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BristolIndustrial port and administrative centre of Bristol City unitary authority, in southwest England, situated at the junction of the rivers Avon and Frome, 48 km/30 mi east of Cardiff; population (2001) 380,600. Industries include engineering, microelectronics, tobacco, printing, metal refining, and banking. History There was a settlement here as early as 978, when the wealth of the town derived mainly from the export of English slaves to Ireland. Henry II gave the town its first charter in 1155, and Bristol county was created by royal charter in 1373. The town originally occupied a position wholly on the north of the Avon. The alteration (1239) of the course of the Frome by digging a fresh channel, and the erection of a bridge spanning the river added to the area of the town, linking it also with Redcliffe. During the Middle Ages, Bristol became an important commercial centre; it was recognized as a staple town in 1353, and it enjoyed a considerable trade in wool, leather, wine, and salt. The Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto sailed west from here in 1497 to Asia and landed in Newfoundland, in his ship the Matthew. Bristol had trading links with France, Holland, Portugal, and Spain, and was the second most-important city in England between the 15th and 18th centuries. In 1643, during the Civil War, the city was captured by the royalist Prince Rupert, and later, in 1645, by Thomas Fairfax, commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary army. In the 17th and 18th centuries Bristol developed as the principal British port for trade with the American colonies and the West Indies. The port was central to the slave trade, and was part of a triangular trading system between West Africa and the West Indian and American plantations. Jamaican sugar and molasses and West African cocoa were imported along this trade route, leading to the development of sugar and chocolate industries in Bristol. The city also became a significant centre for shipbuilding, and the Great Western, the first steamer intended for transatlantic trade, was built there in 1838. Bristol's status as a port declined in the 19th century, as it was unable to berth the increasingly large vessels. Nevertheless, during World War II the city suffered serious aerial bombardment due to its continuing industrial importance. Features Bristol has redeveloped its city centre, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Temple Meads railway station (1840) as its focus. His ship SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, was launched from Bristol in 1843 and brought back from the Falklands in 1970; it is now in dry dock at the Great Western dock, where it is being restored and can be visited by the public. The old docks have been redeveloped for housing and industry. The supersonic airliner Concorde was built in the suburbs of Filton, and engine and car manufacturer Rolls-Royce is based here as well. Bristol is home to Ashton Court mansion, which hosts the annual International Balloon Fiesta and the North Somerset show. Bristol 2000 is a Millennium Commission Landmark Project in the city's harbour area and includes ‘Wildscreen World’, the world's first electronic zoo. Clifton Observatory, the only English camera obscura open to the public, is also situated in Bristol, as is the National Lifeboat Museum. Bristol has two universities, the University of Bristol (1909) and the University of the West of England (1992). |
| The City Museum and Art Gallery includes collections of local archaeology, natural history, Chinese glass, Assyrian reliefs dating from the 8th century BC, European paintings, and a large display of English delftware. The Bristol Industrial Museum is home to Britain's oldest working tug, the Mayflower (1861), and the Maritime Heritage Centre. The Merchants' Almshouses date from 1699, and the Theatre Royal (1766) has been home to the Bristol Old Vic theatre company since 1946. |
| The cathedral, originally the abbey church of St Augustine (c. 1140) is the only ‘hall church’ in England, with aisles, naves, and choir all the same height. It retains its Norman chapter house and gatehouse, and the choir dates from c. 1300. It became a cathedral in 1542 when the see of Bristol was created. St Mary Redcliffe church has a large 13th-century tower with an 87-m/285-ft high spire; Queen Elizabeth I is reputed to have described it as ‘the fairest, goodliest and most famous parish church in England’. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul in Clifton (1973) has a circular design. Bristol is also home to John Wesley's chapel (1739), England's earliest Methodist building. |
| Situated northwest of the city centre, Clifton is a Georgian residential district and includes England's longest Georgian crescent, the Royal York Crescent. Isambard Kingdom Brunel also designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge (1864), which spans the Avon Gorge and is 214 m/702 ft long and 75 m/246 ft high. Bristol Zoo is situated in Clifton, as is Clifton College (1862). |
| Emigrants from Bristol colonized Newfoundland in 1610, and Bristol had had a strong impact on the colonization of the USA, to which the many communities there named Bristol testify. St Mary Redcliffe Church houses the memorial to, and the armour of, Admiral Penn, the father of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. |
Industries engineering, microelectronics, tobacco, printing, metal refining, banking, insurance, sugar refining, and the manufacture of aircraft engines, chemicals, paper, soap, Bristol ‘blue’ glass, and chocolate; media technology and tourism are also important. |
Bristol| City located in Virginia and Tennessee (the state border runs through the middle of State Street in the centre of the city), USA, 130 km/81 mi northeast of Knoxville; population (2000) 24,800 (Tennessee), 17,400 (Virginia). This dual city is divided politically, but is one unit economically. Bristol is a centre for the surrounding tobacco- and grain-farming region. Industries include lumber, steel, office machines, pharmaceuticals, missile parts, and textiles. The nearby Tennessee Valley Authority dams and lakes are a source of power, jobs, recreation, and tourist trade. |
| Both Virginia and Tennessee claimed Bristol until 1881, when a compromise was agreed and the city divided between the two; both sections of the city were incorporated in 1890. King College (1867) and Bristol University (1895) are in the Tennessee portion of the city. |
Bristol| City in Hartford County, west-central Connecticut, 25 km/16 mi southwest of Hartford on the Pequabuck River; population (1992) 64,100. Products include clocks, tools, and machinery parts. |
| Bristol was first settled in 1727 and incorporated as a city in 1911. Known as the clockmaking capital of the USA, the city has the American Clock and Watch Museum; Bristol has been a clockmaking centre since the 1790s. It was a hotbed of Tory activity during the Revolution; the name Tory's Den was given to a cave on Chippens Hill. |
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