Bristol & South Gloucester

Towns & Villages

AUST

Lying north of Bristol on the banks of the River Severn, the village of Aust is dominated by the spectacular Severn Bridge that links England and Wales.


Huge numbers of prehistoric animal bones as well as Roman remains have been found within the strata of local cliffs.


On the opposite side of the river is the beautiful Forest of Dean.

The Boar's Head, Aust -
Photo: Sharon Loxton CCL

AVONMOUTH

Avonmouth Docks - Photo: Chris Heaton CCL

Lying at the mouth of the River Avon on the Bristol Channel, this urban town became a prosperous port after the local dock was built here in the 18th century, eventually supplanting Bristol as the area’s chief trading port.

BERKELEY

This small village outside Bristol is dominated by the 12th century Norman fortress of Berkeley Castle, the place where Edward II met a macabre death in 1327 when assassins apparently skewered him with a red-hot iron.



Nearby, the Jenner Museum is dedicated to Edward Jenner (1749-1823), who used cowpox to defeat smallpox and discovered the principle behind the use of vaccinations.

Berkeley Castle -
Photo: chestertouristcom CCL

BLAISE HAMLET

Blaise Hamlet - Photo: Richard Law CCL

This is a unique village within the grounds of a large estate, consisting of nine private, thatched cottages with Jacobean chimneys.

Set round a village green, they were built in the 19th century by the banker and philanthropist John Harford for his retired employees.

Now owned by the National Trust, they were designed by the architect John Nash.

The huge Blaise Castle estate is now run by the local council and boasts a wooded gorge, babbling brooks and a stunning wildflower meadow.

Harford’s home, 18th century Blaise Castle House, has been transformed into a museum of everyday life.

Harford hired Humphrey Repton to lay out the grounds.

Nearby Blaise Castle is a charming gothic folly.

Blaise Castle House -
Photo: Linda Bailey CCL

CLIFTON

Clifton Suspension Bridge -
Photo: Philip Halling CCL

Boasting the longest Georgian crescent in the country, Clifton’s prosperity dates back to the 18th century when it became home to many affluent Bristolians.



Its chief modern attraction, however, is the 702ft Clifton Suspension Bridge, which towers 245ft above the dramatic Avon Gorge and attracts visitors from across the globe.

The magnificent structure was the first major commission undertaken by Britain’s greatest engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who sadly died in 1859 at the age of 53 before the cash-strapped project could be finished.




Clifton’s Roman Catholic cathedral is remarkable in having taken only three years to build in the 1970s while Clifton Observatory stands high on a hill above the Avon and contains the only camera obscura in the country open to the public.

The Observatory Clifton -
Photo: Richard Thomson CCL

Hippo Bristol Zoo - Photo: William J Bagshaw CCL

The 19th century observatory was created in a disused windmill by the artist William West.






Nearby is St Vincent’s Cave, otherwise known as Giant’s Cave, and Bristol Zoo, which stands on local downs.

DYRHAM

This is the site of one of the most important battles in medieval history when the Saxon king Ceawlin of Wessex defeated the British in AD 577 before taking Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester.


Dyrham’s 17th century mansion house is replete with wood panels and contains furniture used by the diarists Pepys and Evelyn.


Its first owner was William Blathwayt – Secretary of War between 1686 and 1704 - who collected many Dutch objets d’art.


The sumptuous property was a location for the Hollywood movie ‘Remains of the Day’ and is surrounded by magnificent parkland.

Dyrham Park -
Photo: Brian Robert Marshall CCL

FILTON

Concorde - Photo: John Allan CCL

A Bristol suburb, Filton boasts a 12th century church and an important link with the evolution of aircraft.


The British & Colonial Aeroplane Company was launched here in 1910 and later became the Bristol Aeroplane Company, producing warplanes such as the Blenheim and the Beaufighter.


It was transformed into British Aerospace, which later built Concorde.


One of the supersonic jets is now displayed at the local aerodrome while planes in the Bristol Aero Collection are kept at Kemble Airfield, some 40 miles away.

KEYNSHAM

Home since the 1930s of Cadbury’s chocolates, this ancient town lies at the confluence of the rivers Avon and Chew and has long been associated with water-powered mills that once filled the region.


One of them, Albert Mill, is the only dyewood mill still in working order.


Operated by two huge, 18ft waterwheels, it supplied wood dyes to textile and local glove-making companies.


Keynsham’s 13th century parish church is noted for its ornate, pinnacled tower but the oldest building in these parts is a large and impressive Roman villa.


The Avon Valley Country Park is nearby.

St. John's Church Keynsham -
Photo: Martyn Pattison CCL

KINGS WESTON

Kings Weston Hill - Photo: Linda Bailey CCL

This suburb is noted for Kings Weston House, designed by the great architect Sir John Vanbrugh for Sir Edward Southall, Queen Anne’s Secretary of State for Ireland.




Although it is now privately owned it is sometimes open to the public.

KINGSWOOD

Although this Bristol suburb has a medieval church dating back to the 12th century, it is more famous as the place where George Whitefield preached in the open-air to local coal miners and in doing so influenced the great founder of Methodism, John Wesley.

War Memorial Shelter Kingswood -
Photo: James Purkiss CCL

MANGOTSFIELD

Mangotsfield St. James Church -
Photo: ChurchCrawler CCL

This ancient village – a suburb of Bristol - was mentioned in the 11th century Domesday Book.












Its local church dates to the 13th century.

REDLAND

The town is known for its Georgian parish church which started life as a private chapel linked to Redland Court - now a school.















The Court was built between 1732 and 1735 on the site of an Elizabethan house.

Redland Court - Photo: George Evans CCL

SALTFORD

River Avon & Brass Mill - Photo:  ClassDE CCL

This Bristolian village lies on the River Avon and was a noted centre of the localised brass-making industry in the 18th century.



Its old brass mill is the only one to have survived with a furnace and working waterwheel and is now run by a band of enthusiastic volunteers.



Saltford’s church and a restored manor house both date to the 12th century.

WESTBURY-ON-TRYM

With Bristol Zoo nearby, this is an ancient part of Bristol and was named after the River Trym, which flows through it.



An abbey was founded here in the 10th century by St. Oswald of York.



Rebuilt in the 15th century to resemble a miniature castle with turrets and a gatehouse, it was then deliberately damaged by fire on the orders of the royalist Prince Rupert of the Rhine who had made it his headquarters during the English Civil War.



The story turned full circle in the last century when it was again restored.



Westbury’s Church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 12th century and boasts an early 13th century nave and aisles and a 15th century chancel and tower.

Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church -
Photo: Linda Bailey CCL