Lower Arcade is a Grade II* listed building in the Bristol, City of local planning authority area, England. First listed on 8 January 1959. Arcade. 32 related planning applications.
Lower Arcade
- WRENN ID
- standing-storey-peregrine
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Bristol, City of
- Constituency
- Bristol Central MP: Carla Denyer (Green)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 8 January 1959
- Type
- Arcade
- Address
- Lower Arcade, 1-36, Broadmead
- OS grid reference
- ST 590 733
- Coordinates
- 51.45784, -2.59028
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Lower Arcade is an arcade built between 1824 and 1825 by architects Foster and Oakley, located in Broadmead, Bristol. Constructed from limestone and Pennant ashlar, it features a single-depth plan with shops flanking an axial arcade in the Greek Revival style. Each shop has two storeys and a two-window range. The Broadmead front includes a Pennant plinth beneath fluted Ionic columns in antis, with pilasters flanking plate-glass shop fronts. Above the shop fronts are panels, an entablature with a dentil cornice, a frieze of palmettes, and a parapet with half-blind balusters.
Inside, the arcade is divided into nine bays by columns supporting an entablature and a cast-iron frieze. The glazed roof is divided by panelled sections featuring lion heads. The Lower Arcade is a notable early example of a shopping arcade, inspired by the Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly, London, and measuring 600 feet in length, it competes with contemporary arcades in Cheltenham, Bath, and London. Originally, the arcade consisted of two sections, but the Upper Arcade was destroyed in 1940.
Local climate
Lower Arcade receives an average of 850 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 58% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 62% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 31 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 63% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 32 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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