Bristol Abolition
M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol, Bristol, BS1 4RN
Beginning at M Shed, the walk explores Bristol’s thousand-year involvement in the slave trade, tracing what has been remembered and what has been overlooked. It highlights the city’s dual role as both a perpetrator and centre of abolitionist activity.
The route covers early resistance, from the 11th-century Bristol ‘mob’ to radical and religious campaigners of later centuries. Figures such as James Naylor, Dorothy Hazard and Frances (the "Blackymore Maid") are followed by 18th-century abolitionists including John Wesley, Hannah More, Ann Yearsley, Thomas Clarkson, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Stops include Prince Street’s Assembly Rooms, where calls for emancipation and compensation for the enslaved were made in 1830, and the Merchant Venturers Hall, linked to Bristol’s transatlantic trade after 1698. Queen Square reveals the influence of West India merchants and the impact of the 1831 reform riots.
Crossing the river, the walk visits the Quaker burial ground and the Seven Stars Inn, where Thomas Clarkson’s 1787 investigations helped shift public opinion. Later stops include the Exploration sculpture, Bristol Bridge, and the Rummer.
The walk concludes at the Colston statue plinth, with reflections on the Anglican Church’s complicity – from Prebend Hakluyt to Bishop Robinson – and the efforts of the Blackwell, Carpenter and Estlin families, who worked with African-American abolitionists to support emancipation in the United States.
Timings & Tours
- Tuesday 16 September:
- 1100
Location & directions
M Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol, Bristol, BS1 4RN
- Contact on day:
- M Shed Welcome Desk
- Telephone number:
- +441173526600
Booking information
- Pre-booking requirement:
- Pre-booking preferred
- Booking conditions:
- Pre-book or turn up on the day. See M Shed's What's On page for details.
- Booking website:
- https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/whats-on/
- Alternative booking website:
- https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/m-shed/contact-museum/
Additional information
- Max no of people per tour:
- 30
- Est. tour duration:
- 2 hour(s) 0 minute(s)
