Bristol

Bristol (pop. 396,600), large city and port in southwestern England, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Frome rivers, 6 mi (9.7 km) from the mouth of the Avon. First a Saxon settlement called Brycgstowe (“the place of the bridge”), by Norman times it had become a wool center and the chief port for trade with Ireland. The textile trade flourished and in 1540 Bristol became a city. In the 17th and 18th centuries, when new trade routes had been established, Bristol shipowners engaged in “the triangular trade of the Atlantic,” dealing in sugar, slaves, and tobacco. Another source of prosperity in the 18th century was the development of the city as a fashionable spa, making use of the hot mineral springs. There are some fine historic buildings and a famous suspension bridge (1864) that spans the precipitous Avon gorge.

See also: England.