The bombing raids of 1940 and 1941 devastated Wine Street and Castle Street, Bristol’s old shopping streets. Broad Street was damaged too. St John’s Conduit supplied water when the mains were broken, and in 1948 permission was granted to repair war damage at No. 51 and the Grand Hotel. During the war the Grand housed agents, politicians and royalty, and served as a link between London and Bristol Airport.
St Lawrence House
In 1964 permission was granted for a speculative office tower on the Broad Street frontage. St Lawrence House, twelve storeys on the line of the medieval wall, was finished in 1967. It is often cited as a warning of what unchecked office building could do to the Old City, and it has since been converted for students. On the wall of No. 28 beside it is Conor Harrington’s mural The Duel of Bristol.
Protection
The Grand Hotel was listed in 1966. On 4 March 1977 a long run of Broad Street buildings, No. 51 among them, were listed at Grade II, which means their fronts and fabric cannot be changed without consent. That listing is why the street looks the way it does today.
The post-war street had its share of famous visitors. The Beatles stayed at the Grand Hotel, and in 1964 the Rolling Stones were refused entry to its bar for not wearing jackets.