Bristol city centre
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Bristol City Centre is the commercial, cultural and business centre of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is the area north of the New Cut of the River Avon, bounded by Clifton Wood 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 ...
to the north-west, Kingsdown and Cotham to the north, and
St Pauls St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
,
Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes,'' inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the ...
and St Phillip's Marsh to the east. The
Bristol Royal Infirmary The Bristol Royal Infirmary, also known as the BRI, is a large teaching hospital situated in the centre of Bristol, England. It has links with the nearby University of Bristol and the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the Wes ...
,
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, also known as the Bristol Children's Hospital, is a Children's hospital, paediatric hospital in Bristol and the only paediatric major trauma centre in South West England. The hospital is part of the Universit ...
, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, the main campus of the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
, the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
and Magistrate's Courts, Temple Meads railway station,
Bristol bus station Bristol Bus and Coach Station serves the city of Bristol in the west of England. It is situated on Marlborough Street, near the Broadmead shopping area. The original bus station and onsite depot were opened in 1958 by the Bristol Omnibus Comp ...
, the Park Street, Broadmead and
Cabot Circus Cabot Circus is a covered shopping centre in Bristol, England. It is adjacent to Broadmead, a shopping district in Bristol city centre. The Cabot Circus development area contains shops, offices, a cinema, hotel and 250 apartments. It covers a tot ...
shopping areas together with numerous music venues, theatres and restaurants are located in this area. The area consists of the council wards of Central, Hotwells & Harbourside, and part of Lawrence Hill.


Historic centre

The mediaeval heart of the city was immediately north of
Bristol Bridge Bristol Bridge is a bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England. The floating harbour was constructed on the original course of the River Avon, and there has been a bridge on the site since long before the harbour was created by impou ...
, between the River Frome and the River Avon, at the
High Cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...
where the four cross streets
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
, Wine Street, Broad Street and
Corn Street Corn Street, together with Broad Street, Wine Street and High Street, is one of the four cross streets which met at the Bristol High Cross, the heart of Bristol, England when it was a walled medieval town. From this crossroads Corn Street an ...
meet. The traditional view that this was also the
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
centre was challenged in the 1970s by archaeology suggesting that Bristol's origins lay to the east of High Street in the area that is now Castle Park, but recent Saxon finds around Small Street favour the earlier view. This was Bristol's pre-war central shopping district, a knot of ancient narrow streets including Wine Street, Mary le Port Street and Castle Street, which was severely damaged in 1940 during the
Bristol Blitz The Bristol Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bristol, England by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War. Due to the presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the city was a target for bombing and was easi ...
. The area to the north and west of Castle Park, around Broad Street, Corn Street and St Nicholas Market largely survived, and contains many historic buildings.


The Centre

The course of the River Frome, immediately to the west of the historic centre, was covered over in stages, in the second half of the 19th century. The area became the hub of the city's tramway network, and was known as the Tramways Centre. It was so called long after the last trams left in 1941, but is now known simply as The Centre. Between 1936 and 1938, the Centre was enlarged when more of the River Frome, between Broad Quay and St Augustine's Parade, was covered in, making way for the Inner Circuit Road. The western side of the Inner Circuit Road has since been largely decommissioned, and recent works have rebalanced The Centre in favour of pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users.


Broadmead

The area northeast of the historic area, around Broadmead, was redeveloped after the war despite overwhelming public opinion against it, and the streets and shops in Broadmead became the main shopping district of the city. Like many 1950s buildings in Britain, affordable but architecturally uninteresting
utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...
buildings form the bulk of the Broadmead area. In the 1980s, some of these were demolished to make way for the
Galleries shopping centre The Galleries was a shopping complex in the town centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester owned by Wigan Council. It was divided into three sections formed from three formerly independent schemes: The Galleries Shopping Centre, Marketgate Shopping C ...
, which is a three level covered street. In 2008, the shopping area was extended over the central ring road to produce a new shopping centre,
Cabot Circus Cabot Circus is a covered shopping centre in Bristol, England. It is adjacent to Broadmead, a shopping district in Bristol city centre. The Cabot Circus development area contains shops, offices, a cinema, hotel and 250 apartments. It covers a tot ...
, which opened in September 2008.


Harbourside

The City Docks were immediately south of the Centre. Although most ships used
Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...
after the Royal Edward Dock was opened in 1908, ocean-going ships were regularly seen at the Centre until the 1960s. In 1972 the
Royal Portbury Dock The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the Avonmouth ...
was opened, and the City Docks were closed. The harbour buildings, including the tobacco warehouses, became redundant. The harbourside has been regenerated in the 1990s and 2000s, with the refurbishment of warehouses as bars, restaurants, the
Watershed Media Centre Watershed opened in June 1982 as the United Kingdom's first dedicated media centre. Based in former warehouses on the harbourside at Bristol, it hosts three cinemas, a café/bar, events/conferencing spaces, the Pervasive Media Studio, and offi ...
and the
Arnolfini Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
art gallery, as well as the creation of the At-Bristol science centre (later rebranded as
We the Curious We The Curious (previously At-Bristol or "@Bristol") is a science and arts centre and educational charity in Bristol, England. It features over 250 interactive exhibits over two floors, and members of the public and school groups can also en ...
).


Gallery

Image:river.avon.from.balloon.bristol.arp.jpg, The channelled River Avon (the Floating Harbour) flows through the city centre; most of the central part of the City of Bristol is shown here Image:bristol city centre from bottom of park street arp.jpg, The Centre, seen from the bottom of Park Street Image:The Galleries Shopping Centre.JPG, The North Entrance to the Galleries Shopping Centre, Broadmead Image:St. Augustine's Reach.JPG, St. Augustine's Reach, Bristol Harbour Image:New Build.JPG, Radisson Blu Hotel and Broad Quay Serviced Apartments, The Centre File:Corn Street, Bristol - geograph.org.uk - 1756889.jpg, Corn Street, heart of the Old City File:Hammerbeam roof in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building.JPG, Hammerbeam roof in the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building, University of Bristol File:BBC Bristol TV Studios, Whiteladies Road - geograph.org.uk - 149571.jpg, BBC Bristol TV Studios, Whiteladies Road File:Bristol Children's Hospital Sculpture.jpg, Sculpture outside Bristol Children's Hospital File:Small Street, Bristol, 2018.jpg, Crown Court, Small Street File:Bristol TM, Booking Offices, north-west end.jpg, Booking Office, Temple Meads Station File:Bristol Bus Station.jpg, Bristol Bus Station File:Park Street, Bristol - geograph.org.uk - 1756895.jpg, Park Street and Wills Memorial Building


References


External links


Bristol Old City websiteBroadmead Bristol website The future of Broadmead and Merchants Quarter
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060707155822/http://www.bristolcitycentre.com/default.asp?PageID=1 Bristol City Centre expansion websitebr>Map of Bristol City Centre circa 1900
{{Areas of Bristol Areas of Bristol Central business districts in the United Kingdom