Celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of Bristol’s most iconic landmarks.
The Wells Memorial Building was built for tobacco tycoon Henry Overton Wills and opened on June 9, 1925 by King George V and Queen Mary in a ceremony lined up the street.
The construction of the building, regarded by many as the heart of the city university area, began in 1915 but was postponed by World War I.
It was one of the last Gothic buildings built in England and attracted national attention in its grand opening advance.
The University of Bristol rang the centenary with a special bell and commissioned Dr. Lawrence Hoo to write a poem that cited the building’s connection to the transatlantic slave trade through its will.
“If the law makes it legal, does that make it correct, does justice wear only white?” it reads.
The building was one of the last to be built using wooden scaffolding, and today’s money cost more than £26m [University of Bristol]
“We have interludes in Bristol and in the national media showing photos of the king and queen and the event of the day – it just shows the level of interest across the country,” said Rachel Gardner, senior archivist at the University of Bristol.
“The focus of these stories is on the celebrities you can see in the parade, and also on people like Granny Mary Jarrett, 104, who was given a special license in part of the parade to ride in a taxi and meet the king.”
The king and queen participated in the opening of the building and participated in a military parade [University of Bristol]
“About Bristol citizens behave so well that only a few wallets were missing that day, so everyone should be proud of themselves.
She added: “The king specifically requested that there were no expensive decoration plans, but the mayor wrote in the media that it was asking everyone to decorate as freely as possible – which does involve the entire city.”
Just 15 years after the building was completed, the building narrowly avoided damage when the incendiary bomb fell in the blitz, which caused the roof of the hall to collapse – the burning marks on the floor can still be seen on the floor.
The hall was completely in trouble during the blitz [University of Bristol]
Winston Churchill, the university’s prime minister – checked the losses the next day and insisted that the ceremony to award honorary degrees continued.
The hall has been under repair for a long time and now welcomes hundreds of students to graduation ceremony each year.
It also welcomes some celebrities to receive honorary degrees, including James Blunt and Mikhail Gorbachev of the former Soviet Union.
Burn marks held during the Blitz are still visible on the floor [BBC]
The opening of the building is marked with 21 bells from Great George, a 9.5-ton bell located on the top of the tower.
To mark the anniversary, the university organized a special manual ringtone, just like it did in 1925.
The bell is the third largest bell in the country that can be swung manually, and when this happens, it hears a farther sound than the normal two-mile radius.
Big George is one of the ninth largest bells in the country and has been adjusted to Note e Plat [BBC]
“When we ring the bell, there is more energy involved, and the slapster is much higher,” said Bell Ringer of the University of Synge Ringers.
He added: “But it is indeed a physical requirement to get a high bell, and even with the strongest, heaviest big bell ringtone, we never managed to get more than half the speed.”
The Great George is usually only manually in special countries, such as royal death and coronation.
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