In its 150-year history, Earl Watches & Clocks has witnessed the earliest self-winding watch of the mid-1800s, the first Rolex in the early 1900s, and the pioneering 1914 wrist watch with an alarm.

But in these days of superstores and malls, this small independent retailer in The Horsefair, Bristol, has been forced to shut its historical doors for the very last time.

Earls has been trading in Bristol city centre and Broadmead for more than 150 years and, until it closed on Saturday, was one of the few remaining independent traders in the area.

The shop has become well-known, not only as a small jeweller, but as a watch, clock and jewellery repairer, operating from a workshop above the shop.

Brothers Robert and Richard Tarbuck, along with their late father, David, have run the business for more than 50 years between them, together with their staff Julie Treasure, the late Pat Hadlow, and Ann Hackman.

The business started its life near The Christmas Steps, before relocating to Silver Street when it was bombed during the war.

David, who died eight years ago, and four partners took over the shop in Silver Street in the late 1960s, and by the 1970s, David was running the shop himself.

Earl Watches & Clocks moved to The Horsefair in the late 1970s, when Robert and Richard took over.

Robert, who is married to Caroline and has two children, told the Bristol Evening Post: "My dad was a very skilled man.

"I used to work with him in the shop on weekends and in the school holidays. Business in The Horsefair has been reasonably successful for 25 years.

"But when work started on Cabot Circus, that saw the business's demise. Takings were down 25 per cent; it was still making a profit, but not enough to be viable."

The brothers had planned to renew their shop lease for another 10 years, but were told by their landlord that plans were in place to redevelop the area within five years. The annual shop rent was also put up by £7,000.

"It's sad, but unfortunately this is the way business is going to be," said Robert, 52, who lives in Ashley Down.

"They're not interested in independent retailers. If the landlords were to speak to customers, they would realise that people do want to keep unique shops like ours open. They want a unique shopping experience."

Richard, 49, of Wotton-under-Edge. who is getting married to partner Alison on Saturday, said: "This is the end of an era for independent retail. It's just dying. The building of Cabot Circus was the beginning of the end for us. It killed other parts of Broadmead."

Meanwhile, after 15 years of trading, the Broadmead branch of Mastershoe, on Bond Street, will close next month.

On the edge of Cabot Circus, this store has survived three years of building construction chaos, but since the builders went home last September, customer traffic has never fully recovered, forcing the store into loss.

The company said that all of the other Mastershoe stores, including the one on Park Street, continued to trade strongly and had not been affected by the new centre.

Director Jon Giles said: "Broadmead has become a very difficult trading environment. Many high profile retailers, such as Next, have abandoned Broadmead for Cabot Circus. This has left swatches of empty shops and begun an influx of temporary discount traders."

John Hirst, Broadmead manager said: "It is extremely sad to see any store close. Independent traders are an important part of the retail mix in Broadmead.

"As with any shopping area across the country we have been hit by the recession and independents are particularly feeling the strain."

He added that within the past six months, two independent shops have closed in Broadmead and nine stores have opened, of which three were independents.