As a conclusion to their study of the slave trade Year 8 went on a walking tour of central Bristol, exploring the city’s relationship with the slave trade and its abolition.
We began at Merchants Wharf, from where over 2000 slave trading voyages launched during the 200 years of active slave trading in Bristol, before making our way to Guinea Street to visit the property owned by slave ship captains and home to an enslaved Bristolian called Thomas made famous in the BBC ‘A House Through Time’ series.
From there we visited churches and burial grounds associated with slave traders and abolitionists before making our way to the Seven Star pub where abolitionist Thomas Clarkson gathered information about conditions on slave ships during the late 18th century.
From here we went and looked out over Finzals Reach, the site of a 19th century sugar refinery, and discussed the way in which Britain’s relationship with slave labour and slave made products extended beyond the abolition of slave trading and slavery within the British Empire.
From here we made our way to the former site of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston. We discussed the controversies around the statue and its toppling and what the future of the statue will be. The pupils are now looking forward to a virtual seminar run by the MShed this Thursday that will allow them to discuss the legacy of Colston in the city.
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