The Floating Harbour and New Cut
Introduction
The New Cut was designed as part of William Jessop's wider plan to build the Floating Harbour between Rownham and Totterdown Basin. With the original course of the river blocked, something had to be done with the tidal River Avon. The solution was to divert it by digging a trench, the New cut, a distance of 1.8 miles, a little to the south of it.
The tidal range of the River Avon at Bristol can be as much as 15m (49ft) so the new channel had to be both wide and deep. The tidal range is the second highest in the world, only beaten by the range in the Bay of Fundy in Canada which has a tidal range of 16m (52ft).
Construction
Notice of an amendment to the original Act to create the Floating Harbour and New Cut
The London Gazette, September 14, 1805
The notice of amendment to the original Act to create the Floating Harbour and New Cut that appeared in the The London Gazette of September 14, 1805, reads:
Notice hereby given, that Application is intended to be made to Parliament in the next session, for an Act for enlarging, altering, and amending the Powers and Provisions of an Act passed in the Forty-third Year of the Reign of His present Majesty King George the Third, intituled "An Act for improving and rendering more commodious the Port and Harbour of Bristol." In which new Act it is intended to make Provision for varying and altering the Works authorized and directed to be made in and by the said recited Act, by erecting a solid Dam across the River Avon, at or near the Redcliff, in the Parish of Bedminster, in the County as Somerset, to keep up the Water in the Rivers Avon and Froome, above the said Dam, and an Overfall Dam between the present Course of the River Avon and the new intended Course thereof, at or near the Redcliff aforesaid, for the Purpose of passing the Waste Water from the Floating Harbour; the said Overfall to be provided with proper Gates, Doors, or other Contrivances for excluding the Tide Water from the said Floating Harbour, and with Culverts, Sluices, or Ground Hatches for scouring the said Floating Harbour, and laying the same Dry whenever necessary for Repair; and also for making the Two Locks at the Westward End of the Canal or Entrance Bason at Rownham Meads, in that Part of the Parish of Clifton, which lies in the City of Bristol, Forty five Feet wide at the least, and Thirty three Feet wide at the least, respectively, and also for making and maintaining a Road or Way from a Bridge now erecting by the Bristol Dock Company, in the Parish of Temple, in the said City of Bristol, called Hill's Bridge, through Part of the several Parishes of Temple and St. Mary, Redcliff, in the City of Bristol, and that Part of the Parish of Bedminster, which lies in the said City of Bristol, over the said Dam proposed to be erected across the River Avon, at or near the Redcliff, and through that Part of the Parish of Clifton, which lies within the said City of Bristol, into the Hotwell Road there, and for erecting a Gate or Gates, and receiving Tolls thereon; and also for making and maintaining a Road or Way along the Side of the said Canal or Feeder, now excavating by the said Bristol Dock Company through Part of the several Parishes of St. Philip and Jacob, and St. George's, in the County of Gloucester, and for erecting a Gate or Gates, and receiving Tolls thereon.
Geo. Webb Halt, Jno. Osborne.
Bristol, September 9, 1805.
The New Cut runs through the northern edges of Redcliffe, Bedminster, and Southville. It took five years to dig, from May 1, 1804, at 5am to its certification on May 1, 1809, the work carried out by English and Irish navvies. In the first year of work, 780,625 cubic yards (596,831 m3) of earth and rock had been removed at a cost of £120,138 12s. 1d. The original estimated cost of the whole dock scheme was £300,000, but it eventually cost £600,000.
A celebratory dinner was held on Spike Island for a thousand of the navvies, navigational engineers who had worked on the construction, at which "two oxen, roasted whole, a proportionate weight of potatoes, and six hundredweight of plum pudding" were consumed, along with a gallon of strong beer for each man. When the beer ran out a mass brawl between English and Irish labourers turned into a riot which had to be suppressed by a press gang.
The whole length of the New Cut was made to be navigable up to Netham weir on The Feeder, hence the swing bridges later built over it. This is a distance of 3.2 miles (5.1 km). Two bridges were in Jessop's plans for the New Cut, Harford's Bridge at Bedminster and Hill's Bridge near Temple Meads. The River Avon was diverted into the New Cut in January 1809 and on April 2, the first ships passed up the cut and entered the harbour at the Bathurst Basin. That must have been a sight to see, I've never seen anything except trash floating up or down on it.
Looking towards the city from the Suspension Bridge in 2000
The above photo shows the lower entrance to the old Clifton Rocks Railway (bottom left), and the abandoned wharfs at Hotwells. In front of the large brick Bond Tobacco Warehouses is the Brunel Way road system with the Plimsoll Bridge swing bridge. In front of that are the locks into Cumberland Basin and the Floating Harbour. This was the original course of the River Avon, which now continues on through the New Cut to the right of the warehouses.
Looking west, towards Hotwells and Cumberland Basidown, down the New Cut in 2000
There were two entrances to the Floating Harbour from the New Cut. One was from east of Gaol Ferry Bridge, where God's Garden is now, via Bathhurst Basin. The other entrance was to the east of Temple Meads. During World War II, there were fears that if either of these locks were bombed then the Floating Harbour would drain and so both sets of these locks were filled in. Neither were ever reopened.
Ferries
While writing this page I noticed that although the New Cut was opened in 1809, it was only around 100 years later that most of the bridges across it were built. A lot of the Avon and most of the Frome through the city had already been covered over or culverted so what happened at the New Cut? Had the city been effectively cut in two?
It should be remembered that even when the Floating Harbour and New Cut were being built, the only way across the Avon by bridge was by using Bristol Bridge. When the other bridges were evenutally built, they were either swing or drawbridges. The New Cut had enough water traffic that many of them were built as swing bridges. So, what better way of crossing both rivers than by boat or ferry?
There were at least two ferries across the New Cut. The Gaol Ferry, opened around 1838, and Vauxhall Ferry which opened in 1862. Both closed when the bridges at each place were built, in 1900 and 1935 respectively.
In his book, Bristol As It Was 1934-1936, Reece Winstone says that by the time the Gaol Ferry closed a man named George had worked the ferry ferry for 42 years and Richard Albert Thomas had worked there for 50. They charged 1/2d for the crossing. Richard died in 1954, aged 84.
George piloting the Gaol Ferry, August 1934
Photo: Reece Winstone, Bristol As It Was 1934-1936, Burleigh Press, 1986, plate 149
The Gaol Ferry, 1934
Photo: Bristol Museums, PD10254
The ramp and steps to the ferry can still be seen at low tide under the Gaol Ferry Bridge. The ferry was originally operated privately before being taken on by the City Corporation in 1854, who ran the service until it closed in 1935 with the opening of the bridge. In his book, From Brycgstow to Bristol in 45 Bridges, Jeff Lucas wrote that 10,000 people used the ferry service each month at its peak but "silting up of the New Cut meant that the ferryboat had become difficult to operate at very low tides, thus 'inconveniencing the working classes' according to a local Labour councillor".
The Gaol Ferry was accessed via slipways from Cumberland Road on the north bank and through a tunnel beneath Coronation Road on the south bank
Ramp and steps to the ferry under the Gaol Ferry Bridge
Photo: Wikimedia
Samuel Loxton's drawing of the entrance to the Gaol Ferry
Photo: 2018 River Avon Heritage Assessment
The Vauxhall Ferry was started in 1862 but until 1894 it was located about 100m (330ft) further downstream, closer to the Underfall. It was moved to the area where Vauxhall Bridge stands because of an accident on June 19, 1894. 10 to 20 people were on the ferry when the Underfall sluices were opened creating a lot of turbulent water. Five of the passengers tried to jump off the ferry, back to the bank. This upset the ferry and everyone fell into the water. Two of them drowned, and the ferry was moved further upstream.
Ashton Avenue Bridge
The bridge is now a fixed road bridge for pedestrians, cycles, and buses but it started life very differently.
In 1897, the Bristol Harbour Railway, was given permission to extend the line and allow it to make junctions with the westward Portishead Railway and southwards with the lines to Taunton and Exeter Central.
As a joint venture, Bristol Corporation and the Great Western Railway (GWR) engaged as their Chief Engineer J.C. lnglis to design the Ashton Avenue Bridge. The building contractor was John Lysaght and Co., while Armstrong Whitworth were engaged to design the hydraulic movement system. Construction of the 582 feet (177 m) span-bridge started in 1905. The southern pier would support a pivot for the swing span.
The roller bearing for Ashton Swing Bridge at John Lysaght's works, Netham, Bristol
Photo: Bristol Museums, P12699
This supported a moveable 202 feet (62 m) Whipple Murphy truss span, weighing 1,000 long tons (1,000 t), with total metal work of the entire bridge weighing in at 1,500 long tons (1,500 t). With the bridge able to operate both ways, each opening/closing cycle consumed 182 imperial gallons (830 L; 219 US gal) of water from the Floating Harbour. The bridge control cabin, road and railway signal boxes, and the reversible hydraulic motor were all housed in a single structure above the upper road deck over the south pier.
The original estimate for the bridge was £36,500, with the GWR agreeing to pay half, but the the final cost of the bridge was £370,389.
The bridge was opened on October 3 1906, as a swinging double-deck, with the railway lines on the lower deck, a road on the upper, and above all was the control cabin. It opened on average ten times a day until February 1934. The Bristol City Docks site has a nice collection of photos showing the original bridge.
Ashton Avenue Bridge, June 1954
Photo: Reece Winstone, Bristol As It Was 1940-1960
The open Ashton Swing Bridge
Photo: Bristol Museums, PD10248
Time moves on and needs change. In 1951, the city corporation no longre needed the bridge to swing and it was welded closed. When the Plimsoll Bridge at Cumberland Basin was opened in 1965, the upper road deck and control cabin were removed. In 1976, the double railway track over the bridge was reduced to a single track with a foot trail where the other track was.
By 2000, the bridge was neglected, but in 2015, the remaining track was removed and the bridge converted for use by pedestrians, cycles, and buses.
Ashton Avenue Bridge, 2017
Photo: Wikimedia
Chocolate Path
The cycle and pedestian Chocolate Path runs eastwards from the Ashton Avenue Bridge on the northern bank of the New Cut, between the railway that runs alongside Cumberland Road and the river. It ends near God's Garden and gets its name from the tiles that cover the path that resemble chocolate bar blocks.
The Chocolate Path has its problems. In June 2014, it was closed as the surface of the path started to buckle and this was found to be due to "significant ground movements". It was closed again in February 2015, for the same reason.
Part of the Chocolate Path, 2014
In December 2017, the path was closed indefinitely due to safety concerns and while the cause of the cracking was found. £5 million was allocated for the investigations and any remedial work needed.
On January 23, 2020, a 40m (130ft) section of the New Cut wall collapsed pulling a secion of the pathway and railway into the river. Cumberland Road was closed due to the damage done to it.
The collapsed wall of the New Cut, 2020
Photo: Eirian Evans, Wikimedia
Damage to the Chocolate Path after the collapse of 2020
More images of the damage to the New Cut and the repairs made to it can be found on Wikimedia, Flickr and Imgur
Repairs were made and the Chocolate Path was reopened in September 2023.
The Underfall
The Avon is a very muddy river. When the Floating Harbour and New Cut were being planned, William Jessop incorporated a dam at Spike Island which included an Overfall system and sluices to help control the level of water in the Floating Harbour. When it became overfull, water from the Floating Harbout would flow over the Overfall into the New Cut.
The Overfall Dam, near Floating Dock, and Cumberland Basin by by Thomas Leeson Rowbotham, 1827
Photo: Bristol Museums, M2931
Clifton from the Overfall Dam by James Baker Pyne, 1837
Photo: Bristol Museums, K120
Jessop's Overfall worked well at controlling the water level in the Floating Harbour but couldn't cope with the silting. A dredge was moving 120 tons of mud per day out of the Floating Harbour but for some reason that was not used after 1813. An alternative of emptying the harbour twice a year and having workmen dig out the mud continued until at least 1840. In August 1832, the Dock Company had hired Isambard Kingdom Brunel find a solution to the silting problem.
The berths in the Floating Harbour were supposed to be at least 21ft deep. Most were down to just 16ft and some shallows were just 10ft deep. Among the changes proposed by Brunel were two underwater fences that channelled water through Jessop's sluices at his Overfall and a dredge that would pull the mud from the sides into the channel formed. Thus, the Overfall became an Underfall.
The Underfall
The Chocolate Path runs across the top of this structure.
The Underfall, Chocolate Path, railway and Cumberland Road in 2016
Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge is a pedestrian footbridge over the New Cut and links Southville to the south and Spike Island at the north end. It was originally built as a swing bridge but is now fixed in position. The foundations, masonry work, and timber dolphins were built by Messrs J. Durnford and Son; the steelwork by Messrs J. Lysaght, Ltd; and the hydraulic for the opening and closing machinery by W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Co.
The hydrolics are interesting. The waer pressure was provided by pumping engines in the Underfall yard through pipes laid below the bed of the river, but in case of breakdown or other emergency, a hydraulic pump and accumulator worked by hand were provided near the Coronation Road abutment.
The open Vauxhall Bridge in 1910
Photo: Reece Winstone, Bristol As It Was 1914-1900
The bridge is 270 ft long and 10 feet, 8 inches wide. The swinging portion of the bridge weighs 150 tons, and is 158 feet in length. It was opened on Friday, June 1, 1900. The swing part of the bridge was fixed in place in 1936.
During restoration work in 2024, the wrought iron bridge was found to have suffered minor bomb and bullet damage during the blitz of World War II.
Vauxhall Bridge in 2000
Gaol Ferry Bridge
Gaol Ferry Bridge was built as a fixed suspension bridge in 1935 with the official name of Southville Bridge but it was also known as Coronation Bridge. It was built by David Rowell and Co. and J. Lysaght, Ltd.
Construction of the Gaol Ferry Bridge, 1935
Photo: Bristol Museums, P12698
Gaol Ferry Bridge, 2012
Photo: David Hallam-Jones, Wilimedia
God's Garden
God's Garden is the neame given to a small green space on the north side of the New Cut, east of Gaol Ferry Bridge. God's Garden is on the remains of the west bank of the old locks that connected the New Cut with Bathurst Basin and so on to the Floating Harbour. The lock was filled in during World War II to prevent possible bomb damage to them draining Bathurst Basin and the Floating Harbour. The lock never reopened.
Entrance to The Bathurst Basin from The New Cut. Oil painting by Samuel Jackson, 1825
New Cut and Bathurst Basin, 1934
God's Garden
Photo: Paul Harvey, Wikimedia
The blocked Bathurst Basin lock, 2016
Bedminster Bridge
One of the bridges originally planned by Jessop over the New Cut, the orginal cast iron bridge was built by Coalbrookdale Co. It was named Harford's Bridge, after John Scandrett Harford, one of the directors of the Dock Company, who laid the foundation in 1805.
Harford's Bridge as shown on the 1828 Ashmead map
Photo: Bristol Maps
Harford's Bridge
Photo: Bristol Museums, J538
By 1880, it was decided that Harford's Bridge was too narrow and too weak to carry traffic for much longer and a much improved, wider, stronger, bridge was started in 1883. Howard's Bridge appears to have had a roadway of 21 feet 2 inches width and two footways of 4 feet 2 inches each.
The planning of the new bridge was a little convoluted. Slightly to the east of Harford's Bridge, Bristol Waterworks had some "unsightly" water pipes crossing the New Cut. The flow of water through these pipes could not be cut without inconveniencing everyone. A new foottbridge was built to the east of Harford's Bridge to both carry foot traffic and the pipes across the river. Messrs. Finch and Co, of Chepstow built the bridge and it was opened in August, 1882. This footbridge was 10 feet wide, and about 26 feet east from Harford's Bridge.
The new Bedminster Bridge was planned to be at least 60ft wide; a 40ft roadway with two 10ft pedestrian walkways. The bridge was built in stages. The first 18ft wide span was opened for traffic and then Harford's Bridge demolished and the rest of the new bridge completed.
The ornate cast iron 'rope' balustrades were saved from Harford's Bridge and used on the new Bedminster Bridge.
The ornate cast iron 'rope' balustrades
Photo: Neil Owen - Wikimedia
Bedminster Bridge
Photo: Anthony O'Neil - Wikimedia
The 80 ton, 130ft long, temporary footbridge was floated eastwards on a rising tide on four 80 ton barges with 23ft high staging, with the help of the tug Sea Bird, early in the morning of February 26, 1884. As the tide ebbed, the bridge came to rest on the piers already prepared for it. This bowstring bridge was now known as the Langton Street Bridge, better known as the Banana Bridge. A marvellous feat of engineering and logistics it must have been some sight to see, an entire bridge being floated up the New Cut!
In 1962/3, a new concrete bridge was built to the east of 1884 Bedminster Bridge. The traffic over both bridges was made one way and turned into a giant gyratory system.
The two Bedminster bridges in 2016. The 1884 iron one is on the left and the one on the right is the 1963 concrete one.
Langton Street (Banana) Bridge
Langton Street Bridge, better known as the Banana Bridge, is probably the most iconic of the bridges across the New Cut. It also has the oddest history. The bridge wasn't actually built where it is today and the road it was named after no longer exists.
In 1883, work started to replace the 1809 cast iron Harford's Bridge at Bedminster. During that work a temporary footbridge was built alongside it so that people could still cross the New Cut while the work was carried out.
This 1880s map shows the New Cut from between Bedminster and Langton Street
Notice that there's just a single bridge at Bedminster and no bridge at all at Langton Street.
Early in 1884, the first section of the new bridge at Bedminster was finished and the 80 ton, 130ft long, temporary footbridge was floated eastwards on a rising tide on four 80 ton barges and 23ft high staging, with the help of the tug Sea Bird, early in the morning of February 26, 1884. As the tide ebbed, the bridge came to rest on the piers already prepared for it. This bowstring bridge was now known as the Langton Street Bridge, better known as the Banana Bridge. A marvellous feat of engineering and logistics it must have been some sight to see, an entire bridge being floated up the New Cut!
The New Cut Langton Street Bridge or Banana Bridge, June 2019
Photo: Simon Cobb, Wikimedia
Langton Street, that the bridge was named after, was damaged by bombing during World War II and was wholly demolished in 1959 to make way for new housing projects. The bridge is called the Banana Bridge because of its shape. It is difficult to find exactly when the city decided to paint the bridge its wonderfully striking bright yellow, but it appears to have been in 2006.
The area around the New Cut Langton Street Bridge or Banana Bridge, 2016
The course of Langton Street can still be traced to the right of the playing field
Bath Bridge
The bridge here was originally included in the plans for the New Cut drawn up by William Jessop. The original bridge was called Hill's Bridge and built of cast iron by the Coalbrookdale Company.
Hill's Bridge by Hugh O'Neill, 1821
Photo: Bristol Museums
It could be said that it was an unlucky bridge. It had collapsed during contruction on 1806, and on January 14, 1820 was hit by a barge. The Bristol Mercury of Monday, January 20, 1820 described the incident:
We understand that the injury sustained at Hill's Bridge, on Tuesday last, was occasioned by a barge, which, in coming down the river between eight and nine o'clock, A.M., struck against the north-east end of the bridge, vhereby one of the upper iron ribs was broken, and the foot-path on that side of the bridge destroyed. But we have the satisfaction to state that, by the measures immediately adopted by the Directors of the Dock-Company, the remainder of the bridge is made perfectly secure. A man and woman were passing at the time of the crash, but both escaped without injury.
The morning-coaches from Bath and London were in conseqesence obstructed in their passage, and obliged to return through a new and unfinished road, which leads to Bedminster Bridge. Here one of the coaches going to London, from the unevenness of the road and the obstinacy of a waggon-driver, upset on the river-side. Two outside-passengers and the coachman were thrown down the steep bank, and would probably have perished in the river, which was runnng with increased velocity from the thaw, if a sack of oats, also thrown from the top of the coach, and which was impeded in its progress by a stone, had not providentially formed an obstruction within two feet of the water. No other material injury was done: the crowd of spectators at the bridge immediately ran to render assistance; and the coach, being raised, proceeded on its journey.
The end of Hill's Bridge occured on March 22, 1855. It was hit by the steam powered 180 ton coal barge 'John' and immediately collapsed and two people drowned.
The Illustrated London News of March 24, 1855 described what happened:
The force of the collision was so great that, notwithstanding the power of a very strong ebb tide, the steamer rebounded eight or ten feet, and the bridge immediately fell with a tremendous crash, carrying with it everything that happened to be upon it at the time of the occurrence. Of the extent to which life was sacrificed it is impossible as yet to speak with accuracy. Three or four persons swam to the banks, and were got out alive, but it is said that a woman with a child in her arms, and two ladies, who were seen struggling in the water, are missing, as also a little girl, who was seen close to the bridge, and who, it is believed, was upon it. Two carts were thrown by the fall, and one or two of the horses drowned.
The wreckage of Hill's Bridge in 1855
The coal barge 'John' continued to wrk until 1944/5 when it ran aground in the Severn estuary. The barge collected caol from south Wales and delivered it to places around Bristol. It was believed to be the world's oldest working steamship.
A new bridge was quickly built to replace the destroyed Hill's Bridge.
The new Bath Bridge in 1855
Photo: Bristol's Earliest Photographs by Reece Winstone, R. J. Acford, 1974
The above bridge was replaced in 1910. This new bridge was built by the Motherwell Bridge Co. Site construction work was superintended by the Docks Engineers' Department.
The 1910 Bath Bridge in 2017
Photo: Roy Hughes, Wikimedia
In 1959, construction started on a new concrete bridge a little to the west of the 1910 Bath Bridge. The new bridge was opened in 1960 and the bridges were made one way and turned into a giant gyratory system.
The Bath Bridges in 2016. The 1910 iron bridge is to the right and the 1960 concrete bridge is to the left
Restoration
In 2020, a little over 200 years after being built, and especially after the collapse of the bank near the Chocolate Path, the bridges and banks of the New Cut were surveyed and found to be in serious need of restoration. The city started a £12 million scheme to repair and stabilize the banks as well as a £16 million scheme to repair the bridges.
New Cut wall at Coronation Road, July 2025
Photo: Martin Booth, Bristol 24/7
Measures put in place include the monitoring of the walls, the placement of bags of material to relieve stress on the walls until permanent repairs can be made, and then adding new piles to stabilize the walls.
This is a multi-year project but expected to be complete by 2030.
The "Old" Cut
Whenever I think of the New Cut, I cannot but help think "Well, if this is the new one, where was the original or old one?"
Was it called the New Cut because it really was new or is there a deeper meaning?
Bristol has been a port for over 1,000 years. Over that time both main rivers in Bristol, the Avon and the Frome,and lesser ones such as the Trym, Malago, and Markham Brook, at various times, have been dammed, culverted and their courses changed. New watercourses have also been dug, such as the Feeder Canal that starts at Netham Lock where it connects with the tidal Avon in the east, to Totterdown Basin where it connects to the Floating Harbour and the original course of the Avon in the west.
I could find just one short article that mentions the Old Cut by name, but luckily, the history of the Rive Frome is well-known, but the original course of the Frome through the city cannot now be accurately traced.
The original course of the River Frome was from the east and looped around the north of the original city, and ran along the present St Stephen's and Baldwin Streets. It joined the Avon at, or slightly west, of the north side of Bristol Bridge.
Between 1240 and 1246, a channel was dug through St. Stephen's and St. Augustine's Marshes, north of the old city, and looped to the south and joining the river Avon opposite what is now M Shed in the Floating Harbour. It is this channel that could be known as the Old Cut.
In 1828, this section of the Frome was diverted again, through Mylne's Culvert, under the quays and under the bed of the floating harbour at Prince Street Bridge to the emerge in the tidal New Cut, to the east of what is now Gaol Ferry Bridge, locally known as God's Garden in the 21st century.
Sources & Resources
2018 River Avon Heritage Assessment - Internet Archive
A City of Ferries - The Bristol Magazine
A short history of the Port of Bristol by Charles Wells, J. W. Arrowsmith, 1909
Ashton Avenue Bridge - Wikimedia
Ashton Avenue Swing Bridge - Bristol City Docks
Ashton Bridge - Bristol Museums Collections
Bedminster Bridge - Grace's Guide To British Industrial History
Bedminster Bridge - Wikimedia
Bristol as it was 1914-1900, Reece Winstone, Burleigh Press, 1957
Bristol as it was 1934-1936, Reece Winstone, Burleigh Press, 1986
Bristol as it was 1940-1960, Reece Winstone, Burleigh Press, 1988
Bristol City Docks
Bristol Ferry Trip down the New Cut Avon Stories
Bristol Frome River - Bristol City Docks
Bristol in the 1850's by Reece Winstone, R. J. Acford, 1978
Bristol's Earliest Photographs by Reece Winstone, R. J. Acford, 1974
Bristol's Second River
Chocolate Path - Wikimedia
From Brycgstow To Bristol in 45 Bridges by Jeff Lucas and Thilo Gross, Bristol Books, 2019
Coalbrookdale Co - Grace's Guide To British Industrial History
Friends of the Avon New Cut
Gaol Ferry - Bristol Museums Collections
Gaol Ferry Bridge - Wikimedia
Gaol Ferry Bridge to reopen on 8 September - Bristol.gov.uk
Hill's Bridge - Bristol Museums Collections
Hill's Bridge, Bristol - Grace's Guide To British Industrial History
Hill's Cast Iron Bridge - Bristol Wiki
Langton Street Bridge - Wikimedia
Langton Street Bridge, Bristol - Grace's Guide To British Industrial History
Maps of Bristol - Bristol City
New Cut (Bristol) - Wikimedia
New Cut, Bristol - Wikipedia
Quay Notes - October 2007 - Merchants Landing Residents Association
River Avon, Bristol - Wikipedia
River Avon Viaduct, Bristol - Wikimedia
River Frome, Bristol - Wikipedia
The Bristol Dock Company, 1803-1848 - by Peter Malpass, Avon Local History & Archaeology, 2010
The Gaol ferry that was here before Gaol Ferry Bridge - Bristol 24/7
The New Cut - Bristol Floating Harbour
The Waterways of Bristol - Jeff Knaggs
Underfall sluices - Wikimedia
Vauxhall Bridge (Bristol) - Grace's Guide To British Industrial History
Vauxhall Bridge (Bristol) - Wikimedia