The merchants of late Georgian Bristol wanted somewhere exclusive to meet. So they built themselves this elegant club in 1810. Impressed by the Lyceum at Liverpool, the committee commissioned London architect Charles Augustus Busby to design something similar. Within the classical portico is the symbolic story of Bristol’s wealth from trade. A frieze shows Neptune presenting all quarters of the world to Britannia. The imposing club room has been converted into a pub, while the panelled basement houses Lords Restaurant.
