Bristol

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A city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, United Kingdom, 115 miles (185 km) west of London. It has a population of 400,000, and metropolitan area population of 550,000. It is England's sixth, and the United Kingdom's ninth, most populous city, and one of England's core cities. It was chartered as a city in 1155 and county in 1373. For half a millennium it was the second or third largest English city, until the rapid rise of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution of the 1780s.

Geography

It borders on the unitary districts of Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, and has a short coastline on the Bristol Channel. The major rivers are the Avon and the Frome. The famous Avon Gorge, the Clifton Suspenion Bridge and the Avon Tidal Bore are great attractions. Some of the main districts are Avonmouth, Bishopsworth, Brislington, Bristol, Clifton, Fishpomds, Henleaze and Mangotsfields.

History

There is evidence of settlement in the Bristol area from the Paleolithic era, with 60,000-year-old archaeological finds at Shirehampton and St Annes,. There are iron age hill forts near the city, at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down on the side of the Avon Gorge, and on Kingsweston Hill, near Henbury. During the Roman era there was a settlement, Abona, at what is now Sea Mills, connected to Bath by Roman road, and another settlement at what is now Inns Court. There were also isolated villas and small settlements throughout the area.

Place of Interest

SS Great Britain, British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, City Museum and Art Gallery, Royal West of England Academy, Fleet Air Arm Museum, Georgian House, The Red Lodge, Blaise Castle, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Severn Bridges Visitor Centre, Museum of Bristol, Watershed, Arnolfini, The Architecture Centre, Berkley Castle, Tyntesfield, Dyrham Park, John Wesley's Chapel, Lord Mayor's Chapel, St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol Cathedral, Castle Park, Queen Square, Bristol Zoo