Timeline

Broad Street and No. 51 side by side, from Saxon times to today.

Saxon times
Four streets meet at a cross
Broad Street
Broad Street, High Street, Wine Street and Corn Street form the centre of Brycgstow.
Source: Wikipedia
Mid 12th century
Robert Fitzharding’s house
Broad Street
The house at No. 53 in which Fitzharding first lived is granted to St Augustine’s Abbey.
Source: Leech 1997
1295
The first record of the plot
No. 51
The street front belongs to Master Thomas de Montsorel, the land behind to John son of William.
Source: Leech 1997
1295
Oxenford’s Inn
Broad Street
Part of the site of today’s Grand Hotel is already an inn.
Source: Leech 1997
By 1348
A guildhall on Broad Street
Broad Street
The Guildhall is recorded on the west side of the street.
Source: Cotswold Archaeology
1385
A bowyer’s shops
No. 51
Three shops on the frontage are leased to John Lupyate, bowyer, and his son.
Source: Leech 1997
1408
The Ragged Staff
Broad Street
No. 17 is known by the name of the Ragged Staff.
Source: Leech 1997
1411
A draper’s cloth house
No. 51
Behind No. 51, John Richard’s house has four shops, a cellar and a “clothhous”.
Source: Leech 1997
1435
Edmund Bierden’s bequest
No. 51
The shops are left to his daughter Alice and John Fitelton of Somerset.
Source: Leech 1997
1517
The Whyt Lyon
Broad Street
The White Lion is recorded by name.
Source: Leech 1997
1522
Between the Saracen’s Head and Browns Taverne
No. 51
A deed places No. 51 between the Saracen’s Head and a chapel property, backing onto Browns Taverne.
Source: Leech 1997
1532
Bartholomew Lands
No. 51
The Free Grammar School is founded. No. 51 later forms part of its endowment.
Source: Leech 1997
1548
No. 52 granted by the Crown
Broad Street
The former chapel property next door is granted to Hugh and Miles Partridge.
Source: Leech 1997
1606
The Guild of Innholders
Broad Street
Bristol’s innkeepers form a guild. The White Lion and White Hart are members.
Source: Wikipedia
1610
A duke at the White Lion
Broad Street
The Duke of Brunswick stays at the inn on his tour of England.
Source: Wikipedia
1617
Four tenements and a tavern
No. 51
The front is leased to Thomas Hobson; the rear, Browns Taverne, to Abel Kitchen.
Source: Leech 1997
1620
The Innholders’ Hall
No. 51
Two chambers called the Innholders Hall, near the Tennis Court, are leased to William Greene, master of the Company.
Source: Leech 1997
1685
Arson at the White Lion
Broad Street
The inn is attacked while the Duke of Beaufort stays during the Monmouth Rebellion.
Source: Wikipedia
1700
A cooper’s promise
No. 51
Samuel Packer takes the lease and agrees to spend £100 on building.
Source: Leech 1997
1729
The Cyder House
No. 51
The rear of No. 51 is first called the Cyder House.
Source: Leech 1997
1740
The Merchant Tailors’ Hall
Broad Street
The tailors’ guild hall is built in Tailors Court.
Source: Wikipedia
1750
Bristol’s first bank
Broad Street
The Bristol Bank opens at No. 42.
Source: Wikipedia
1752
The Cider House Tavern
No. 51
The first recorded licensee of the tavern in Cider House Passage.
Source: Bristol’s Lost Pubs
1785
The British Coffee House
Broad Street
The American Coffee House at the White Lion is renamed after the War of Independence.
Source: Wikipedia
1788
Against the slave trade
Broad Street
The Guild Hall hosts Bristol’s first public meeting for abolition.
1799
The through house and cellar
No. 51
The Cyder House is leased to Thomas Holden.
Source: Leech 1997
1820s
Side passages at St John’s Gate
Broad Street
Pedestrian arches are cut beside the gate.
Source: Wikipedia
By 1826
A spirit merchant at No. 51
No. 51
Thomas Murch is trading at 51 Broad Street.
Source: West Country Bottles
1841
Hester Murch at the Brandy Cask
No. 51
The census lists her as publican, next door to the White Swan.
Source: West Country Bottles
1846
A new Guildhall
Broad Street
R. S. Pope’s Gothic building replaces the medieval hall.
Source: Wikipedia
1844 to 1847
The Bank of England
Broad Street
C. R. Cockerell’s Greek Doric branch is built.
Source: Wikipedia
1866
A silver goblet for the barmaid
No. 51
The barristers of the Bristol Sessions honour Anne Cratchley.
Source: West Country Bottles
1867
The Brandy Cask comes down
No. 51
Archibald Ponton’s Venetian Gothic bar and billiard room goes up for William Stevens.
Source: West Country Bottles
1868
The date on the front
No. 51
No. 51 is finished, with a dated panel on its front.
Source: Historic England
1869
The new White Lion opens
Broad Street
Foster and Wood’s hotel replaces three inns. It becomes the Grand Hotel in 1874.
Source: Wikipedia
1884
Two hundred years old
No. 51
At a licensing hearing the house is said to be over two centuries old.
Source: West Country Bottles
1887
The Best Brand Company
No. 51
The bar trades under a new name.
Source: West Country Bottles
1893
Auction, then an Italian café
No. 51
After a bankruptcy the building is auctioned at the Grand Hotel. By October it is the Café Restaurant d’Italie.
Source: West Country Bottles
1900 to 1901
Everard’s tiled front
Broad Street
W. J. Neatby’s Carrara ware facade for Edward Everard’s printing works.
Source: Wikipedia
c. 1906
Morris and Co.
No. 51
Wine merchants take the building on a lease that runs to 1927.
Source: West Country Bottles
20th century
Fire, Accident, Marine, Life
No. 51
An insurer takes the building and the roundels of the arches are inscribed with its business.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
1940 to 1941
The Blitz
Broad Street
Wine Street and Castle Street are devastated; St John’s Conduit supplies water again.
Source: Wikipedia
1948
War damage repaired
No. 51
Reinstatement of war damage is approved for No. 51, together with the Grand Hotel.
Source: Planning register
1964
No jackets, no entry
Broad Street
The Rolling Stones are refused at the Grand Hotel bar.
Source: Wikipedia
1967
St Lawrence House
Broad Street
A twelve-storey office tower is finished on the line of the town wall.
Source: Wikipedia
4 March 1977
Listed
No. 51
No. 51 and much of Broad Street are listed at Grade II.
Source: Historic England
1988
An employment agency
No. 51
New shop signs and an illuminated fascia.
Source: Planning register
1990
Gates across Cider House Lane
No. 51
Metal gates are fitted between Nos. 51 and 52.
Source: Planning register
1995
City NetGates opens
No. 51
Bristol’s first internet café opens on the ground floor.
Source: Bristol Post
1997
A balloon over Bristol
No. 51
NetGates opens at 9am from March and offers a balloon flight in its summer prize draw.
Source: NetGates website
2001
Homes upstairs
No. 51
Consent is granted to turn the upper floors into three flats.
Source: Planning register
2002 to 2003
The conversion
No. 51
The upper floors are stripped back and rebuilt as flats.
2000s
me:me
No. 51
Sally James’s business takes the ground floor.
Source: Bristol Post
2010 to 2017
Sherlock
Broad Street
The BBC series films around the Old City, including Broad Street.
Source: Visit Bristol
Early 2010s
Wild At Heart
No. 51
A shop where you could have your hair cut, your teeth whitened and your wedding planned.
Source: Bristol 24/7
10 July 2015
Ironworks Supply Co. opens
No. 51
An Australian-style café bar with a clothing corner.
Source: Breaks and Bites
2019
The Trial of Christine Keeler
Broad Street
The BBC films at the Grand Hotel.
Source: Wikipedia
2020
Ironworks closes
No. 51
The ground floor falls quiet.
Source: Bristol Post
2022
Doctor Who
Broad Street
The Giggle films in the Old City, with the Tardis parked off Broad Street.
Source: Western Daily Press
January 2024
A street for walking
Broad Street
New barriers make the Old City fully pedestrianised.
Source: Bristol 24/7
2024 to 2025
Young Sherlock
Broad Street
Broad Street becomes 1870s Oxford and London for Guy Ritchie’s series.
Source: Film Bristol

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