Palace Hotel, Bristol
Encyclopedia
The Palace Hotel is an historic public house
situated on West Street, Old Market
, Bristol
. It is a grade II listed building. Its exterior ornamentation includes two Assyrian-style
hermai
.
main station was going to be established nearby. For that reason it was to have been called the Railway Hotel – but Brunel's
great Temple Meads Station was built half a mile south, so the Palace missed out. A smaller Midland Railway
terminus, St Philip's Station, was opened nearby but this was closed in 1953 and subsequently demolished. In any case it was never on the scale which the owners of the Palace Hotel had hoped for.
In 2000 Thomas Brooman CBE, co-founder and managing director of WOMAD (World of Music and Dance), took charge of the Palace. He spent much time and money bringing the place up to the high standard for which it is worthy but after 5 years decided it was time to move on. The Palace finally closed its doors in mid-2005 and was sold. The following year the new owner submitted a planning application to change its use to an estate agent's office. In August 2008, further applications were pending, with vigorous counter moves to restore it to a pub. In November 2008 it was announced that the owners of the Bristol Bear Bar across the road had bought the lease and, following a period of decoration in which maintenance of the pub's original features was a priority, it is now up and running as a pub. It is a gay-friendly bar, although the new lessees are keen to emphasise that it is open to everyone, not just the gays.
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
situated on West Street, Old Market
Old Market, Bristol
Old Market is a Conservation Area of national significance, to the east of the city centre in Bristol, England. Old Market Street and West Street form the central axis of the area, which is approximately bounded by New Street and Lawfords Gate to the north, Trinity Road and Trinity Street to the...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. It is a grade II listed building. Its exterior ornamentation includes two Assyrian-style
Art and architecture of Assyria
The architecture of Mesopotamia is the ancient architecture of the region of the Tigris–Euphrates river system , encompassing several distinct cultures and spanning a period from the 10th millennium BC, when the first permanent structures were built, to the 6th century BC...
hermai
Herma
A Herma, commonly in English herm is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height...
.
History
The Palace Hotel was built in 1869 for the wine and spirits merchant, John Sharp – and you can still see his name and profession etched into the stone facade. At that time it was thought that a new Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
main station was going to be established nearby. For that reason it was to have been called the Railway Hotel – but Brunel's
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
great Temple Meads Station was built half a mile south, so the Palace missed out. A smaller Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
terminus, St Philip's Station, was opened nearby but this was closed in 1953 and subsequently demolished. In any case it was never on the scale which the owners of the Palace Hotel had hoped for.
In 2000 Thomas Brooman CBE, co-founder and managing director of WOMAD (World of Music and Dance), took charge of the Palace. He spent much time and money bringing the place up to the high standard for which it is worthy but after 5 years decided it was time to move on. The Palace finally closed its doors in mid-2005 and was sold. The following year the new owner submitted a planning application to change its use to an estate agent's office. In August 2008, further applications were pending, with vigorous counter moves to restore it to a pub. In November 2008 it was announced that the owners of the Bristol Bear Bar across the road had bought the lease and, following a period of decoration in which maintenance of the pub's original features was a priority, it is now up and running as a pub. It is a gay-friendly bar, although the new lessees are keen to emphasise that it is open to everyone, not just the gays.