When, in the year 1867, the plan for this new Post Office building in Small Street had been prepared and Treasury authority obtained for the expenditure of a sum of £8,000 in the erection of the building, the Inland Revenue Department asked for accommodation in the structure, and it was arranged that its staff should be lodged on the first floor of the new building. The building itself had, therefore, to be carried to a greater height than had originally been contemplated. This alteration cost £3,000. There is still evidence in the building of the occupation of the Inland Revenue staff, iron gates and spiked barriers in the first floor passage to cut off their rooms from the Post Office section still remaining. The authorities of the Post Office accepted tenders in September, 1887, for the demolition of certain premises known as "New Buildings" and for the erection thereon of additional premises for the accommodation of the growing Postal staff. The work began on the 26th September. The cost of the new wing was estimated at £16,000. Beneath the superstructure there were two tiers of ancient cellars, one below the other, forming part of the original mediæval mansion once owned by the Creswick family; and the removal of these was attended with much difficulty. The new building was opened for business on the 4th November, 1889. In Parliament. Session 1903. Post Office (Acquisition of Sites) Power to the Postmaster-General to acquire Lands, Houses, and Buildings in Bristol for the service of the Post Office. Notice is hereby given that application is intended to be made to Parliament in the next session for an Act for the following purposes or some of them (that is to say):--To empower His Majesty's Postmaster-General (hereinafter called 'the Postmaster-General') to acquire for the service of the Post Office, by compulsory purchase or otherwise, the lands, houses, and buildings hereinafter described, that is to say:-- "Bristol: (Extension of Head Post Office). Certain lands, houses, offices, buildings and premises situate in the parish of St. Werburgh, in the city and county of Bristol, in the county of Gloucester, and lying on the south-west side of Small Street, and the east side of St. Leonards Lane." [Illustration: [_By permission of "The Bristol Observer."_ THE BRISTOL POST OFFICE AS ENLARGED IN 1889.] Thus commenced a portentous notice which appeared in a Bristol newspaper, and had reference to the Bristol Water Works premises being acquired for the further enlargement of the Post Office buildings. The superficial area of the ground on which the Bristol Post Office stands is a little over 17,000 square feet. The new site joins the present Post Office structure, and has a frontage of 88 feet to Small Street. Its area is 11,715 superficial feet, so that the enlargement will be considerable but by no means excessive, having regard to the extremely rapid development of the Bristol Post Office business. CHAPTER III.