Bristol Bridge
Distance: 1.53 km.
It is unclear exactly when the first bridge over the River Avon was built. The river itself has a wide tidal range, and so could only have been forded twice a day. This significant crossing gave Bristol its Anglo-Saxon name ‘Brycgstow’, the meaning of which is ‘bridge-place’. It may be that former bridges were situated slightly upriver and nearer to St. Peter’s church, the ruins of which can be seen from the existing bridge.
Bristol Bridge, which was originally constructed of wood. This was replaced, in 1247, by a four-arched bridge constructed in stone. Many houses with shopfronts were built upon it. These bridge houses were up to five stories high, including the attic rooms, and they overhung the river much as Tudor houses overhung the streets. Eventually, the bridge became too small for modern traffic and, in 1768, a bill was passed through parliament, by the Bristol MP Sir Jarrit Smyth, for it to be replaced with the one you see today.
