Quakers Friars

After Fareshare I wanted to go to Waterstones, so I walked through here. The beautiful building was built in 1747 as a Quaker meeting house.  The ‘Friars’ bit comes from the site having previously been a Dominican Friary built in about 1227. When my son was born, it was used as the Register Office where I went to register his birth. It was renovated and turned into a restaurant, Brasserie Blanc, in about 2008, when the new Cabot Circus shopping area was opened. It’s absolutely beautiful inside, with a gallery all around from the time when it was a meeting house. My team at work would go there for lunch for birthdays and so on.  Wonderful food and not too expensive. It closed in 2019 - along with an awful lot of other restaurants in Bristol. Another one called Klosterhaus opened soon after, but closed again fairly soon, maybe a victim of covid? It’s been empty for over a year now.  It’s a grade 1 listed building, and a real treasure. But it’s already deteriorating - you can see the paint and plaster on the outside beginning to fall off. I expect it’s not much better inside now either. 
The square in front is a nice space. In summer huge tv screens are put up, deckchairs put out, and people can sit and watch events like Wimbledon tennis.