This book is a series of essays on a number of buildings in the city that were built at this time. But it is also about the 200 years when no churches were built, so nobody knew how to repair them. It is about arguments, guesswork, and at times bone headed stupidity that eventually gave Bristol an impressive collection of Georgian buildings, of great variety and more of them than the far more famous neighbour, Bath.
This is a great book for people interested in art, history and architecture, but it is also of interest to people interesting in the mechanics of cities, and of how people coped in the past.
There were times when writing it that I had an overwhelming urge to reach back through time and hit some of these people over the head with something blunt. And yet there was also a sense that they were doing the best they could in difficult and uncertain times.
This is a companion piece to ‘Buildings & Builders of Georgian Bristol 1760-87
and also, ‘Civil Engineering & Civic Apathy: The Georgian Rebuilding of Bristol Bridge.
My books can be found at barbdrum.webs.com or search amazon for ‘Barb Drummond’
They probably would have times when they’d like to hit us over the head with a blunt object!
Doubt it. We’ve got bigger guns