Black Castle, Bristol
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| Black Castle Public House | |
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| General information | |
| Town or city | Bristol |
| Country | England |
| Completed | 1745-55 |
| Client | William Reeve |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | William Halfpenny or James Bridges |
Black Castle Public House is a historic building and public house in Junction Rd in the Brislington suburb of the English city of Bristol. It is also known as Arno's Castle.
It was built in 1745—1755 as a folly, sham castle and office, but may have originally been a stable block and laundry for the lord of the manor.[1] The building was probably designed by either William Halfpenny or James Bridges, for William Reeve of Mount Pleasant (now the Arno’s Court Hotel), from which it is separated by a major road junction.[2] Reeve was a prominent local Quaker and businessman.
The Castle is built from pre-cast black copper-slag blocks from Reeve's foundry at Crew's Hole. They were cast from waste, solving the problem of disposing of the large amounts of waste produced by the industry, and made more profit for the brassworks.[3] Reeve went bankrupt in 1775 and his house and business were sold to a member of the Tonge family, who were important slave traders.
Much of the freestone carving and dressings are reputed to have come from the city's demolished medieval gateways, and St Werburghs Church, rebuilt by James Bridges in 1758—1761. It has been designated by Historic England as a grade I listed building.[4] Arno's Court Triumphal Arch used to stand in front of the building, but was moved in 1912 to approximately 100 metres away.
The Castle is now a public house and is immediately adjacent to the car park of a large Sainsbury's store and is run by a friendly management team,the general manager is Joanne Johnson and the assistant manager is AJ Lancaster whom have been with the company several years now
