Bristolwas one of the greatmedieval cities. Though grievouslywounded in the Blitz, much of its ancient glory survives – if you knowwhere to look. Andrew Ziminskiwas part of a teamwhich recently completed repairs to the Priory Church of St James. He reflects on this enigmatic survival, andwonders whetherWesley had a hand in covering up some of itswomanly charms. Photographs John Lawrence
great medieval engineering marvel that is St Augustine’s reach. Setting off, probably in 1496, in search of the brazilwood tree and its valuable red dye, he caught the outgoing tide west down theAvon gorge. At the other end of the Harbour cut, any visitor arriving by boat would have observed the constant ebb and flow of people passing under the gatehouses of the new city wall and the Norman Priory Church of St James. For those heading south through the orchards
that hugged the Gloucester Road – some with carts laden with local coal, others with livestock or fleeces from the Cotswold orWelsh uplands, destined for Bristol market – the first glimpse of journey’s end, in the guise of the new tower of St James, would have lifted the spirits. In what was once open country, the Priory
now had a new position squeezed between the line of the city walls and the bustling Frome river. The rapidly disappearing remnants of the old city wall still existed around the southern perimeter of the monastic site – hence its curious name, The Priory Church of St James “Within Without”. Approaching from the northern
Facing page, recent paint conservation has brought a pair of
ripe, Cornucopia-bearing ladies back to life. For centuries one had been partially covered by a specially-fashioned cuirass. A case of early Methodistmodesty? This page, the church now
Within,without W
hen John Cabot embarked from Bristol on his little ship, the Matthew, on the first of his voyages to the NewWorld he would have headed out from the
countryside, St James’s would have gained a reputation as a double-faced church; the Perpendicular tower, with its plastered and limewashed east and west elevations, were economically constructed from red oxide- coloured rubble and would have been easily viewed through the coal and wood smoke from a good distance away. By contrast, the south and west elevations, which face the prevailing wind, presented a far more impressive and expensive vision of cut ashlar block from Dundry Hill. The church authorities were perhaps aiming to attract visiting worshippers or benefactors from the Frome, busy with traders in their curious boats capable of navigating the murderous shoals of the River Severn. This church held a longstanding tradition of
presenting its best face to the harbour. When the southern aspect of the nave clerestory was built 350 or so years earlier, it would have been possible to easily see the impressive blind arcading. This signature of local Romanesque architecture, where the springing point of the arch could be said to form one continual moulding, was much seen in Bristol and elsewhere in theWest
Country.As with the tower, this extra expensive detail does not exist on the austere north elevation, above the site of the cloisters. It is now largely obscured from view by the construction of the later south aisle.
BRISTOL retains much architecture from the early middle ages. Barely a mile or so away from the cathedral’s gateways and its important chapter house, down one of the rivers that formed part of the vital trade and arterial traffic routes (now covered over with the dual carriageway of the A38), stands St James. Built around 1139 it is the oldest and one of the most unregarded of the city’s religious buildings. After two years of scaffolded and shrouded
obscurity, the arcaded Romanesque finery of the west front can again be enjoyed. Its unique, embryonic rose window (or oculus) again looks down on the urban ants rushing to the new bus station, with its clean, modern lines, next door. My firm was one of many contractors
engaged with the HLF-funded refurbishment of St James.We handled the specialist re-plastering of the external and internal walls, as well as the nave and chancel ceilings. It was particularly nice to be conserving the ceiling, with its riot of strapwork, in the adjacent church house. During
Cornerstone, Vol 32, No 3 2011 69
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