Portland Square, Bristol
{{Short description|Square in Bristol, England}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox street
| name = Portland Square
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| image = Portlandsquare2.JPG
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| caption = North side
| map_type = Bristol
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| location = St Paul's, Bristol, England
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| coordinates = {{Coord|51.4615|-2.5861|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
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| grid_position = {{gbmappingsmall|ST596742}}
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File:St Paul Bristol - geograph.org.uk - 1726298.jpg]]
Portland Square ({{gbmapping|ST594737}}) is a Grade I listed square in the St Paul's area of Bristol.{{Cite web
|title=Portland & Brunswick Square: Character Appraisal
|url=http://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/portland-and-brunswick-square-character-appraisal.pdf
|publisher=Bristol City Council
|date=May 2008
|ref={{harvid|Bristol Council|Character Appraisal}}
|page=4
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110183017/http://www.bristol.gov.uk/sites/default/files/assets/documents/portland-and-brunswick-square-character-appraisal.pdf
|archivedate=10 January 2012
}}
It was laid out in the early 18th century as one of Bristol's first suburbs. Built upon a flat area of ground its central focus of St. Paul's Church. Shortly after construction started a number of the builders involved in the project became bankrupt, leaving much of the Square unfinished.
A variety of Georgian architecture designed by Daniel Hague was designed for wealthy occupants, although some has since fallen into disrepair or been converted from residential occupation to offices. It is laid out around a central gardens. The gates and railings of which are a grade II listed building.{{cite web
| title=Gates and railings round Portland Square gardens
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1202446 | accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
Notable residents
- Edward William Godwin, a famous Victorian architect, lived at Portland Square.
- William Day Wills, a noted tobacco importer, & cigarette / cigar manufacturer of WD & HO Wills, resided at No 2 Portland Square.
- Sir William Henry Wills Bt. ( Later Lord Winterstoke ) Who was the first chairman of The Imperial Tobacco Company, & resided at No 6 Portland Square, in 1853.
Architecture
Many of the buildings now have Grade I listed building status.
- Nos.1–6{{cite web
| title=Nos.1–6 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1202443
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
- Nos.14–17{{cite web
| title=Nos.14–17 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1282179
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
- Nos 18–21{{cite web
| title=Nos.18–21 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1208823
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
- Nos 22–28{{cite web
| title=Nos.22–28 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1202444
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
- Nos 31–34{{cite web
| title=Nos.31–34 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1208879
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
- Nos 7–13{{cite web
| title=Nos.7–13 (Consecutive) and attached area railings
| work=historicengland.org.uk
| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1208806
| accessdate=22 February 2007
}}
Numbers 11 and 12 have been demolished, but not before a major archaeological investigation was undertaken first. It showed that site of Nos 11–12 Portland Square consisted of two joined structures. On the western side along the street frontage, no. 11 was occupied by a Georgian House, with a courtyard to the rear. In 1877, no. 12 was converted for use as Young and Melrow's stay factory.{{cite web
|title=11–12 Portland Square
|work=Cotswold Archeology
|url=http://www.cotswoldarch.org.uk/annual_review_2002/portland_sq.htm
|accessdate=22 February 2007
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925023308/http://www.cotswoldarch.org.uk/annual_review_2002/portland_sq.htm
|archivedate=25 September 2006
|url-status=dead
}}
Numbers 31 and 32 are on the Historic England Buildings at Risk Register and described as being in very bad condition.{{cite web
| title=31 and 32 Portland Square, Portland Squaret
| work=English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register
| url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConBar.4729
| accessdate=10 May 2007
}}
Decline
The area never achieved the fashionable cachet anticipated by the scale of the architecture and St Paul's church, being soon eclipsed by Clifton. Rather than the fine domestic residences planned by the developers, by the end of the 19th century there were many small business based around the square, particularly involving boot & shoe manufacture, and ancillary services for printing such as ink making and cardboard box making.{{harvnb|Bristol Council|Character Appraisal|page=8}} By 1916 The Salvation Army opened two hostels for men and women in the area.The Salvation Army continues in the area, although now moved North onto Ashley Road.
Bristol suffered from heavy bombing in World War II and Portland Square did not escape. A raid on 2 December 1940 killed 40 people and destroyed Dean Street, to the North of the Square. After the war, there was little interest in large Georgian propertiesThis also affected similar properties in Clifton and by 1951 the Ordnance Survey map described parts of the Square as "in ruins". Bristol's brutalist planning and development policies in the 1960s did nothing to repair this damage, particularly in the adjoining Brunswick Square. Unlike its neighbour, Portland Square did at least maintain its railed gardens and trees through the wartime scrap metal drives, which left the Square with some residual sense of coherence.
Portland & Brunswick Square was first designated as a Conservation Area in 1974, with extensions to this in the years following.{{harvnb|Bristol Council|Character Appraisal|page=9}} Despite this, little progress was made and the North West corner of the Square still required timber shoring to support buildings damaged by wartime bomb damage.
A gradual decline of St Paul's in general reached its nadir around the rioting of 1980. Both Portland and Brunswick squares developed a reputation for prostitution and drug-dealing.{{Cite web
|title = Mixed reaction in Bristol to new powers to tackle prostitution
|url = http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Mixed-reaction-Bristol-new-powers-tackle-prostitution/story-11243925-detail/story.html
|publisher = This Is Bristol
|date = 19 November 2008
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20120418192334/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Mixed-reaction-Bristol-new-powers-tackle-prostitution/story-11243925-detail/story.html
|archivedate = 18 April 2012
|title = Bristol kerb crawler, 74, caught with trousers down
|url = http://www.westburyontrympeople.co.uk/news/Bristol-kerb-crawler-74-caught-trousers/story-4563690-detail/story.html
|date = 23 September 2009
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://archive.today/20130505121002/http://www.westburyontrympeople.co.uk/news/Bristol-kerb-crawler-74-caught-trousers/story-4563690-detail/story.html
|archivedate = 5 May 2013
}}
Redevelopment
Bristol's generally booming economy in the 1990s encouraged some restoration and sympathetic redevelopment, initially on a small scale by individuals and businesses. Cosie's wine bar{{cite web|url=http://www.cosies.co.uk/ |title=Cosies Bistro Wine Bar and Club – Bristol |accessdate=2012-04-04 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323172119/http://www.cosies.co.uk/ |archivedate=23 March 2012 }} and the Surrey Wine Vaults{{Cite web
|title=St Pauls
|publisher=Avon Packet
|url=http://www.avonpacket.co.uk/St%20Pauls/stpauls.htm
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921083010/http://www.avonpacket.co.uk/St%20Pauls/stpauls.htm
|archivedate=21 September 2011
}} were bohemian destinations for Bristol's vibrant nightlife, despite the area's threatening reputation – a reputation far less deserved in these main squares than in some nearby streets.
FTP which then became Galaxy Radio 97.2 The Hot FM was based at No 25.
One of the first major projects, the inspiration of its founding director June Burrough, was the Pierian Centre, a self-contained centre for training and self-development.{{Cite web
|title=The Pierian Centre
|date=18 April 2022
|url=http://www.pierian-centre.com/about/index.html
}} This opened in 2002 in the Grade I listed No 27 and closed in December 2011 due to lack of funding.http://pierian-centre.com/the-program/ {{Dead link|date=February 2022}} The most visible development was in 2004, the opening of St Pauls church (closed in 1988) as the Circomedia centre of excellence for circus and theatre training.{{cite web |url=http://www.circomedia.com/ |title=Home |website=circomedia.com}}
Portland Square featured in the BBC Doctor Who 2012 Christmas Special, "The Snowmen". Filming took place overnight on 21–22 August 2012. It stood in for central London for the bonfire scene in the Sherlock episode "The Empty Hearse".{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
Footnotes
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Notes
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External links
{{commons category|Portland Square}}
- {{EHbarName|Portland+Square}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century
Category:Grade II listed buildings in Bristol
Category:Grade I listed buildings in Bristol
Category:Grade I listed residential buildings
Category:Grade II listed gates
Category:Structures on the Heritage at Risk register
Category:Georgian architecture in Bristol