Features / Castle Park
Park life in the heart of Bristol
A graffiti-marred concrete obelisk in front of the derelict Bank of England building by Castle Park goes unnoticed by many who pass it each day.
This rather nondescript feature just off High Street marks the entrance to hidden underground cellars – part of a network that once linked the Old City to the tunnels underneath the park, where boats would deliver their wares.

The obelisk marking the entrance to a network of underground cellars
It is just one of the secret treasures of this historic site in the heart of Bristol that is particularly special to Russ Leith.
is needed now More than ever
The retired boat builder, who lives just a stone’s throw from the park, was a self-confessed serial litter picker who went on to create the Friends of Castle Park group and now has a vision that he hopes will breathe new life into the space and attract visitors from far and wide.
His proposals would see the historic Grade II-listed ruins of St Peter’s church transformed into an immersive educational experience by day and a stunning illuminated landmark by night.
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Read more: Vision to bring Castle Park’s bombed-out church back to life
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He is keen to ensure any plans are in keeping with the building’s religious importance and role as memorial to those who lost their lives at war.

Russ Leith hopes to transform the remains of St Peter’s Church
“There was nothing that told the story of the church, yet when we are working in the gardens here, there are so many people who come up to us and ask about it,” says Russ, who also volunteers with St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots gardening project, which maintains the physic gardens in front of the historic building.
“I felt it needed something,” he explains. “It’s one of the few parks that’s not a destination park only – it’s also a busy thoroughfare.”
Thoroughfare, recreation ground, refuge, place of reflection; Castle Park is many things to many people. Steeped in history and the only green space in the city with a unique harbourside location, it is a place where old and new meet.
Even the tall metal fences blocking off chunks of grassland for ongoing work fail to detract from the beauty of the park on a recent sunny lunchtime.
The delicate pink tree blossom is highlighted against the green as clusters of people soak up early summer rays beneath the church ruins.
Some are in for the duration; slacklines strung between trees, bags of supplies slung to the ground, while others make the most of a hasty break away from the office, munching on food from the nearby St Nick’s Market.
A couple of tents nestled by the wall hint at a more pressing need to use the park amid Bristol’s growing homelessness crisis.
Just recently, a makeshift headstone has been placed to pay tribute to Deborah Morris, who died in a tent in the park in May 2017.

The makeshift headstone was placed to pay tribute to Deborah Morris
The memorial reads: “R.I.P Deborah Morris. 1969 – 2017.
“Her body was found in a tent at this park. She was homeless. Remember her.”
It’s a stark reminder of the individual stories and tragedies within the diverse fabric of the central Bristol beauty spot.

The landscape of the area is changing
The landscape of the area is rapidly changing, with work now underway on what will become the city’s tallest tower on the old ambulance site to the Old Market end of the park, along with the continued development of Finzels Reach across the water.
The new buildings set to shape the future skyline have met with a mixed reaction, but the investment they bring in the form of community infrastructure levy (CIL) and Section 106 funds – levies paid by developers to the community – opens certain opportunities.
Russ hopes to tap into some of this to see his vision for the castle ruins become a reality. Aspirations to revive the vaulted chambers – the only part of the Norman castle that survives above ground – have also been tentatively revealed.
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Read more: Could the only part of Bristol Castle that survives above ground be brought back to life?
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Meanwhile, Bristol City Council has confirmed that the local area committee has allocated £30,000 towards improving safety and security in Castle Park.
Under prioritised plans, two new CCTV cameras are set to be installed and existing CCTV upgraded. There are also plans to install new lighting in the physic garden and “limited tree work” will be carried out to help increase the CCTV coverage.

Gavin Bridge wants to connect the park with surrounding areas
Gavin Bridge, executive director at Cubex, the company behind the development and curved Castle Bridge, sees it as an opportunity to connect the park to its surrounds.
“It’s now two years since the bridge opened and it’s very gratifying to see how popular it has become as a route through this part of the city – as well as a much-photographed landmark,” says Gavin.
Cubex is also behind the array of wooden boxes for bees mounted on the wall overlooking the bridge and has invested £30,000 in upgrading the existing ferry boat landing stage to improve access to the park from water.
It is from this vantage point that the entrance to tunnels leading under the castle ruins can be viewed. The dark, mysterious underground labyrinth was navigated a couple of years ago by a pair of canoeists, armed with only a torch, who emerged from their exploration in Broad Weir, opposite Harvey Nichols.

Bee boxes in Castle Park

The sally port is accessed via an underground tunnel
A sally port, one of the hidden entryways to the old Norman keep of Bristol Castle, was discovered in 1991. Accessed via an underground tunnel, it once allowed goods and people to enter and leave the building undetected.
Castle Street itself was a hive of commercial activity right up until 1940. The site was bombed during the war, but surviving shops continued trading into the 1960s.
A footbridge bridge crossing over the Old Market roundabout, which was demolished in 2017, and the existing aerial footway linking the park to the multi-storey carpark opposite were lasting reminders of a late 1960s vision to build a ‘city in the sky’ of elevated walkways.
The site upon which a park was created in the 1970s was, for centuries, marked as the geographical and commercial centre of the city – on the crossroads of Wine Street, High Street, Broad Street and Corn Street.

The official opening of the Sikh Memorial Garden
A stroll across the park from Cabot Circus towards Corn Street will take you past the Sikh Memorial Garden, built to commemorate Sikh soldiers that served in World War One and World War Two, and officially opened by the Duke of Kent in April, with a moving and historic ceremony.
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Read more: Sikh War Memorial and remembrance garden officially opened
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Dilawer Singh Potiwal led the four-year project to raise £70,000 for the newly-opened Sikh Memorial Garden.
Speaking about its significance, he said: “We all owe them a great debt and will never pay them back, but we can do something to recognise their sacrifice.
“It’s a huge honour to do this project since I find this is very important to my community. It also helps reflect our history with Britain.”
From the memorial garden, amble over St Peter’s Square towards the heady scent of falafel coming from Edna’s Kitchen hut.

The previously hidden well has been uncovered

Ann Freeman campaigned to get the well unveiled
Come to rest at a new plaque and engraved stone, marking the site of Bristol’s oldest well – a hidden secret until it was recently unveiled.
“Nobody knew it was there,” explains Ann Freeman, who campaigned to uncover the historic water source known as Edith’s Well.
“I thought it was not right that people should walk over it and never know it was there.”
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Read more: Celebrating Bristol’s oldest source of drinking water
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Further down towards High Street, the fenced-off remains of the long-neglected St Mary-le-Port church are just visible, it’s tower peeking over the derelict former bank building.
Here the unforgiving concrete façade that marks the edge of the park gives little away of the secret treasures and historical significance within.

St Mary-le-Port church is just visible behind the old derelict bank building
Read more: Work starts on building Bristol’s tallest residential tower