Bristol

Help wanted :-

Every now and then I get emails from people who would like further information on specific questions they have about Bristol. I've gathered these together and they are now on the Help Wanted pages, please pay this page a visit and contact me if you know anything at all about them.

Bristol - A history and a Guide

This is my history and guide to my home city - Bristol. I hope you enjoy it as Bristol is one of the best cities in the world.

A good place to start would be to tell you where we are . . .

Bristol is situated 120 miles west of London, England. If you are interested the city centre is located at Lat. 51:27:15 Long. 2:35:12. and at Ordnance Survey co-ordinates 359249 173007

Map showing Bristol in relation to some major UK cities

Here's an interesting fact about the UK - Everyone lives within 60 miles of the coast.

Map showing Bristol and some major surrounding cities and towns.

The area bounded by the mauve rectangle is shown in the satellite photograph below.

To give you some idea of the scale of this map the distance between Bristol and Bath is 15 miles

Satellite photo of the area around Bristol

If you would like to see more detailed maps then go to my links page

Bristol has a population of around 376,000

Satellite photo of Bristol

Each side of this map is about 10 miles long.

A1	Nightingale Valley	B1	Abbots Leigh	C1	Ashton Court	D1	Bower Ashton
E1	Ashton Vale	F1	Ashton Gate	G1	Bedminster	H1	Bedminster Down
I1	Highridge	J1	Withywood	K1	Bishopsworth	L1	Hartcliffe
M1	Headley Park	N1	Novers Hill	O1	Windmill Hill	P1	Totterdown
Q1	Filwood Park	R1	Knowle	S1	Hengrove	T1	Whitchurch
U1	Stockwood	V1	Brislington	W1	Arno's Vale	X1	Broomhill
Y1	Saint Annes	Z1	Barton Hill	A2	Easton	B2	Whitehall
C2	Saint George	D2	Crews Hole	E2	Conham	F2	Longwell Green
G2	Somerdale	H2	Willsbridge	I2	Oldland	J2	Cadbury Heath
K2	Warmley	L2	Hanham	M2	Kingswood	N2	Two Mile Hill
O2	Speedwell	P2	Fishponds	Q2	Eastville	R2	Stapleton
S2	Staple Hill	T2	Mangotsfield	U2	Downend	V2	Frenchay
W2	Hambrook	X2	Harry Stoke	Y2	Stoke Gifford	Z2	Bradley Stoke
A3	Patchway	B3	Filton	C3	Lockleaze	D3	Horfield
E3	Ashley Down	F3	Montpelier	G3	Cotham	H3	Redland
I3	Westbury Park	J3	Bishopston	K3	Golden Hill	L3	Henleaze
M3	Eastfield	N3	Southmead	O3	Brentry	P3	Henbury
Q3	Westbury on Trym	R3	Coombe Dingle	S3	Kings Weston	T3	Lawrence Weston
U3	Avonmouth	V3	Shirehampton	W3	Sea Mills	X3	Stoke Bishop
Y3	Durdham Downs	Z3	Clifton	A4	Hotwells	B4	City Centre
C4	Broadmead	D4	Saint Pauls	E4	Saint Werburghs	F4	Old Market

Present day Bristol is a conglomeration of the many villages and hamlets that used to surround the original city and have since been swallowed up by it. Usually, but not always, all that has survived are the names of these villages. Hence people still talk of Brislington and Clifton villages.

Incidentally, do you know the difference between a village and a hamlet?

(The answer is at the bottom of the page)

Part of a 1975 tourist brochure
Published by the Bristol City Public Relations Office

Many thanks to Libby Maher, who visited Bristol in 1975. She picked up this brochure and kept it for 46 years before giving it to me in July 2021. I have scanned it and made a PDF from it.

Other useful sites you may like to visit can be found at :-

Old English Weights, Measures and Coinage

While I was writing this I realised that some of the terms I would be using are no longer in common usage, these sites will give more information

Chard Jewellers an excellent site that has much information on the British pre-decimal coinage system
English Weights and Measures
Footrule - pages explaining the old volume / capacity measurements
Jaques Proot - pages explaining all sorts of old measurements
Paul Lewis - a page explaining the old British pre-decimal coinage system
General Unit Conversion

United Kingdom

Association of British Counties
The Counties of England
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch from the BBC in 1964
Generic Forms in Place Names (Wikipedia)
Key to English Place Names
Toponymy of England (Wikipedia)

Other pages in this section...

Place Names
Legends, Pre-history and the Romans
Birth of the City
1100 Onwards - Norman Times, Knights Templar, King John, New Frome and Bristol Bridge, Three Edwards, Trade Guilds and the Red Books, The Plague and after, The New Charters - we become a County, the Cathedral, St. Mary Redcliffe
Voyages
1450 Onwards - The War of the Roses, Social Life, Queen Elizabeth I's visit, the Great House, Red Lodge, America and other Colonies, The Civil War - Causes
1650 Onwards - The Civil War, Charles II, Growing City, Diarists, Religious quarrels, Monmouth's Rebellion, The Bloody Assize, The Duke and Duchess, The Slave Trade, Other Trade and Industries
1700 Onwards - Social Life, Prisons, Relief for the Poor, Education, News, George Whitefield, the Wesleys and Methodism, Prisoners of War and Manor Park Hospital, The Industrial Revolution, cast iron, the roads, lead shot, postal services. Dr Tucker, Edmund Burke, Joseph Cottle and the poets, Humphry Davy
Riots (Page 1) Food Riot - 1709, Political Riot -1714, Weavers Riots - 1728 / 1729, Turnpike Riots - 1727 - 1749, Food Riot - 1753, Bristol Bridge Riot - 1793, Political Reform Riot - 1831
Riots (Page 2) G.I. Riot - 1944, Political Riot -1980
The Blitz (Page 1) - The WWII bomb raids on Bristol
The Blitz (Page 2)
The Castle (Page 1) - The Norman Conquest, Robert Fitzhamon and Robert of Caen, Matilda, Maud and Stephen
The Castle (Page 2) - King Richard I and King John, Taxes, The Mint, Wales
The Castle (Page 3) - Peter de la Mare, Edward II, The Despensers, Death of Edward II, William Scrope, War of the Roses, Wyrcester's Account of the Castle, More Taxes
The Castle (Page 4) - Religious Dissent, Civil War, The End of the Castle, Remains
The Castle (Page 5) - Remains
The Castle (Page 6) - Remains, Sources
Blaise Castle (Page 1)
Blaise Castle (Page 2) - including Sea Mills and Blaise Hamlet
Castle Green (Page 1) - including Victoria Street
Castle Green (Page 2)
Union Street - Fry's chocolate & excavations of a medieval site
Broadmead - John Wesley's Chapel, Merchant Tailors Almshouse and Quakers Friars
The Old City (Page 1)
The Old City (Page 2)
The Old City (Page 3)
The Old City (Page 4)
Christmas Steps (Page 1)
Christmas Steps (Page 2)
St. Mary Redcliffe (Page 1)
St. Mary Redcliffe (Page 2)
St. Mary Redcliffe (Page 3)
College Green (Page 1)
College Green (Page 2)
King Street (Page 1)
King Street (Page 2)
Clifton (Page 1)
Clifton (Page 2) - St. Andrew's Church
Avon Gorge (Page 1) - Leigh Woods, Stokeleigh Camp, Nightingale Valley, Suspension Bridge, Suicides
Avon Gorge (Page 2) - Suspension Bridge, Flying
Avon Gorge (Page 3) - Rock Slide, Observatory, Camera Obscura, Giant's Cave
Hotwells (Page 1) - Clifton Rocks Railway, the Hotwell
Hotwells (Page 2) - Samuel Plimsoll, the Floating Harbour
City Docks
Bedminster (Page 1) - The New Cut, Old gaol
Bedminster (Page 2) - Police Station, Pubs, Bristol Blue Glass
Bedminster (Page 3)
Bedminster (Page 4)
Bedminster (Page 5)
Bedminster (Page 6)
Bedminster (Page 7)
Old Market
St. George (Page 1)
St. George (Page 2)
St. George (Page 3)
St. George (Page 4) - Old Georgians
Temple (Page 1)
Temple (Page 2)
Temple (Page 3)
Arno's Vale Cemetery (Page 1)
Arno's Vale Cemetery (Page 2)
Brislington
@ Bristol
Oldest House
Anchorites and Hermits
I. K. Brunel (Page 1) - Bristol Suspension Bridge, Temple Meads, Great Western Railways
I. K. Brunel (Page 2) - SS Great Western, SS Great Britain
Ma Pugsley
Wilmot Family
Yeamans - An important 17th century family
1935 Hamham Woods Murder of Mrs. Gladys Nott
Boundaries (Page 1)
Boundaries (Page 2)
Early Photography
Polar Adventures
Seals, Arms and Logos (Page 1)
Seals, Arms and Logos (Page 2)
Breweries (Page 1)
Breweries (Page 2)
1893 Exhibition (Page 1) - The 1893 Industrial and Fine Arts Exhibition
1893 Exhibition (Page 2)
Lead Working
Historical Perspective
Bristol Postcards
Virtute et Industrial
Other Sites
Bibliography (Page 1)
Bibliography (Page 2)
Bibliography (Page 3)
Help Wanted (Page 1)
Help Wanted (Page 2)
Help Wanted (Page 3)

(A village has a church and a hamlet hasn't.)