A well-known derelict building in Bristol city centre could be saved by a hospitality group after sitting empty since 1987. Seamen's Mission Church on Prince Street looks set to become a new venue that will be "quite different" for the city after decades of its fate hanging in the balance.
London-based Bloomsbury Leisure Group is earmarked to take over the church, which is the owner of Crofters Rights, The Lanes and Llandoger Trow. The former church dates back to 1880, built as a shore base for missionaries, and was badly damaged in 1940 during the height of The Bristol Blitz.
Seamen's Mission Church was previously owned by Tadcaster's Samuel Smith Brewery, owners of the King William Ale House on King Street, which took the church on more than 30 years ago. It had submitted plans for a four-storey development of a pub, restaurant and staff accommodation, but withdrew them in 1997. Question marks were left over the former church as no developments progressed, with the brewery reportedly refusing to sell to pub group giant Greene King.
Read more: Future of Bristol's abandoned Old Seamen's Mission Church questioned
Bristol City Council persuaded the brewery to sell the asset after years went by with no restoration, according to Private Eye. It was subsequently marketed through Burston Cook, who were asking for £550,000 for the sale earlier this year.
The hospitality group has a large portfolio of venues in Bristol, London and around the UK, and is known for breathing new life into buildings left in disrepair. Most notably in Bristol, the Llandoger Trow, which the group reopened in 2021 after the famous King Street pub was shut for two years.
On April 29, Llandoger Trow confirmed a new sister site was on the way and would be "something that will be quite different" for Bristol. A spokesperson for its parent company, Bloomsbury Leisure Group, affirmed this new venue was Seamen's Mission Church, and said they were looking forward to bringing the historic building back to life after being closed for 35 years.
The spokesperson said: "We're looking at various options. It will be open to the public and we're hoping to do something that we probably haven't done before. It's absolutely spectacular in there so we need something that fits that use. It won't be a pub, it will be something else."
Councillor Nicola Beech, Labour cabinet member for planning, city Resilience and flooding, also shared an update on the future of Seaman’s Mission Church in a series of posts on Twitter. The councillor had written to Samuel Smith Brewery in August 2022 to ask if its owner could share a "long-term vision" for its presence by Bristol Harbourside, requesting a meeting "to understand what the barriers to regeneration are".
Cllr Beech said: "Really looking forward to learning more about the restoration plans. Very pleased that there appears to be a route through to a much more positive future for one of our most at risk buildings."
The councillor added how she loved "massive regeneration projects but unlocking these complex, historic beautiful spaces is addictive". Bloomsbury Leisure Group added that more information would be revealed in the next few weeks.
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