Victoria Rooms, Bristol
Victoria Rooms | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Greek revival |
Town or city | Bristol |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°27′29″N 2°36′33″W / 51.458°N 2.6091°W |
Construction started | 1838 |
Completed | 1842 |
Cost | £23,000 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Charles Dyer |
The Victoria Rooms, also known as the Vic Rooms, houses the University of Bristol's music department in Clifton, Bristol, England, on a prominent site at the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. The building, originally assembly rooms, was designed by Charles Dyer and was constructed between 1838 and 1842 in Greek revival style, and named in honour of Queen Victoria, who had acceded to the throne in the previous year. An eight column Corinthian portico surmounts the entrance, with a classical relief sculpture designed by Musgrave Watson above. The construction is of dressed stonework, with a slate roof. A bronze statue of Edward VII, was erected in 1912 at the front of the Victoria Rooms, together with a curved pool and several fountains with sculptures in the Art Nouveau style.
The Victoria Rooms contain a 665-seat auditorium, a lecture theatre, recital rooms, rehearsal rooms and a recording studio.
The building
The Victoria Rooms, also known colloquially as the Vic Rooms,[1] are situated at the junction of Queen's Road and Whiteladies Road, in Clifton, Bristol, "occupying one of the finest sites in Clifton," according to a 1906 visitor's guide.[2] Gomme, in Bristol: an architectural history (1979), described it as a key building on a prominent intersection.[3] The building was designed as assembly rooms by Charles Dyer. The foundation stone was laid on 24 May 1838, the 19th birthday of Queen Victoria, in whose honour the building was named.[4][5]
Building works in the
Inside the main entrance is a vestibule which then leads via an octagonal room, with a bowed cast-iron railed balcony and a domed ceiling, to the main auditorium. A correspondent of the Bristol Mercury, in 1846, described an ingenious central heating system consisting of a cast iron stove which heated and circulated air, "using less than half a cwt. [25 kilograms (55 lb)] of Welsh anthracite in twenty-four hours", kept the interior of the building some 30 to 40 °F (16 to 22 °C) higher than the external temperature.
In the 21st century, the building houses a 665-seat auditorium and rehearsal rooms. The auditorium is approximately 418 square metres (4,500 sq ft), with an adjacent lecture theatre of some 119 square metres (1,280 sq ft) and a recital room of 139 square metres (1,500 sq ft). The purpose built composition and recording studios are in regular use for research and the creation of works.[19] Other facilities include a bar, common rooms, a resource centre and practice rooms.[20]
Forecourt
The building was originally surrounded by iron railings as shown in 19th century photographs, but these are no longer there, possibly removed during the
A memorial statue of Edward VII, designed by Edwin Alfred Rickards and executed by Henry Poole RA, was erected in 1912 at the front of the Victoria Rooms, together with a curved pool, lamps, steps, balustrades, ornamental crouching lions and fountains with sculptures in the Art Nouveau style.[8][22] Two sphinxes, which had previously guarded the building, were removed for these new works.[23] The statue and fountains are regarded as fine examples of Rickards and Poole's work and have been Grade II* listed.[24] An interesting feature of the fountains is that the water flow is controlled by an anemometer "so that on windy days the pressure is reduced in order that the water does not blow across the adjacent roadway."[25]
History
At the laying of the foundation stone on 24 May 1838 the President of the Victoria Rooms, Thomas Daniel, opened the ceremony by saying 'I congratulate you, my friends, that this, the birth-day of our amiable and virtuous Queen, has been selected to lay the foundation-stone of these rooms, which are intended for Conservative purposes - rooms where all may meet to assert their loyalty and attachment to the throne, and to support their religion, and the best interests of their country.' P. F. Aiken Esq went on to make a speech including the following: '... The stately edifice we are gong to erect, our children's children will look upon with admiring eyes, and generations yet unborn will throng its spacious halls... public buildings are memorials of the age, the city, the country in which they are erected, and indicate their progress in civilization to future generations.'[26]
The Victoria Rooms were opened on 24 May 1842; building had begun in 1838, and cost about £23,000.'.The money was raised by a "body of Conservative citizens".[6]
Jenny Lind[27] and Charles Dickens[6] were just two of the artists known to have performed there. Numerous private subscription balls were held at the rooms, in competition with those organised at the assembly rooms in the Mall, Clifton. This rivalry occasioned disputes between the promoters and accusations of prejudice and snobbery.[28] Other uses included what was the first public demonstration of electric lighting in Bristol in 1863.[29] It was also the scene for large banquets, such as that to celebrate the opening of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1864,[1] and the celebrations, in 1897, of the four hundredth anniversary of John Cabot's 'discovery' of North America.[30]
On 11 June 1874 the Victoria Rooms hosted a meeting to promote what was described as a College of Science and Literature for the West of England and South Wales, which became
In the early twentieth century,
The venue, in the 21st century, has a regular programme of concerts, theatrical performances, lectures and conferences,[42] serving a similar purpose to that for which the building was constructed in the nineteenth century.[43]
References
- ^ a b "The Victoria Rooms". Bristol University. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ Arrowsmith, John (1906). How to see Bristol. J W Arrowsmith. pp. 44–45.
- ^ ISBN 0853314098.
- ^ Latimer (1887), p.241
- ^ Basil Cottle (1951). The life of a university. Published for the University of Bristol by J. W. Arrowsmith. p. 94. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Latimer (1887), p.329
- ^ The Penny Magazine. 1838. p. 504. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Detailed Result: Victoria Rooms". Pastscape. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ L. (September 1846). "Architectural Study and Records". The Westminster Review. XLV: 50.
- ^ Foyle, p.228
- ^ Civil engineer and architects' journal, incorporated with the Architect. William Laxton. 1838. pp. 224–. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ John Chilcott (1849). Chilcott's descriptive history of Bristol. p. 269. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Lonsdale, Henry (1866). The Life and Works of Musgrave Lewthwaite Watson. George Routledge and Sons. pp. 130–132.
- ^ a b National Monuments Record. "Victoria Rooms and attached railings and gates". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
- ^ Jeffery, MD, J (6 June 1846). "Warming and Ventilation". Bristol Mercury.
- ^ Arrowsmith's Dictionary of Bristol, 1906.
- ISBN 978-0-8387-5044-5. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ Staff (3 December 1934). "Outbreak after a Dance". The Times, archived at Times Digital archive.
- ^ "Composition and Recording Studios". Bristol University. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ "Facilities in the Department of Music". Bristol University. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ Stamp, Gavin (27 August 2010). "Architecture – Bring Back the Railings". Apollo Magazine. Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
- ^ Historic England. "Fountains, Lamps, Balustrades, Railings And Statues To Front of Victoria Rooms (1218308)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^ Crick, Clare (1975). Victorian buildings in Bristol. Bristol & West Building Society. p. 24.
- ^ National Monuments Record. "Fountains, lamps, balustrades, railings and statues to front of Victoria Rooms". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
- ^ "Bristols Fascinating Fountains" (PDF). Temple Local History Group. 27 September 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
- ^ "Royal Victoria Rooms". Bristol Mercury. 26 May 1838.
- ^ Latimer (1887), p.259
- ^ Latimer (1887), p.320-321
- ^ "Conservation Area 5: Clifton & Hotwells – Character Appraisal & Management Proposals)" (PDF). Environment and Planning. Bristol City Council. June 2010. p. 68. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ Latimer (1902), p.60
- ^ "NNDB". Bristol University, Educational Institution. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
- ^ "Bristol University History". History of the University. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-86292-200-9.
- ^ "Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page". The House of Commons Constituencies beginning with "B". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Latimer (1902), p.73
- ISBN 0-415-38332-3.
- ^ Official guide to the city of Bristol. J.W. Arrowsmith. 1938. pp. 57–59.
- ISBN 0-900814-38-1.
Plate 79 – the book has no page numbers
- ISBN 978-0-9554624-0-5.
- ^ Braddick, Oliver (26 May 2010). "Richard Gregory obituary". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ "History of The Exploratory". The Exploratory. 1 September 1999. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ "Conferences and Hospitality: Victoria Rooms". Bristol University. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ Charles Knight (1854). The English cyclopaedia: a new dictionary of Universal Knowledge. Bradbury and Evans. p. 59. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
Works cited
- ISBN 978-0-300-10442-4.
- Latimer, John (1887). The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century. Clare Street, Bristol: W A F Morgan.
- Latimer, John (1902). The Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century (concluded). Bristol: William George & Sons.
External links