Introduction
Rownham is an odd place. It is not a district or electorial ward, and it is not listed in Wikipedia's Subdivisions of Bristol. The name lives on in Rownham Hill and its woods in Long Ashton, across it's most famous feature, the Rownham Ferry across the River Avon, and on into Hotwells.
There never was a village or even a hamlet called Rownham. In fact the place was the crossing - as a ferry at high tide and a floating pontoon bridge at low tide. Hence it's old name of Rownham Passage dating back to 12th Century.
Rownham Marsh
Like other areas of Bristol such as St. Augustine's, Canon's Marsh, and St Philip's, the distrct now known at Hotwells was once very wet. Much of the built up area of Hotwells was originally a salt marsh known as Rownham Mead. Nearly half of the Mead was excavated in the early 19th century to construct the Cumberland Basin, which is part of the entrance lock system to the city docks.
Rownham Ferry
The crossing acorss the River Avon is known to have existed at least as far back as 1200. In 1528, Thomas Alye claimed the right to operate a ferry at Rownham in competition with the long-established one run by the abbot of St Augustines. Alye undercut the abbot's prices in an effort to get the business, charging a farthing (1/4 of a penny) for foot passengers and 1/2d for riders and their horses. The abbot took decisive action to stop this, sending his servants to seize the rival boat. Alye took his case to the Court of Star Chamber, where the circumstances of the seizure were debated; Alye claimed that the seizure had been carried out in a violent and riotous manner, whilst the abbot denied this. It appears that the abbot won the case, as the ferry remained in his hands, and later passed to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral. The fact that he was prepared to take such decisive action illustrates the importance of the ferry at the time.
The crossing was so important it was marked on almost every map made, including this 1746 one:
Rownham Ferry on John Jacob de Wilstar's (1725-1746) 1746 map
Image: Bristol Know Your Place
Rownham Ferry by S. H. Grimm in 1788
Image from Bristol Know Your Place
In the above drawing, on the far left is the ferry house on the Somerset side of the river; in the 19th century this was extended and became the New Inn but it had disappeared by the mid-20th century. In the centre is a small house besides the abandoned lead works. Further downstream on the Somerset side is a large building which M. Hill's 1787 Plan of Clifton & Hotwells identifies as a cotton mill. A little later this was adapted to produce red dyes, and became known as Scarlet Mill. The building was demolished when the Portishead railway was laid down in the 1860s.
John Gillard was the Ferry man from circa 1800 to at least 1831 and he lived in Rownham Place.
The opening of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in 1864 reduced the ferry's importance; two years later its business was further hit by the closure of the nearby Rownham tea gardens to make way for the Portishead railway.
In 1793, Mathews Directory said that many visitors to the Hotwells cross the river at Rownham ferry and walk to the sweet and wholesome village of Ashton to eat strawberries and cream." The Strawberry Gardens at Bower Ashton flourished until about 1851.
Rownham Ferry from the Somerset side in 1797 by John Hassell
Image from Wikimedia (Public Domain)
At low tide, planks would be placed across beached boats and the crossing made that way as in the following 1862 photo.
The Rownham Ferry at low tide in 1862
This crossing looks precarious and muddy
Image from Bristol Know Your Place
The Rownham Ferry and the New Inn
Image from BS24/7. The photo was taken by Francis Bedford betwen 1865 and 1870.
In the above photo, apart from the suspension bridge which was opened in 1864, the scene hasn't change much since S. H. Grimm made his drawing in 1788.
In 1873, it was moved upstream (south) away from North Junction Lock when new entrance locks for the Harbour were built. The ferry had two slipways: Aston Meadows and Cumberland Basin. At the lowest tide it was a bridge of boats rather than a ferry boat. The cost in 1932 was 1d rather than the usual 1/2d, due to the tidal nature of the crossing and the mud which had to be cleaned of the slipways after each high tide.
Even after moving, in the 1930s at low tide the crossing was made on beached boats with planks across them:
The Rownham Ferry at low tide in the 1930s
In the above image, on the right can be seen "Clock House" which was the residence of the Harbour Master. When this photo was taken it was Captain Ernest Trewin. It was demolished to make way for the Cumberland Basin redevelopment.
The Rownham Coffee Tavern in Bristol was a prominent late-19th-century teetotal "temperance house". It wassituated near the Dcok Master's house.
The Rownham Ferry slipways
Image from Bristol Know Your Place, taken March 19, 2015
The ferry ceased operating completely on New Year's Eve, 1932.
The ferry slipways are very muddy but can sometimes be seen at low tide. Now and again various canoe enthusiasts try and clear them.
Hermits
Rotha Mary Clay in her The Hermits and Anchorites of England says there were hermit cells above Rownham Ferry .They are also mentioned in Samual Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England published in 1848 which mentions a "chapel and a hermitage," on the Ashton side of the crossing, but they had long gone even when the book was published.
Other History
The 1855 Ashmead map of part of Hotwells
Areas such as Rownham Wharf, Tavern, and Place can be found on the map
Image from Bristol Know Your Place
Rownham Place first appears on the 1828 Ashmead map. It is also marked on the 1874 Ashmead map but is not on any other subsequent maps. In Mathews Directory of 1919, the wood carvers Williams and Anderson were listed as being in Rownham Place.
Other residents over time in Rowwnham Place were:
Eliz. Dunstan, Milliner, 1830
Alex. Elliott, 1830
Thomas Elliott, Baker, 1830
William Fitzgerald, Tailor, 1830
Thomas Jones, Butcher, 1830
Alfred Lewis, Mineralogist, 1830
Jos. Miller, Cabinet Maker / Upholsterer, 1830
Thomas Perry, Plasterer / Tiler / Painter, at #2 in 1830
Benjamin Pilliner, Gent, 1830
William Pitt Watkins, Butcher, 1832
Rex family, 1841 - 1851
Isabella James with Sarah Jenkins, grocer, at #6 in 1851
R. Pike, tailor and draper, at #5 in 1851
Robbins family, 1851
P. Thomas, confectioner, 1851
Wm. Webber, mariner, 1851
Adams family, 1861
Patience Hyart, at #3 in 1870
Hewlett family, at #6 between 1871 to 1876
Cowham family, 1871 - 1891
Silcox family, at #3 in 1877
Henry James, Hairdresser, at #1 in 1879
Alfred Lacey, engineer's fitter, at #4 in 1903
On the Hotwells side of the ferry there were places such as the Rownham Tavern and Rownham Hotel. The Rownham Tavern was demolished in 1873.
The Rownham Hotel, on the corner of Freeland Place, was originally named the Hotwells Tavern and renamed in 1873. It had been in business since 1823.
Rownham Hotel, 342 Hotwell Road in 1915
Image: Gloucestershire Pubs
The boarded up Rownham Hotel in the early 1970s Image from Bristol Know Your Place
The Rownham Hotel narrowly escaped being demolished in 1963 when the Cumberland Basin flyover was built, but was demolished in 1974 when part of Hotwells Road was widened into a dual carriageway.
On the Ashton side was the New Inn. From 1891 to the 1920s it was the site of the Sunlight Laundry.
The New Inn in 1934
Modern Development
In the 1980's the Rownham Mead housing development was built over Merchants Dock and Rownham Wharf.
Sources & Resources
A 1000 Years of Bristol Docks - Bristol City Docks
A History of Long Ashton - Long Ashton Local History Society
Beggars Bush Lane
Bristol Know Your Place - Part of the wonderful collection provided by Bristol City
Crossing the River - Bristol Museums
Hotwells - Wikipedia
Long Ashton - Bristol and Avon Family History Society
On the Search for a Long-lost Pub - BS24/7
Rownham Ferry in Bower Ashton - Bower Ashton, Bristol
Rownham Ferry Slipway - Avon Canoe Pilot
Rownham Hotel - Bristol's Lost Pubs