The Wills Memorial Building (also known as the Wills Memorial Tower or simply the Wills Tower) is a Neo Gothic building designed by Sir George Oatley and built as a memorial to Henry Overton Wills III. Begun in 1915 and not opened until 1925, it is considered one of the last great Gothic buildings to be built in England.
Situated near the top of Park Street on Queens Road in Bristol, United Kingdom, it is a landmark building of the University of Bristol that currently houses the School of Law and the Department of Earth Sciences, as well as the Law and Earth Sciences libraries. It is the third highest structure in Bristol, standing at 68 m (215 ft).
Many regard the building as synonymous with the University of Bristol. It is the centrepiece building of the university precinct and used by the University of Bristol for degree ceremonies which take place inside of the Great Hall.
Architecture commentator Nikolaus Pevsner described it as:
- "a tour de force in Gothic Revival, so convinced, so vast, and so competent that one cannot help feeling respect for it."
It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building and serves as a regional European Documentation Centre.
Read more about Wills Memorial Building: History, Architecture, Restoration Work
Famous quotes containing the words wills, memorial and/or building:
“Whenever you pray, make sure you do it at school assemblies and football games, like the demonstrative creatures who pray before large television audiences. That is the real goal of the thing. But do not, I urge you, pray all alone in your home where no one can see. That does not get you ratings.”
—Garry Wills (b. 1934)
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—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
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—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)