The Downs are an area of public open
limestone downland in
Bristol, England. They consist of
Durdham Down to the north and east and
Clifton Down to the south, separated by Stoke Road.
Durdham Down
Durdham Down is the north and east part of the Downs, extending to
Westbury Park and
Henleaze, with an area of .
[ It is owned by Bristol City Council for the benefit of the people of Bristol.
]
Clifton Down
Clifton Down is the part of the Downs southwest of the southern part of Stoke Road, between Sneyd Park
Sneyd Park is a suburb of Bristol, England, lying on the western fringe of Clifton Down, adjacent to the Avon Gorge and the Sea Walls observation point. It is part of the Stoke Bishop district. Home to many millionaires, Sneyd Park was originally ...
and Clifton
Clifton may refer to:
People
*Clifton (surname)
*Clifton (given name)
Places
Australia
* Clifton, Queensland, a town
**Shire of Clifton
*Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong
*Clifton, Western Australia
Canada
*Clifton, Nova Scotia ...
and extending to the edge of the Avon Gorge, with an area of .[ It is owned by the ]Society of Merchant Venturers
The Society of Merchant Venturers is a charitable organisation in the English city of Bristol.
The society can be traced back to a 13th-century guild which funded the voyage of John Cabot to Canada. In 1552, it gained a monopoly on sea trading ...
.
Management
Since an Act of Parliament in 1861, when Bristol Corporation acquired Durdham Down, the Downs have been managed as a single unit by the Downs Committee, a joint committee of the corporation and the Merchant Venturers.
Background
They are used for leisure, walking, team sports and sightseeing (especially at the Avon Gorge cliff edge). There are permanent football pitches, used by the Bristol Downs Football League
The Bristol Downs Association Football League is an English football league based in the city of Bristol. It is a completely standalone league system which does not feed into the English football league pyramid. The Downs League is unusual in t ...
. There are also temporary attractions on the Downs, such as circuses and the annual Bristol Flower Show.
A grey concrete water tower of 1954 stands on the Downs near the top of Blackboy Hill, with a long, low, covered reservoir alongside it.
In 1982 6,000 people assembled on the Downs in response to a local newspaper advertisement placed by the makers of the new breakfast television show TV-am. The 6,000 people were used to make the words 'Good', 'Morning' and 'Britain', used for the opening titles of the show. It took 2 hours to get them into place and another 2 hours to shoot.
Since 2016 it has been the site of The Downs Festival
The Downs Festival is a (usually) two day arts festival which takes place on The Downs, Bristol annually, with the first event being held on September 4, 2016 with the headliner being the Bristol-based trip-hop band Massive Attack.
Over the y ...
, an annual music festival with both local and nationally known bands attending.
In popular culture
The Downs played a significant role in Jack Thorne's 2018 Channel 4 mini-series '' Kiri''.
Gallery
Image:Clifton Down - The Observatory (750px).jpg, The Observatory on Clifton Down gives a dramatic view of the Avon Gorge
Image:Bristol cd 041004 kites.jpg, Kites on the Downs in early autumn
Image:Bristol, Avon Gorge from Clifton Down.jpg, The Avon Gorge from the Downs
References
External links
Bristol City Council page on the Downs
*
Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife ProjectMinutes of the Downs Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs
Areas of Bristol
Parks and open spaces in Bristol
Sports venues in Bristol
Severn Beach Line