image left: The south side of Castle Green is on the right (looking towards Castle School) showing the Bristol Co-operative Society's site before redevelopment. (1927)
St Peter's Parish Hall
A two-storey building (with shops underneath in Castle Mill Street) was built in 1855 on the site of St Martin's Chapel, which was within the old castle. It was used for Sunday School, bible classes and as a meeting place for the Girls' Friendly Society and similar organisations. It survived the blitz and was demolished in 1959.
Numbers 2, 4, 6, 8
Four houses, each with a small backyard and very basic facilities. Mrs Daisy Drake lived at No.6 (she was the caretaker for St Peter's Parish Hall) and Mrs Ethel Cann lived at No.8. All four houses survived the blitz and were demolished in the late 1950s.
Bristol Dispensary
(Dispenser — Edward Trew) The dispensary was founded in 1775, operating from the old Bristol Tabernacle and moved to Castle Green in 1887. According to Kelly's Directory, it was 'for attending sick persons and lying-in women at their own dwellings'. Patients would contribute to treatment if their circumstances allowed, but relied heavily on voluntary contributions from generous citizens. In 1939, 10,060 patients were treated. The building was badly damaged following the blitz of November 1940 and subsequently demolished.
24 Bristol Co-operative Society
(Offices) (See entry under 18-22 Castle Street)
26 Samuel Wills & Co. Ltd - Paint and Varnish Manufacturers
38 Dove Bros (Bristol) Ltd - Wholesale Stationers
Between the premises of Dove Brothers and Habgoods were some stables where Joe Cox kept two horses.
42 Habgood Brothers - Metal Merchants
The Habgood family lived in Clifton and ran their business from premises in Victoria Road and St Philips Marsh as well as Castle Green. The company still trades today from St Philips.
46 British American Leather Co. Ltd
Leather Factors From this three-storey building, raw leather was treated and the products made included leather bends (large pieces of leather called BALCO Bends - BALCO being taken from the initials of the company), chamois leather (customers included all branches of Boots and Woolworths), belts, bracers (called 'The Span Bracer', a half-belt from one hip around the back to the other hip and fastened with 'bachelor's buttons' available in various colours and sold world-wide) and neck ties (called 'Macclesfield Scarf Ties'). There were approximately a dozen staff and the hours were 8.00 a.m. - 5.30 p.m. (12.30 p.m. on Saturdays). It was one of the many businesses which people remember because of the smell.
Castle School
(See Below)
image left: The south side of Castle Green is on the left, looking towards Narrow Wine Street, showing the Bristol Co-operative Society site before redevelopment. (1927)
Llewellins & James Ltd - Brass founders
(See Below)
Cat & Wheel - Public House
There was a tavern/public house on this site for many years called the Catherine Wheel. The building, which existed at the time of the November 1940 blitz, was built in 1900 and called the Cat & Wheel. This was a Georges Brewery pub and was run by Wally Thorne and his wife (Wally was drafted in by the government to work at Llewellins & James during the Second World War as running a pub was not regarded as essential war work!). The premises survived the blitz, was de-licensed in January 1968 and demolished in October 1969.
26 Samuel Wills & Co. Ltd
This company was established in 1812 at these premises. This site included a building containing the Court Room of the Governor of the original Bristol Castle and this building was still used by Samuel Wills until its demolition in the 1920s. The main building was constructed of grey stone, with blocks measuring approximately 3ft x 2ft.
The business was set up by members of the Wills family (noted mainly for their tobacco connection) and at the time of the blitz in November 1940, the two managing directors were Clifford and Norman Wills. The latter lived in Weston-super-Mare and would visit the premises once a month in his chauffeur-driven Daimler; the manager was Mr Randall, who would walk to work from his home in Somerville Road, Bishopston!
The company was involved in the manufacture of paint at these premises and of varnish from premises near Sparke Evans Park, together with a showroom at Holborn Viaduct in London. Paint, varnish and putty could be purchased by the public from a showroom in the Castle Green premises. As well as supplying many businesses in this country, the company exported much to India.
In the basement of the building (believed to be part of the dungeons of the original castle) were large tanks of distemper, together with supplies of red and white lead and yellow ochre used in the manufacture of paint — employees had to wear masks when working here. In this part of the building was the constant noise of the River Frome, which flowed under the adjacent Broad Weir.
On the ground floor was a cobbled haulingway through the centre of the building from Castle Green, and off either side of this haulingway was an arched doorway to the offices and showroom. At the rear of this floor were huge tanks of turpentine and white spirit. On this and the two upper floors, paint was manufactured and there were also packing rooms for paint and varnish.
Employees in the packing rooms were mainly boys aged fourteen to eighteen. The back of the premises overlooked the site of the Gem Cinema in Broad Weir - Castle Green was approximately 25ft higher than Broad Weir.
The premises were very cold, coke and wood stoves being the only source of heat (this would not be allowed in a paint factory today!). At the time of the blitz there were approximately forty employees, many of whom were from the Barton Hill area. During the 1930s employees included Arthur and Bill Garmston (brothers), Clifford Bishop, Bob Duguid, Don West, W. Manning, Fred Orchard, Gilbert Wheatley, Jack Filfield, Lilian Locke, Stanley Fox (who married Lilian Locke), Albert Tucker, Leslie Davey, Guy Francis, Clement Eveleigh, Lucy Cridland, Liam Upton and Mr Clark (Office Manager). In 1939, a junior in the packing room would earn 13s (id a week.
The premises were completely destroyed following the blitz of 24 November 1940.
Llewellins & James Ltd
At the beginning ot the eighteenth century a small group ot foundrymen and machinists started a business in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, and in 1735 they moved to 81 Temple Street. By 1832, ownership transferred to Peter Llewellin and in 1846 the business moved to Castle Green. In the mid-1850s, the name of the business became Llewellins & James. Following a severe fire in 1875, the Georgian Castle Green premises were extensively rebuilt within two years in the Bristol Byzantine style. By 1889 the company was the largest brass foundry in Bristol and in 1906 it became a limited company.
By the 1930s the workforce was approximately 200 (in 1940, there were only two female employees, both teenage typists) and the company was involved in a varied type of work. At their own premises this included the manufacture of beer pumps, hose fittings, taps, copper milk-condensing tanks (6ft diameter, 8ft high thick), hemispherical copper double-skinned pans used in jam-making, tar and bitumen spraying machines used for road maintenance, tanks called 'mash tuns' used in sauce-making and vats for breweries (at one time the company had a vat department at 41 City Road). During their quiet periods employees made 'foreigners', such as candlesticks, brass ornaments and jewellery' for their own use. As well as work at the premises, the company was involved in a considerable amount of work away: maintenance work at breweries, pubs, dairies and ships (at Bristol and Swansea docks).
During the Depression of the 1930s, employees only worked two days one week, one day the next. Employees were not paid for holidays or when the premises were closed for its annual shutdown (usually the first week in August). Pay days were on Fridays when the money was issued in a round tin (3in in diameter), with the employee's clock number on the lid.
The names of some of the staff in the 1930s included Henry Wethered (Director, brother of Judge Wethered), Charles Palmer (Director), Norman Driver (Salesman), Charlie Candlin (Coppersmith), Bill Kease (Furnaceman), R. Green-Armitage (Director), Doris Johnson (Typist), Myra Luton (Typist), Len Hawkes (Warehouseman), Ken Pettier (Apprentice Draughtsman), William Caple and the brothers Bill and Jim McKeown.
Work undertaken by Llewellins & James of particular local interest was the repair (or possible recast) of one of the nails outside the Corn Exchange in Corn Street and the casting of replacement quarterjacks which flank the clock on Christ Church in Broad Street.
Llewellins & James operated an unusual form of employment - when the company was asked to quote a price for a job, the Director responsible would ask particular senior employees to give their price and the job was awarded to the successful senior employee, who then 'employed' the relevant staff to do the job.
Within the Castle Green premises there was living accommodation for the caretaker, who at the time of the blitz in November 1940 was Charlie Lovell (his brother, Tom, and two sons, Gordon and Douglas, also worked for Llewellins & James). This was above the haulingway off Cock and Bottle Lane (opposite the Star pub), the entrance being through a separate door next to a double-wooden door entrance to the foundry. Beyond this door was a hallway with stairs which led to the accommodation (three bedrooms, lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom) on the first and second floors.
From here there was the access to the whole roof area of the main building and you could overlook Castle Street. It was provided rent free, gas and electricity also being included free of charge.
Like many buildings in Castle Green the outside of the premises of Llewellins & James never appears to have been photographed, only tantalising glimpses of parts appearing in pictures of other buildings. From these glimpses, old plans and the recollections of former employees, it has been possible to piece together orthographic elevations which represent, as accurately as possible, the building in 1940 — In 1940, each floor of the premises was occupied as follows:
Basement — This contained the foundry, a large steam-driven engine (which drove machinery on the floor above) and a stockroom. Two wells, which originally belonged to Bristol Castle, supplied water used for cooling the molten metal. The ceiling was just above ground floor level and there were small windows (above 1ft high) which, outside the building, were at pavement level, enabling people to look into the basement (they were protected by metal grilles or bars). Rats were plentiful in the basement and it was not unusual for staff to encourage them into the molten metal!
Ground - The main entrance was in Castle Green, two large sliding doors allowing vehicle access. All staff entered here, the clocking-in machine being near the sales office on the left. There was also an entrance in Cock and Bottle Lane, again with two large doors (both opening inwards). The machine shop and store for goods awaiting dispatch occupied most of this floor.
First — This floor (and the floor above) extended over the shops at 12—14 Castle Street and is where the drawing office was situated. The machine shop (where the apprentices worked) and welding shop were also on this floor, together with the main offices (immediately above the sales office). The offices appeared very Dickensian with high desks and chairs.
Second — The pattern-making shop (above the drawing office) and brass-turning shop were on this floor.
With regards to bellfounding, it appears that until about 1874 church bells were cast by other foundries in the UK with the name of Llewellins & James on them. Llewellins & James were only involved in the specialised business of bell hanging but, by 1874, they appear to have accumulated sufficient expertise to take on bellfounding themselves. At the turn of the century they were one of seven bellfounders in the UK (reduced to three by the outbreak of the Second World War) and in the company's heyday (1875-1925) approximately 25% of their turnover was in respect of bellfounding and hanging.
This type of work tailed oft dramatically by 1930 and, in the next ten years, it appears that only a few small single bells were cast, the final one in the autumn of 1940 for All Hallows Church, Easton. The heaviest bell cast was a 31cwt tenor for Holy Trinity Church in Bradford-on-Avon. Although very few bells were cast in the 1930s, the formula for calculating the shape of the bell (this varied in accordance with the tone required) was guardedly kept by a senior employee, Mr Nolan.
Bell hangers who worked for Llewellins & James included some of the well-known bell-ringers of their day, the Tyler family providing four such employees. William Adkins Tyler was the foreman bell hanger, who worked for Llewellins & James from about 1904. He had previously been employed by Taylors of Loughborough and was involved in the hanging of a peal of twelve bells at St Paul's Cathedral in London in 1878. He was a high-profile ringer and Llewellins & James were no doubt pleased to have him to supervise their expanding bell hanging business. William Tyler had two sons, Frederick and Jesse, who were also employed as bell hangers at Llewellins & James. The former succeeded his father as foreman bell hanger and Jesse moved to London to work for the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Both Frederick and Jesse died during the 1930s, although Frederick's son, Ernest, continued the tradition by joining the company for a few years in the early 1920s.
Sadly, most of the building at Castle Green were severely damaged following the blitz of 24 November 1940. The old, original Georgian part of the building fronting Peter Street was swiftly repaired and approximately twelve staff kept the copper shop in existence, thus enabling the company to continue trading. Apart from temporary offices in Queen Square and Merchant Street, the company only traded from Peter Street until permanent premises for all activities were obtained in a new purpose-built building in Princess Street, Bedminster, in August 1954. This building included a foundry, but this closed due to the lack of demand for cast-iron and copper products — these had been replaced by stainless steel.
By the 1960s, the company's main activities were in connection with the brewing and printing industries. Between 1970 and 1972 they worked on two vessels built at Charles Hill shipyard (both for the Guinness Group) fitting huge storage tanks and associated pipework. This was the last main contract for Llewellins & James and in 1972 they were taken over by Braby Ltd (still in business today in Winterstoke Road) and it was the skilled labour at Llewellins & James they required, employing about 33% of the workforce. These start worked in the 'Llewellins & James Department' within Brabys, but apart from this the name disappeared.
When Llewellins & James left the Peter Street premises in 1954, the Bristol Evening Post used it as a garage/store until its demolition in 1969. While all trace of the building has gone today, the sound of some of the church bells cast by the company can still be heard in Castle Park - the tenor at St Thomas Church in Victoria Street and the 6th and tenor at SS Philip and Jacob Church in Narrow Plain.
Castle School
The school opened on 10 October 1887 in a new purpose-built building, believed to have been based on the design of a school in New York. Pupils were aged from five to fourteen and were mainly from the slum areas of central Bristol. In special circumstances, children from very poor families were taken as young as three years old to assist parents.
At age five, for the first two years boys and girls were mixed in the Infants School. This was situated on the ground floor of the building (which included the classroom for three and four year olds) and they had their own playground and headmistress.
From age seven the pupils were split, with separate Boys and Girls Schools. The Girls' School was on the first floor and had to be accessed via their own entrance and staircase, which lead from the girls' playground. The Boys' School was on the second (top) floor and they also had their own entrance, staircase and playground. The girls had their own headmistress and the boys their headmaster. The boys were not allowed to use the girls' staircase or other playgrounds - similar restrictions applied to the girls and infants.
At age seven, pupils went into Standard 1, at age eight to Standard 2 etc., but it was not only age which determined if you moved to the next standard, as ability was also taken into account. By age thirteen (final year), pupils would normally have achieved Standard 7, and if after six months at this level you had proven ability, you reached Standard X7 for the final months and some of these lessons would betaken by the headmaster.
The above basis remained unchanged until 1938. By this time many of the slum areas were being cleared and families moved to new estates (such as Southmead and Knowle West), so many of the school's younger pupils moved to schools in these areas, but senior pupils remained in order to finish their education at the one school.
This movement of families reduced the number of pupils at the school, the South Bristol Central School's building in Bedminster Down Road closed and this school moved to the Castle School building. As well as the South Bristol Central School, there was still a mixed junior and infants school on the premises, each having its own headmaster and headmistress.
The building was so severely damaged following the blitz on 24 November 1940 that it was never used again - senior pupils moved to alternative premises in Redcross Street and Boot Lane and younger pupils to schools convenient to where they lived.
Members of Staff For the period up to July 1938 the senior staff were as follows:
Infants' Headmistress
Miss D. Bailey, 1929-1937 (last appointment) Girls' Headmistress
Miss H. Thomas, 1925-1938 Boys' Headmaster William Arthur Sheldon, 1928-1932 Joseph lies 1932-1935 Elijah Matthews 1935-1938 (formerly a teacher at the school who left and returned as headmaster)
From July 1938, due to various changes, the senior staff were as follows:
Junior and Infants' Headmistress Miss H. Thomas (formerly Girls' Headmistress)
South Bristol Central School Headmaster R.O. Davis (he came from Bedminster Down Road School) The caretaker from 1932-1936 was Reginald Ford, and from 1936 C.W.H. Sheppard.
image above: One of the boys' classes at Castle School, this picture being taken near the entrance door in the Upper Boys' playground. The headmaster, Mr lies, is on the left of the back row. (1932)
Teachers during the 1930s included: Mrs Skinner, Mr Parfitt, Mr Bradley (who coached the rugby first team), Mr Sims, Miss Carpenter, Miss Crowd (who banned the girls from wearing rings), Mrs Holford (who assisted the less able pupils), Mr Perryman (Sports), Mr Adams, Mrs Adderell, Mr Turner, Mr Hunt, Mr Padfield, Mr Davis (who opened a private school in Clifton after the war), Mr Surtees (Chemistry), Mr Mills (French), Mr Sillitto (Maths and the annual Gilbert & Sullivan production), Mr Jordan (English) and Mr Haskins (Art). General
As today, there were three school terms, and each class had approximately forty pupils. All lessons for each class were held in the same classroom, normally with the same teacher for each standard (woodworking lessons were held in the nearby Merchant Venturers Technical College in Broad Weir until a separate room was found on the second floor). School dinners were not provided and pupils usually took sandwiches, but the very poor pupils were given dinner tickets which could be used in local approved cafes (most used the cafe in Narrow Weir next to Granny Home's sweetshop). No school milk was provided, but many pupils remember the spoonfuls of cod liver and malt!
The Infants, Boys and Girls Schools each had their own morning service in the main hall on their floor. A gramophone was purchased by the boys for their morning services (all contributed a farthing per week), which was eventually replaced by a piano. The school colours were green and black, but there was no school uniform, only a school cap (half black, half green with school badge) which could be bought from Foster Bros in Castle Street for 2d (with cardboard peak) or 3rf (with rubber peak). The school had four houses: Mowbray (green), Fitzroy (red), Cromwell (yellow) and Worcester (blue). To reward the successful pupils there was an annual prize-giving held at the school, many of the prizes being books donated by local shops. Senior boys had a pass for free entry to the Regent Cinema in Castle Street.
It was not unusual for those boys who misbehaved to be caned in the main hall in front of other pupils. In 1933/34 the Boys' School started a club on Friday nights on their floor, this was for the boys in Standard 7 and XI and boys from other standards who did well in the previous week.
The girls' playground was small and they were allowed to go to Quakers Friars (accessed via a passage between Nos 13 and 14 Broad Weir) to play games.
A swimming pool existed below the ground floor of the school, but because of its lack of use (there were problems with splinters from the wooden floor and it was a general health hazard!) it was closed sometime prior to 1930. Pupils who attended the school in the 1930s were probably not aware of its existence! Access was through a door at the top of the steps from Lower Castle Street to the boys' playground. Next to this door was a semicircular window, this being the only source of natural light to the pool.
School Song
The school song was written by one of the teachers, Mr Jenkins, on his return from the First World War and was believed to have been written some time during the 1920s. Some slight variations in the wording have been received from pupils of the time but the words of the first two verses and chorus are believed to be as follows:
Verse 1
Near the centre of good old Bristol town,
Where there once flood the ancient castle walls.
Scarcely anything remains, safe a few simple names,
What the glory of former days recalls,
Now proudly upon the Castle Green,
Where the men at arms and knights so hold were reared,
Now a school is set on high, while a thousand voices cry,
And in accents firm this joyful song is heard.
Chorus
Play the game, play the game, play the game,
Play up, play up the Castle, For your name and your fame, play the game,
Play up, play up the Castle.
Verse 2
Now this school near the centre of the town.
Is a place where a host of Bristol lads, who have learned to play the game, to uphold the Castle name, With the hate of being classed with cheats and cads,
And nobly they responded to the call, That came to them when Britain was assailed, When their country was defied then they proudly fought and died,
These Castle boys were sports and never failed.
Repeat Chorus.
image above: Castle School cricket team, with the headmaster Mr Matthews (right) and teacher Mr Parfitt. (c.1936)
Sports
This was very much a Rugby Union school. In common with other schools, they did not have their own playing fields and played on The Downs (near Seven Sisters) during the week and matches against other schools on Saturday mornings. Pupils would change at the school and then walk (or go by tram if they could afford the 1d fare) to The Downs. After playing, changing facilities were available at nearby St Albans Church Hall — with tin baths — and the children would then make their way home.
For matches against other schools (Barton Hill being their arch rivals), kit was provided for the first team, which players had to wash after matches and then return to the school. Flags were taken from the school to The Downs and back again after the match. The captain of the first team was donated a pair of rugby boots by Olivers shoe shop in Castle Street.
The school produced several rugby internationals in the 1920s and '3()s, for example Charlie held at The Clanage sports ground with most of the prizes — including rugby boots, cricket bats, balls etc. - donated by local shops (especially those in Castle Street). Swimming lessons were held once a week at Broad Weir baths.
School Camp
Once a year a group of up to forty boys attended Barton Camp, near Winscombe, which had playing fields, a swimming pool, tuck shop, wooden dormitory (they slept in hammocks) and a main wooden building for activities indoors. The boys who attended were from the two senior standards and a few other deserving causes and they were supervised by teachers and also assistants from Kingsdown Boys' Club (which was attended 'Spud' Murphy, Mark Lockyer, Fred Williams and Tom Jones.
Cricket was played in the summer, also on The Downs, and the annual Sports Day was by many Castle School boys) as well as the camp's staff. The camp would last for a week (possibly two weeks if school work was included), each boy being allowed a maximum of 3d per week spending money, but competitions were held during the week with prizes. A visit to nearby Crook Peak was included, where tents were erected and the boys' survival skills put to the test.
Prior to leaving for the camp, all the boys met at St Peter's Hall in Jacobs Wells Road where they were inspected for head lice and general cleanliness — any problems and they were given a bath and scrub! While the boys brought their own clothes and toiletries, everyone was provided with trousers and a shirt (which would no doubt have been worn for most of the week!).
