Many historic buildings have a link to the history of the transatlantic slave trade. Illustrated with photographs from the Historic England Archive, this exhibit explores some of the places of trade, wealth and abolition that connect our historic environment with our transatlantic slave trade past.
The transatlantic slave trade
For over 250 years, Britain was involved in a global slave trade. From the 16th to the 19th century over 10 million enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. It was a triangular trade system. Commodities were transported by ship from Britain to Africa. These were traded and enslaved Africans were shipped to the Americas. Products created by enslaved labour were then shipped back to European markets. This exhibit explores some of the places in England that connect us today with our transatlantic slave trade past.
Commercial, civic and industrial buildings
Our historic built environment includes buildings that enabled the transatlantic slave trade to operate. Commercial and civic buildings were designed and built to give merchants and traders space to meet and conduct business. Industrial buildings facilitated the production and storage of the commodities that were shipped to Africa or received from the Americas.
The Exchange, Corn Street, Bristol (1999-09-05) by Peter Frederick RushbyHistoric England
The Exchange, Bristol
Much of Bristol's prosperity was generated by the transatlantic slave trade. The city was involved in all three aspects of the triangular system. Between 1630 and 1807, around 2.5 million enslaved Africans were traded by Bristol merchants.
The Exchange was built in 1741-3 as a place where Bristol merchants, like Edward Colston, could conduct their business.
The exterior and interior are decorated with representations of international trade and colonialism, including exotic animals and the heads of an African woman and an Indian man.
Read the National Heritage List entry for The Exchange.
The former Customs House, St George's Quay, Lancaster, Lancashire (2007-09-11) by Bob Skingle, English HeritageHistoric England
Maritime Museum, Lancaster
Between 1750 and 1775, 100 voyages set sail from St George's Quay in Lancaster and during the 18th century, Lancaster ships carried over 29,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.
The Port of Lancaster Custom House was built in 1764. The construction of the Custom House and the adjacent warehouses was financed by merchants who made their fortunes from the transatlantic slave trade.
Lancaster's ships brought back sugar, cotton and rum, and also mahogany that supplied the town's furniture-making industry.
Read the National Heritage List entries for the former Custom House and warehouses.
Old Brass Mill, The Shallows, Saltford, Bath and North East Somerset (2008-02-02) by Lorna FreemanHistoric England
The Old Brass Mill, Saltford
Metalware, linen and gunpowder were among the items traded for enslaved Africans.
The Old Brass Mill was operated by the Bristol Brass Company, which was established in 1702 to provide Bristol merchants with metalware to deal in the transatlantic slave trade.
The goods made by the Bristol Brass Company included dishes, pans and bowls. One type of vessel was called the 'Guinea Kettle', manufactured for the trade in Guinea on the west coast of Africa.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Old Brass Mill.
57 Parr Street, Liverpool (2003-03-16) by James A RayHistoric England
57 Parr Street, Liverpool
Parr Street in Liverpool is named after Thomas Parr, a banker and trader in enslaved Africans.
In circa 1799, Parr built a brick warehouse behind his town house. It is thought that it was used to store iron goods used to trade for enslaved Africans.
Parr also owned a slave ship, named Parr. It is reported that it exploded off the coast of West Africa in 1798.
Read the National Heritage List entry for 57 Parr Street.
Former warehouses and offices, North Quay, West India Dock, Poplar, Greater London (2002-07-12) by Colin CarronHistoric England
Warehouses, West India Dock, Tower Hamlets, London
West India Dock was built by planters and merchants who had interests in the Caribbean. It was constructed for the safe storage of goods at both ends of the trade triangle.
Trade goods were stored here before shipment to Africa, and the giant warehouses also held imported sugar, rum and coffee that had been produced by enslaved labour.
The dock opened in 1802 and was described as 'the largest feat of civil engineering since the building of the pyramids'.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the West India Dock Warehouses.
Houses
Our historic built environment is a treasure-trove of great houses, many of which were designed by famous architects. Some of the people who commissioned their construction, or later owners, were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Houses not only reflected the wealth and taste of the people who lived in them, they were also places in which like-minded people might meet to further their interests in politics and business.
The Italianate terraced garden at Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds (1925/1928) by Walter ScottHistoric England
Harewood House, Leeds
Henry Lascelles was a banker and sugar importer. He held shares in twenty-one ships that were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. The fortune that he gained enabled him to buy land in Yorkshire.
Henry's son Edwin, who was Baron Harewood from 1712 to 1795, was responsible for the construction of Harewood House. In 1759 he laid the foundation stone to one of the grandest houses in the whole of England.
Financed with the Lascelles fortune, Edwin commissioned some of the country's best architects and designers to design and furnish Harewood and its grounds, including John Carr, Robert Adam and Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.
Read the National Heritage List entry for Harewood House.
The Grange, Northington, Hampshire (1860/1910) by Unknown photographerHistoric England
The Grange, Northington
The Grange was built in 1670-3 and was remodelled and added to several times throughout the 19th century.
A number of prominent families with connections to the transatlantic slave trade lived at The Grange in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
In 1817, The Grange was purchased by the financier and politician Alexander Baring. In Parliament, he defended the free trade of goods produced by enslaved people and in the 1820s opposed the abolition of slavery in the British empire.
Read the National Heritage List entries for The Grange and its grounds.
The Georgian House, 7 Great George Street, Bristol (2011-07-13) by Peter Williams, English HeritageHistoric England
The Georgian House, Bristol
The Georgian House was built in the late 18th century for the Bristol merchant, John Pinney.
Pinney made his fortune from sugar plantations on the Caribbean island of Nevis. He also profitted from the company he set up with fellow plantation owner and pro-slavery pamphleteer, James Tobin.
Together, they owned ships and loaned money to other plantation owners. They also took over the plantations and the enslaved people of those clients who were unable to pay their debts.
The Georgian House was also home to a number of servants, including Fanny Coker and Pero, who Pinney had bought in the Caribbean in 1765 and brought with him to England in 1783.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Georgian House.
Storrs Hall, Newby Bridge Road, Windermere, Cumbria (1999-09-14) by Peter JenkinsHistoric England
Storrs Hall, Windermere
Storrs Hall was built as a lakeside villa in the 1790s. Around ten years later, it was transformed by its new owner, John Bolton.
Bolton was a leading Liverpool merchant who had interests in Jamaica and St Vincent. He traded in enslaved people and the products of their labours, including sugar, rum and cotton.
Bolton also owned slave ships, including John, which could carry 402 enslaved people, and King George, which could carry 550.
Bolton became the president of the Liverpool Association of West India Merchants. His social standing enabled him to befriend and entertain notable characters, including the poet William Wordsworth and novelist Sir Walter Scott.
Read the National Heritage List entry for Storrs Hall.
The inner hall at Brodsworth Hall, Brodsworth, Doncaster (2008-10-14) by Bob Skingle, English HeritageHistoric England
Brodsworth Hall, Doncaster
In 1790, the Brodsworth Hall estate was bought by the financier and merchant Peter Thellusson. The current house was built by one of Thellusson's heirs, some thirty years after the passing of the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.
The house was built from the proceeds of Thellusson's inherited fortune, which amounted to some £700,000.
Thellusson provided loans and insurance to the owners of slave ships and plantations, and he was involved in the financing of goods produced by the labour of enslaved people on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Wealth generated by the transatlantic slave trade helped Thellusson to buy the Brodsworth Hall estate and for his descendant to build the house we see today.
Read the National Heritage List entries for Brodsworth Hall and its gardens.
Black presence
While people of African origin have been present in Britain since Roman times, the transatlantic slave trade created a new Black presence throughout the country. As early as 1555, a group of Africans were brought to England by a London merchant to help establish trade in Africa. By the end of the 18th century, England was home to around 15,000 Black people. Their status and occupations differed considerably, from the enslaved to soldiers, sailors, businessmen and activists.
Tomb of Myrtilla, Church of St Lawrence, Oxhill, Warwickshire (2002-05-31) by David MorphewHistoric England
Tomb of Myrtilla, Oxhill
The headstone of Myrtilla can be found in the churchyard of the Church of St Lawrence in the village of Oxhill, Warwickshire. It is dated 6 January 1705 and is one of the earliest known in England to mark a person of African descent.
Myrtilla was a slave to Thomas Beauchamp, who is believed to have been a sugar planter. It is thought that Myrtilla began life on a plantation on the West Indian island of Nevis, and may have been brought to Warwickshire to serve the wife of her enslaver.
It appears that Myrtilla died soon after arriving in England.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Tomb of Myrtilla.
Memorial to Scipio Africanus, Church of St Mary, Church Close, Henbury, Bristol (1999-10-14) by Cyril N ChapmanHistoric England
Monument to Scipio Africanus, Bristol
Scipio Africanus was a servant to Charles William Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk. It is thought he lived lived on the Blaise Estate near Bristol.
The name 'Scipio Africanus' was given either by the Earl, or by a previous owner. Names of Roman origin were frequently chosen for enslaved people.
Scipio is remembered by a headstone and footstone in the churchyard of the Church of St Mary, Henbury. The inscription states that Scipio died in 1720, aged 18. The elaborate design of his monument suggests that he was well thought of by the Earl.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Monument to Scipio Africanus.
Headstone of Charles Bacchus, Church of St Mary, Culworth, Northamptonshire (2002-08-17) by Alistair F NisbetHistoric England
Headstone of Charles Bacchus, Culworth
A headstone in the churchyard of the Church of St Mary in Culworth, Northamptonshire, remembers Charles Bacchus, who died in 1762 aged sixteen.
Bacchus was probably born enslaved in Jamaica. By the age of eight he had been brought to England to work as a domestic servant in the household of Richard Bond, whose two brothers had sugar and coffee plantations in Jamaica.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Headstone of Charles Bacchus,.
Tower of the Old Parish Church of St Mary, High Street, Hornsey, Greater London (2000-08-24) by J CallonHistoric England
Tomb of Harriet Long and Jacob Walker, Haringey, London
Jacob Walker and Harriet Long are remembered by a memorial in the old churchyard of the Church of St Mary in Haringey, London.
Walker was enslaved in Long's household in Virginia, America. In 1828 the Longs returned to England, bringing Jacob with them to work as a wage-earning household servant.
Long died in July 1841. Jacob died a month later. They were buried together and their names recorded on the same tombstone.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Tomb of Harriet Long and Jacob Walker.
The abolition movement
Abolitionists in Britain, both Black and white, fought campaigns to end the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of people throughout the empire. Committees were formed, legal action taken and essays published. An Abolition Bill was rejected by Parliament in 1790 but in 1807 'An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade' was passed. It took until 1833 before all enslaved people in the Caribbean were given their freedom, although it took another five years before slavery was fully abolished in practice. Our historic built environment includes many monuments and statues to those who fought to achieve this end, although few have been made to memorialise enslaved people.
The Wilberforce Monument, Queen Victoria Square, Kingston Upon Hull (1880/1900) by Unknown photographerHistoric England
The Wilberforce Monument, Kingston Upon Hull
William Wilberforce was elected Member of Parliament for Hull in 1780. Seven years later, he began to represent the abolitionist cause in Parliament.
He, and his cause, faced opposition but in 1807 An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade was passed. Wilberforce continued to strive for the complete abolition of slavery in British colonies.
Wilberforce died on 29 July 1833, three days after the bill for the emancipation of all slaves had passed its final reading in Parliament. Just a year later, the foundation stone to a monument to honour him was laid in his home town.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Wilberforce Monument.
Thomas Clarkson Memorial, Bridge Street, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire (2007-04-11) by Steve Cole, English HeritageHistoric England
The Clarkson Memorial, Wisbech
The Clarkson Memorial in Wisbech honours Thomas Clarkson, a local man who played an important role in the campaign to end the transatlantic slave trade and the abolition of slavery.
In 1797, he helped to found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and was instrumental in persuading William Wilberforce to represent the cause in Parliament.
Clarkson died in 1846. His monument was erected in 1880-1. It was designed by the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott and features a seated statue of Clarkson, and panels with reliefs of fellow abolitionists, Granville Sharp and Wilberforce.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Clarkson Memorial.
Anti-Slavery Arch, Farmhill Lane, Stroud, Gloucestershire (2020-06-23) by Steve Baker, Historic EnglandHistoric England
Anti-Slavery Arch, Stroud
The Anti-Slavery Arch was built in 1834 for Henry Wyatt, a clothier and businessman. It is Britain's first anti-slavery memorial.
Wyatt was a supporter of the Stroud Anti-Slavery Society, which pressured the local Member of Parliament to vote for the abolition of slavery.
A plaque on the Arch reads:
Erected to commemorate the abolition
of slavery in the British colonies
The first of August A.D. MDCCCXXXIV
The Arch was originally an entrance to the carriage drive of Farmhill Park, Wyatt's home since 1817. The house was demolished in the 1930s and a local authority housing estate built on the site.
Read the National Heritage List entry for the Anti-Slavery Arch.
People strolling past the statue of Edward Colston, Colston Avenue, Bristol (1895/1900) by Unknown photographerHistoric England
Heritage and the transatlantic slave trade
Street names, monuments and buildings can bring us face to face with England's rich and complex history. Parts of this history are painful, or shameful by today's standards.
Historic England, and its predecessor, English Heritage, have conducted and commissioned research into the legacies of the transatlantic slave trade in the nation's heritage assets, and Black British history.
You can discover more about:
The Slave Trade and Abolition
The Impact of Transatlantic Slavery on England’s Built Environment: a Research Audit
Legacies of Slavery and Abolition in Listed Places
Black British History
and read our statement on contested heritage.
Historic England is the public body that helps people care for, enjoy and celebrate England's spectacular historic environment, from beaches and battlefields to parks and pie shops.
Discover the Historic England Archive.
