For most of its long history the city of Bristol, England, has been a trading and shipping center. This west coast port is located 8 miles (13 kilometers) from the broad Severn Estuary, at the junction of the Frome and Avon rivers, in the historic counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset. The port is administered by the Port of Bristol Authority and includes the docks at Avonmouth, Portishead, and West Dock. Many landmarks survived air attacks during World War II and recall Bristol's former glories. Among them is St. Mary Redcliffe, called by Queen Elizabeth I “the fairest, the goodliest, and the most famous parish church in England.” It was built in the 13th century. The cathedral, once an abbey of St. Augustine, goes back to 1142. Other historical buildings are the New Room in Broadmead, the first Methodist chapel in the world; Broadmead Baptist Chapel; and the Theatre Royal, built in 1766. Bristol is an educational center. Among its schools are the Bristol Grammar School, the Cathedral School, and St. Elizabeth's Hospital, all founded in the 16th century; and Colston's School, founded in 1708. The University of Bristol, founded as University College in 1876, was established in 1909. In and around Bristol a number of modern industries have developed, including sugar refining, tobacco processing, cocoa and chocolate making, wine bottling, and the making of fine glass, porcelain, and pottery. Aircraft are designed and constructed at Filton, just outside Bristol, where the British-French Concorde supersonic airliner was built. Bristol's airport is at Lulsgate to the southwest. In about the year 1000 a Saxon settlement began to grow up on the site of Bristol. By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 it had reached considerable size and importance. Bristol was incorporated as a town in 1155, and the harbor was created in 1247. From the time of King Edward III, who ruled from 1327 to 1377, the city has been active in trade. Wool from Ireland and wine from Spain and Portugal were imported in return for the export of woolen cloth. In 1497 John and Sebastian Cabot sailed from Bristol to the New World (see Cabot, John and Sebastian). Bristol's roads were improved in about 1815 by the engineer John Loudon McAdam with his technique of laying raised stone surfaces. These roads became a model for road improvements throughout Great Britain. Bristol was the launching point in 1838 for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western, which was the second steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean (see Brunel, Marc Isambard and Isambard Kingdom). The coming of the railroad to Bristol in 1841, followed by dock extensions at nearby Avonmouth and Portishead, led to a revival of the city's trade—mainly in meat, bananas, tobacco, and wine. Population (2000), 406,200. |