But in the last five years - and especially since the pandemic - Upfest has rapidly expanded into The Chessels.Īrtwork on a grand scale has been produced on the ends of terraces and corners, and even random terraced house fronts have been emblazed with colour. Up until the 1980s, The Chessels were famous in Bristol for having a pub, corner shop or business on every corner, and some still remain to this day, with hairdressers, electricians and funeral directors in the back streets.įor most of the 21st century, as North Street was transformed into a canvas for the world's leading street artists, the terraced homes of the side streets of The Chessels remained pebble-dashed or limewashed. ![]() Like many a modern cul-de-sac today, it was named The Chessels by the housebuilders as a marketing ploy, with most of the streets named after jewels. ![]() The Chessels are a grid of late Victorian terraced two-up-two-downs built as a planned development between North Street and West Street in the 1890s and in the first couple of years of the 20th century. Just to the south on the Bedminster side of North Street, the residents of an area known as The Chessels have embraced the street art phenomenon on the main road. READ MORE: Banksy unveils new 'morning is broken' artwork' but it's already been demolished Bristol has always been at the forefront of the development of street art, from the days of the Barton Hill Youth Club, then Banksy and now Upfest.Īnd with the Urban Paint Festival - or Upfest - setting up home in BS3, North Street has always been, along with Gloucester Road, the epicentre of Bristol's street art scene.īut while the street art tourists will flock along North Street from the Tobacco Factory to the Dean Lane skatepark, a quiet little colourful revolution has been happening, hidden away in the side streets.
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