Marsh Street

Off to the side of Queen Square is Marsh Street, a rather less well to do address. This street leads to King Street, now famous for its pubs and restaurants. In the eighteenth century neither was a good place to be unless you were fairly tough! Marsh Street was full of rough taverns in the days of the slave trade, and anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson described the bars of Bristol as notorious for their 'music, drunkenness and profane swearing.' We think that there were thirty-seven bars on this one street! A lot of sailors who worked on slave ships were recruited in these bars when they were drunk.