James Bridges

James Bridges (born c. 1725) was an English architect and civil engineer working in Bristol between 1757 and 1763. He designed Royal Fort House (1760), rebuilt St Werburgh's Church (1758–61) and began the rebuilding of both Bristol Bridge and St Nicholas' Church.

Life

He was the son of Henry Bridges, an Essex carpenter and clockmaker, famous for his Microcosm. He claimed he was taught all he knew by his father, but also that he had viewed the works of the ancients, suggesting he may have done the Grand Tour.

Bridges was a talented, personable and highly literate man, but when he arrived in Bristol in the mid-1750s he never claimed any previous work. He made several trips to London at his own expense to consult Robert Mylne and Sir Isaac Ware on his plans. Like his father, he seems to have been comfortably off. He or his friends and family must have put up bonds for his work: his successor on Bristol Bridge had to pay £10,000.

Houses

In Bristol he built The Royal Fort, a mansion for a merchant banker overlooking the city. Often attributed to three architects, it has his characteristic eye for detail and comfort. His model of it survives. It is now part of Bristol University. Similar detail is seen in Arnos Manor Hotel, now a hotel, at Brislington on the outskirts of the city,. It included a famous pleasure garden, incorporating remnants of St Werburgh's church in the centre of the city, which he was rebuilding at the same time. After the Second World War the estate fell into neglect and the bath house was rescued and relocated to Portmeirion in Wales.