaps more accurately, re-settled in England, for those who came to England both as settlers and visitors were mainly the Anglo-Irish of the English towns in Ireland and not the Gaelic Irish. This makes it difficult to estimate accurately the numbers of both visitors and set­ tlers, because the status of the Anglo-Irish was legally that of denizen, and record-keepers normally had no reason to identify them separately. They may, therefore, be hard to distinguish from native Englishmen of similar name outside the short periods when governments (central or urban) tem­ porarily sought to restrict their activities.
    [Show full text]
  • BRSUG Number Mineral Name Hey Index Group Hey No
    BRSUG Number Mineral name Hey Index Group Hey No. Chem. Country Locality Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-37 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 Basset Mines, nr. Redruth, Cornwall Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-151 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 Phoenix mine, Cheese Wring, Cornwall Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-280 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 County Bridge Quarry, Cornwall Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and South Caradon Mine, 4 miles N of Liskeard, B-319 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 Cornwall Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-394 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 ? Cornwall? Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-395 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] U.K., 17 Cornwall Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-539 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] North America, U.S.A Houghton, Michigan Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-540 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] North America, U.S.A Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and B-541 Copper Au) 1.1 4[Cu] North America, U.S.A Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu,
    [Show full text]
  • The Opening of the Atlantic World: England's
    THE OPENING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD: ENGLAND’S TRANSATLANTIC INTERESTS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII By LYDIA TOWNS DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Arlington May, 2019 Arlington, Texas Supervising Committee: Imre Demhardt, Supervising Professor John Garrigus Kathryne Beebe Alan Gallay ABSTRACT THE OPENING OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD: ENGLAND’S TRANSATLANTIC INTERESTS DURING THE REIGN OF HENRY VIII Lydia Towns, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Arlington, 2019 Supervising Professor: Imre Demhardt This dissertation explores the birth of the English Atlantic by looking at English activities and discussions of the Atlantic world from roughly 1481-1560. Rather than being disinterested in exploration during the reign of Henry VIII, this dissertation proves that the English were aware of what was happening in the Atlantic world through the transnational flow of information, imagined the potentials of the New World for both trade and colonization, and actively participated in the opening of transatlantic trade through transnational networks. To do this, the entirety of the Atlantic, all four continents, are considered and the English activity there analyzed. This dissertation uses a variety of methods, examining cartographic and literary interpretations and representations of the New World, familial ties, merchant networks, voyages of exploration and political and diplomatic material to explore my subject across the social strata of England, giving equal weight to common merchants’ and scholars’ perceptions of the Atlantic as I do to Henry VIII’s court. Through these varied methods, this dissertation proves that the creation of the British Atlantic was not state sponsored, like the Spanish Atlantic, but a transnational space inhabited and expanded by merchants, adventurers and the scholars who created imagined spaces for the English.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church That Is Now Bristol Cathedral Was Originally An
    Bristol Cathedral – architectural overview Jon Cannon – Keeper of the Fabric Overview This paper briefly sets out the history of Bristol Cathedral, by summarising the key events and figures which have shaped its past, and by identifying the main architectural and artistic features of interest. Bristol cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Bristol and the heart of a diocese which, today, includes Bristol, and much of south Gloucestershire and northern Wiltshire, including Swindon. It stands on a site which has been sacred for a thousand years or more. Ancient origins The cathedral originated as an abbey on the edge of what was, in the twelfth century, a prosperous and growing merchant town. The knoll on which it stands appears to already have already been the site of a holy place: the cult of St Jordan, the legend of which, only attested in the fourteenth century, takes the story of site back to St Augustine of Canterbury and the earliest days of English Christianity, and the survival of a magnificent eleventh-century sculpted stone, now in the cathedral, is proof that a church of some kind predated the abbey. Foundation of the abbey began in 1140. Large portions of the resulting church – especially the remarkable chapter house -- survive to this day. The monastery was a daughter house of the Augustinian abbey of St- Victor in Paris though almost nothing is known of its earliest canons. For the next four hundred years it was, while never of dominant significance in the town, by some distance its largest religious institution, as well as being the most important Victorine house in England (and one of the wealthiest Augustinian houses of any kind).
    [Show full text]
  • Seamills to Clifton Down Station
    Seamills to Distance: 5 miles Walking Time: 2 1/2 hours 2 Clifton Down Station GRADE: Moderate/Hard 4 A walk close to the city centre which is surprisingly rugged and Maps: wooded as it involves using most of the routes up and down the Explorer 154 Bristol West Avon Gorge between Sea Mills and Clifton. It is somewhat more 1:25 000 scale demanding than the distance suggests as there are three climbs and two descents of the Gorge. The concluding part is through Landranger 172 Bristol & Bath the side roads of Clifton with interesting architecture to see. 1:50 000 scale A - Z (Useful in Clifton) Grid Ref (start of walk) ST 540 758 PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFORMATION Train Both Sea Mills and Clifton Down are stops on the Severn Beach Line Railway. A regular service departs from Temple Meads approximately hourly throughout the main part of the day, Monday to Saturday. There is no Sunday service. Bus There are several buses that run down Whiteladies Road at the end of the walk. The no. 8/8A/9/9A could be used to shorten the walk at Christchurch, Clifton.The 902 Portway Park & Ride service operates to/from Sea Mills Station every 15 minutes Monday to Saturday during the day from Rupert Street in The Centre. Journey time is approximately 20 minutes. For further information on bus services log on to www.firstgroup.com and rail services call 08457 48 49 50 or call the traveline number below. PUBLIC HOUSES/CAFES EN ROUTE Coronation Tap, Sion Place, Clifton (0117) 973 9617 There are several more pubs and eating places in Clifton Village Alma Tavern, Alma Vale Road Clifton (0117) 973 5171 The Pennyfarthing, Whiteladies Road, Clifton (0117) 973 3539 There are several more pubs and eating places on Whiteladies Road CREDITS AND FURTHER INFORMATION There are five crossings of the Portway on this walk and great care must be taken as this road carries fast traffic and has no refuges or other assistance to pedestrians.
    [Show full text]
  • Agenda Item 11 Bristol City
    AGENDA ITEM 11 BRISTOL CITY COUNCIL CABINET 4 October 2012 REPORT TITLE: Governance Options Appraisal, Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives Ward(s) affected by this report: Citywide Strategic Director: Graham Sims, Interim Chief Executive Rick Palmer, Interim Strategic Director Neighbourhoods and City Development Report author: Julie Finch, Head of Museums, Galleries & Archives Contact telephone no. 0117 9224804 & e-mail address: [email protected] Report signed off by Simon Cook executive member: Leader Purpose of the report: This report outlines the governance option proposed for the Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives Services (BMGA). This report is led by the recommendations of the Select Committee Report that gained all party support in November 2009. The report identifies the most suitable model of governance for BMGA to support an improvement strategy and optimise enterprise activity creating a more sustainable future for the service and meet demand. RECOMMENDATION for Cabinet approval: 1. To agree in principle to the transfer of the BMGA to an independent trust at the existing funding levels of £3.7m subject to an agreed business case. 2. To adopt the governance model that will be a single independent museums trust, closely bound into the BCC family through specified interfaces and trustee compositions. Staff would become employees of the new organisation. The major assets will remain the property of the Council. 3. To agree to the implementation of phased approach to a change in governance 1 whereby Bristol City Council (BCC) delivers BMGA activities through a company limited by guarantee with charitable status. 4. To develop the business plan that will frame the transfer and all associated interfaces, service level agreements and entrustment agreements.
    [Show full text]