HISTORIC factory buildings that stood for more than a century in Staple Hill have been demolished.
Excavators moved in at the former Bristol Uniforms plant behind Fountain Square during April.
They tore down most of the derelict factory to make way for a development of 56 homes.
The only building left standing is the two-storey gatehouse, which fronts on to Wathen Street, between Victoria Street and Beaufort Road, and will be refurbished to provide office space.
Behind it, flats will be built in three-storey blocks, with a communal garden, for developer Woodstock Homes in partnership with housing association Bromford Flagship.
Speaking last year after planning permission was granted, Woodstock Homes & Woodstock Partnerships managing director James Hutchinson said the scheme would be “fully affordable”, describing it as “a significant transformation of this long-underused brownfield site into a thriving community, providing homes for the families who need them most”.
Bristol Uniforms, now known as MSA Bristol Fire Safety Clothing, moved to a new factory in Yate early in 2023.
Its predecessor, clothing manufacturer Wathen Gardiner & Co, moved to Staple Hill at the turn of the 20th century. Many of the buildings dated back to 1917, when the factory was rebuilt following a huge fire.
