Features / community centres
Under new ownership, a treasured community space faces the future
It’s 100 years since the opening of a beloved community space in Barton Hill that has been home to folk dancing, lectures, a youth club, a boxing club and the burgeoning graffiti scene of the late 1980s.
Now as the site settles into a new ownership and faces a dramatic reimagining, we look at the history of this important local landmark and how it plans to survive for 100 years to come.
When the George Wills Memorial Hall opened in 1926, it was conceived as a communal space for local men and boys.
The building, sited at the top of Barton Hill Road, boasted a gymnasium and a lecture hall. Over the years it housed a range of activities, from classes in economics and French to a mother’s school and folk dances.
In the 1970s the building became home to the Barton Hill Youth Club, becoming a hub for musical talents with the likes of the Banshees, Subway Sect, and Roni Size playing at the venue.
The late 1980s saw the hall become the centre of Bristol’s graffiti scene. Many well-known artists such as Inkie, Cheo and Banksy first mastered the craft at the workshops that ran out of the youth club.
More recently the building was the base of the Barton Hill Amateur Boxing Club and had by now become known as the Dug Out.
The building faces a dramatic redevelopment – image: Barefoot Architects
But trouble hit the site in early 2025 when, after years of rising costs and need for significant investment, the building was put on the market.
Wellspring Settlement, which had owned it, decided it would be best for another organisation to take it on, and in September that year sold it to the charity Cherry Orchards.
Beth Wilson, CEO of Wellspring Settlement, said: “The sale has helped secure the future of the remaining Wellspring Settlement buildings at Beam Street and Ducie Road and the services we deliver with and for the community.
“We feel confident that this sale has helped to ensure we’ll be here for at least another hundred years.”
Cherry Orchards, in partnership with Wild Dandelion CIC, is now planning a complete reimagining of the building while remaining steadfast to the site’s original purpose of benefitting the welfare of the local community.
The new proposals divide the building into two main wings: a therapy wing and a community wing.
“We are hoping to be fairly flexible. [The building] is going to have multipurpose spaces with a focus on wellbeing,” said Rosie Strain, executive director of Wild Dandelion.
A public consultation offered a first glimpse into the plans – photo: Sally Collister
One of Strain’s primary ambitions is to provide “help to the helpers”, offering social workers and care professionals a dedicated space and services that support their own welfare and therefore enhance their work with others.
Within the therapeutic wing, Wild Dandelion plans to expand its current therapy offerings, including one-to-one consultation rooms and a group therapy room.
The community wing will feature a main hall and a stage which could be used by locals for anything from exercise classes and youth groups to arts events and meetings.
“We want to listen to the community and its needs and use the spaces in a way that benefits people as much as possible,” said Valerie Sands, a Cherry Orchard trustee.
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The new owners will also make the spaces available to hire for events, but only if they are in line with values like being community led or focused on wellbeing.
The plan is for those bookings to generate income to fund low-income initiatives and keep the building running.
“It feels like a great outcome for the community that the building is remaining in charity ownership and will still be available to the community as a space for them,” said Wilson.
“We feel confident that the new owners will work sensitively with the community to restore the building and ensure that it is welcoming and accessible to all.”
As for the timeline, the teams are preparing to submit their planning applications to the council shortly, with construction hoped to begin in the early part of next year, ushering in a new chapter for this historic local landmark.
Main photo: Barefoot Architects
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