Arnos Vale Cemetery - Bristol at Risk (2006)
Channel: Ashley Coates
Date: 2012-05-06

I made this short clip as part of a series of films supporting a campaign to save at risk historic buildings around Bristol. I was 15 at the time, hence some slightly dodgy camera work. I am extremely grateful to Kingsley Fulbrook, of Bristol City Council, who took the time to visit the site with me as much of it was closed at the time and required special access.

Arnos Vale is a really important site and an amazing place to see in person. There are 55,000 graves within the cemetery, which stretches over 45 acres. It is one of the best examples of a Victorian garden cemetery in the country and is now open for visitors. My grandfather on the Indian side of the family had always wanted to visit the tomb of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, mentioned in this film. Although he was ultimately unable to, I was very grateful that I had a chance to see it for myself.

Update: I am really pleased to say that in the years since this was filmed, Arnos Vale Cemetery has had a really extensive restoration. Find out more about what the park has to offer here: https://arnosvale.org.uk/ 

Background: In 2004, I started campaigning to save Bristol's at risk historic buildings. These ranged from public lavatories to warehouses, bridges to grand mansions right across the city.

The clips in this playlist are extracts from interviews, and part of a series of short films I made on the subject while I was a student. Not all of these have survived the ravages of time and the production values are very low.

The campaign was initially hosted on the BBC Action Network (now defunct) and focused on the Old Carriage Works in Stokes Croft and the Clifton Lido.

In 2005, the campaign attracted national and international press interest. A group of students in Hong Kong read about the campaign in a local newspaper and decided to start their own campaign. There was some later media attention in 2008. 

Bristol continues to have a large number of at risk historic sites but thankfully many of the buildings filmed for this project have now been restored.