Freemasons' Hall And Attached Cast Iron Railings

BRISTOL

ST5872NW PARK STREET 901-1/15/166 (South West side) 08/01/59 Nos.17-31 (Odd) Freemasons' Hall and attached cast-iron railings (Formerly Listed as: PARK STREET (South West side) Nos.17-31 (Odd) Freemasons Hall)

GV II*

Institute, now hall. 1821-3. By SR Cockerell. RS Pope Clerk of Works. Limestone ashlar with a C20 copper-clad roof. Rectangular plan. Neoclassical style. 2 storeys, basement and attic; 11-window range, 5-windows to the left return. A corner site with a ground-floor sill band, first-floor frieze and shallow cornice, and second-floor cornice and parapet; incised panels between the floors, and shallow second-floor pilasters paired at the ends of each elevation. A curved corner has a deep curved tetrastyle-in-antis porch with Temple of the Winds capitals to an entablature, and a coffered ceiling. The doorway beneath has a tall architrave with a console cornice, plate-glass overlight and 8-panel door. Above is a carved panel of Grecian figures by EH Baily. Windows with architraves, eared with cornices on the ground floor, and tripartite first-floor corner window, to 6/6-pane horned sashes. Later right-hand 3-window block with a doorway and square panels on the first floor. C20 attic set back behind the parapet. To the rear of the right return is a full-height bow with a ground-floor window. INTERIOR not inspected. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached cast-iron railings and gates with bud finials between columns and to raised projecting basement area to the left return. Originally the Philosophical and Literary Institution, housing lecture room, galleries and library; the interior has been destroyed. Restoration after war damage removed much depth from the detailing, but this is still an impressive design making an important contribution to the street (Gomme A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History: Bristol: 1979-: 247; Crick C: Victorian Buildings in Bristol: Bristol: 1975-: 1).

Listing NGR: ST5826572912