Lewin's Mead
| Lewin's Mead | |
|---|---|
 Lewin's Mead
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| Lewin's Mead shown within Bristol | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS1 |
| Dialling code | 0117 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Lewin's Mead is an area of Bristol, England, part of the city ward of Cabot, in the historic centre of the city, lying just outside the former medieval town walls. Several old buildings survive, including the Unitarian Chapel constructed in the late 18th century, an old sugar house and the ancient thoroughfare known as Christmas Steps. The 13th century St Bartholomew's Hospital which became Bristol Grammar School in the 16th century is situated at the bottom of Christmas Steps.
The name of the area, from the Old English word mǣd, meaning meadow., indicates that this was originally grassland adjacent to the river Frome, from the Old English word mǣd, meaning meadow. It is not known who the original Lewin was. The area was situated outside the medieval city walls and was partly occupied by the estate of St Bartholomew's Hospital and also by Greyfriars, Bristol. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, townhouses were built in the area and the buildings of St Bartholomew's Hospital became the home of Bristol Grammar School, where it remained until the late eighteenth century. In the late seventeenth century a Presbyterian Chapel, was established and then destroyed by a mob led by the attorney John Hellier, following the passage of the Conventicles Act 1670, which forbade nonconformist religious worship.
A sugar refinery was constructed in the eighteenth century to process molasses brought to Bristol as part of the Atlantic slave trade. The Three Sugar Loaves pub at the bottom of Christmas Steps provides a reminder of this. In May 1755, London Morning Penny Post reported that thefts from the sugar house were so frequent that guards armed with cutlasses had been placed on it. The most recent theft had been of 100 pounds (45 kg) of sugar, valued at 25 shillings.
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