In 1750 the Bristol Bank, the first full banking partnership in the city, opened at 42 Broad Street. Corn Street became Bristol’s banking street over the following century, but Broad Street kept its share.
The most dramatic arrival was the Bristol branch of the Bank of England, built between 1844 and 1847 to the designs of Charles Robert Cockerell. It is in a severe Greek Doric style and is listed at Grade I, the highest grade. The branch later closed and the building has since been converted.
The street filled with lawyers’ offices too, convenient for the Guildhall courts. In recent decades many of those offices, and the 1960s tower of St Lawrence House, have been turned into student accommodation and flats.