Tag: Charley Box

3923. Picton Mews (3)

Back in February 2020 I published a post for Thursday doors that featured the Charley Box in Montpelier. Kosc has gone one step further and produced this extraordinary piece on the side of the Charley Box depicting a miscreant who would have been caught while up to no good by the local nightwatchman and locked up in the little jail for the night to cool down.

Kosc, Picton Mews, Bristol, August 2021
Kosc, Picton Mews, Bristol, August 2021

Kosc has been producing some of the best portrait pieces in Bristol lately, with his greyscale faces and bright, vibrant backgrounds. In this piece, Kosc is playing with us duplicating the face of the character in a double exposure manner that we used to see a lot of in the days when we used little Kodak Instamatics to take pictures of our families or pets. He has also created a scene so totally relevant for the place and is helping to bring local history to life. An outstanding artwork.

Thursday doors – 6 February 2020

Doors 95 – Charley Box

I was wandering around Montpelier (Bristol) recently hunting down a specific piece of street art that I wanted to photograph (it’s actually on the right hand end wall of this building). My eye was drawn to this rather lovely door and then to the plaque above it. The cell behind the door is known as Charley’s box.

Charley Box plaque, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2020
Charley Box plaque, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2020

Before 1836 there was no police force in Bristol, so until some kind of law and order was formally established Montpelier employed its own nightwatchman called Charley (I’m not sure I believe this). Charley had the powers of arrest and would grab unruly citizens and chuck them into this cell overnight until a sobering trip to the magistrates the following morning. I believe the building is now privately owned but the original door appears to still be there, which is lucky for this post.

Charley Box door, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2020
Charley Box door, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2020

So only the one door this week – I have been rather busy I’m afraid.

If you like doors, you ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

by Scooj