- Colston Hall
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Colston Hall 
Engraving of the exterior, from 1873.
Location within BristolGeneral information Town or city Bristol Country England Coordinates 51°27′17″N 2°35′53″W / 51.4546°N 2.5981°WCoordinates: 51°27′17″N 2°35′53″W / 51.4546°N 2.5981°W Completed 1860s Design and construction Client Corporation of Bristol The Colston Hall is a concert hall and grade II listed building situated on Colston Street, Bristol, England. A popular venue catering for a variety of different entertainers, it seats approximately 2,075 and provides licensed bars, a café and restaurant.[1] The venue is owned by Bristol City Council, but from April 2011 it will be run by the independent Bristol Music Trust.[2]
Contents
History
The site has been occupied by four buildings named Colston Hall since the 1860s.[3] In the thirteenth century, the site was occupied by a Carmelite friary, known as Whitefriars. Subsequently, the location held a large Tudor-era mansion known as the Great House, used by Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 on a visit to the city. In 1707, Edward Colston established the Colston Boys' School in this building, which was acquired by the Colston Hall Company in 1861. Colston Hall opened as a concert venue on September 20, 1867.[3] The architects were the prolific Bristol firm of Foster & Wood working in the Bristol Byzantine style.[4] It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II listed building.[5]
Interior of Colston Hall in 1873, before the fire.
Most of the building was damaged during a fire on September 1, 1898; the auditorium suffered immense structural damage, and the interior was more or less destroyed. The second hall opened in 1901,[6] and in 1919, the Corporation of Bristol purchased it from the Colston Hall Company. The City Council continues to manage the hall. The second hall was closed for remodelling in 1935.
In December 1936, the third hall was opened.[6] This survived the Luftwaffe air raids of the Second World War, but was burned down in 1945 after a discarded cigarette started a fire.[7] The hall was rebuilt once more, and the fourth reopened in 1951 to mark the Festival of Britain.[8] The first computerised booking system was installed in February 1983,[9] and a £500,000 modernisation programme was conducted at the start of the 1990s, which included extensive rewiring, and various backstage improvements.[10] The installation of removable seating in the front half of the stalls in 2005[10] improved the hall as a venue for pop concerts, providing space for fans to move around and dance in front of the stage; it also increased the overall capacity of the auditorium.
Campaigners, many from the city’s Afro-Caribbean community, have called for the hall’s name to be changed because of Edward Colston’s link to the slave trade. The Bristol group Massive Attack vowed not to play at the venue while it retained its present name. The proposal sparked a heated controversy in the pages of the local press, although the majority of letters printed favoured retaining the Colston name.
From 2007 to 2009, the Colston Hall underwent extensive refurbishment with the construction of a new foyer alongside the present building, topped by a wind turbine.[11][12]
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The byzantine-style façade
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The new foyer
Artists who have performed at the Colston Hall
Main article: List of artists who have performed at the Colston HallThe venue has played host to many well-known acts over the years, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd, Queen, and more recently acts such as Anastacia and Robbie Williams.
References
- ^ Colston Hall Technical Information, Official Web Site
- ^ "Colston Hall Governance Arrangements" (PDF). Bristol City Council. 20 September 2010. http://www.bristol.gov.uk/item/wrap/Council/committee/2010/sc/sc008/0920_10.pdf.
- ^ a b History of Colston Hall (1200s-1800s), Official Web Site
- ^ "The Colston Hall". Philharmonic Orchestra. http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/venues/colstonhall/?PHPSESSID=pf74fnqnv263gd70u. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
- ^ "The Colston Hall". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=379355. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
- ^ a b History of Colston Hall (1900s-1930s), Official Web Site
- ^ History of Colston Hall (1940s), Official Web Site
- ^ History of Colston Hall (1950s), Official Web Site
- ^ "History of Colston Hall 1960s". Colston Hall. http://www.colstonhall.org/aboutthehall/history/history7. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
- ^ a b History of Colston Hall (1990s), Official Web Site
- ^ "Roof-top turbine for music venue". BBC News. 13 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7887608.stm. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- ^ "In pictures: Colston Hall foyer". BBC News. 18 September 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/bristol/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8262000/8262409.stm. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
External links
Categories:- Concert halls in England
- Grade II listed buildings in Bristol
- Buildings and structures in Bristol
- Neo-Byzantine architecture in the United Kingdom
- Music venues in Bristol
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