Clifton is both a suburb 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, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton Down. Notable places in Clifton include Clifton Suspension Bridge, Clifton Cathedral, Clifton College, The Clifton Club,

Clifton High School, Bristol Clifton High School is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England. The school is the only one in the region to operate the Diamond Edge model of education. This model means boys and girls are educated together from Nurser ...

, Goldney Hall and Clifton Down.

Clifton

Clifton is an inner suburb of the English port city of Bristol. Clifton was recorded in the

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

as ''Clistone'', the name of the village denoting a 'hillside settlement' and referring to its position on a steep hill. Until 1898 Clifton St Andrew was a separate

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

within the Municipal Borough of Bristol. Various sub-districts of Clifton exist, including Whiteladies Road, an important shopping district to the east, and Clifton Village, a smaller shopping area near the

Avon Gorge The Avon Gorge () is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5 km) from the mouth of the ...

to the west. Although the suburb has no formal boundaries, the name Clifton is generally applied to the high ground stretching from Whiteladies Road in the east to the rim of the Avon Gorge in the west, and from Clifton Down and

Durdham Down Durdham Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England. With its neighbour Clifton Down to the southwest, it constitutes a area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking, jogging and team sports. Its exposed positio ...

in the north to Cornwallis Crescent in the south. This area corresponds roughly with the city wards of ''Clifton'' and ''Clifton East'', although the former also includes the riverside suburb of Hotwells. Clifton is one of the oldest and most affluent areas of the city, much of it having been built with profits from tobacco and the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Situated to the west of

Bristol city centre Bristol City Centre is the commercial, cultural and business centre of Bristol, England. It is the area north of the New Cut of the River Avon, bounded by Clifton Wood and Clifton to the north-west, Kingsdown and Cotham to the north, and ...

, it was at one time a separate settlement but became attached to Bristol by continuous development during the Georgian era and was formally incorporated into the city in the 1830s. Grand houses that required many servants were built in the area. Although some were detached or semi-detached properties, the bulk were built as terraces, many with three or more floors. One famous terrace is the majestic Royal York Crescent, visible from the Avon Gorge below and looking across the Bristol docks.

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...

and Berkeley Crescent, which were built around 1790, are examples of Georgian architecture. Secluded squares include the triangular Canynge Square. The

Whiteladies Picture House The Whiteladies Picture House () is a cinema on Whiteladies Road in Clifton, Bristol, 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 ...

on Whiteladies Road was converted into offices and a gymnasium in 2001 but it was re-opened as a cinema by

Everyman Cinemas Everyman Media Group plc (known as Everyman Cinemas) is a cinema company based in London, England. The company was founded in 2000, when entrepreneur Daniel Broch bought the original Everyman Cinema in Hampstead, London, which dated to 1933, ...

in 2016.

Clifton Lido The Lido, Bristol () is an historic lido situated in Oakfield Place in the Whiteladies Road area of Clifton, Bristol, England. Originally opened in approximately 1850, the pool eventually fell into disrepair and was closed in 1990. Despite being ...

was built in 1850 but closed to the public in 1990, it was redeveloped and opened again to the public in November 2008. On 17 December 1978 a bomb on Queen's Road in Clifton detonated, injuring at least seven people. The Provisional IRA was responsible. Parts of Clifton itself are now in the process of being pedestrianised.

Demographics

Clifton ward, which includes Hotwells, has a population of 10,452 in 5,007 households, according to adjusted figures for the 2001 census. On the same basis, Clifton East ward has a population of 9,538 in 4,741 households. In Clifton ward, 27% of the adult population (aged 16 to 74 years) is in full-time education.

Geography and transport

Immediately north of Clifton is Durdham Down, a relatively flat and open area, used for recreation purposes. On the western edge of Clifton is Clifton Down, a less open/more wooded area, adjacent to the gorge. Clifton is home to many buildings of the University of Bristol, including Goldney Hall;

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

's Clifton Suspension Bridge; the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Clifton Cathedral; Christ Church, Clifton Down; Clifton College; Clifton High School; the former Amberley House preparatory school; Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School, The Clifton Club; and

Bristol Zoo Bristol Zoo was a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. The zoo's stated mission was to "maintain and defend” biodiversity through breeding endangered species, conserving threatened species and habitats and promoting a wider unders ...

. Clifton is served by Clifton Down railway station on the local Severn Beach railway line, and by frequent bus services from central Bristol. It has road links to the city centre and outer western suburbs, and across the Clifton Suspension Bridge to

Leigh Woods Leigh Woods is a area of woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, within North Somerset opposite the English city of Bristol and north of the Ashton Court estate, of which it formed a part. St ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

. Between 1893 and 1934, it was connected to Hotwells by the

Clifton Rocks Railway The Clifton Rocks Railway was an underground funicular railway in Bristol, England, linking Clifton at the top to Hotwells and Bristol Harbour at the bottom of the Avon Gorge in a tunnel cut through the limestone cliffs. The upper station is ...

Famous and notable residents

* David Anderson - vicar of Clifton Church (1864–1881) * Lewis Brindley - Videogaming YouTuber and Twitch stream, and founder of the Yogscast. *

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

- author (whilst studying at the University of Bristol) *

Carla Denyer Carla Suzanne Denyer (born 1985) is a British politician who has served as co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since 2021. She has been a city councillor in Bristol since 2015 (initially for Clifton East ward, and since the 2016 ...

- councillor for Clifton (2015–present) and Green Party co-leader (2021–present). *

Eliza Walker Dunbar Eliza Walker Dunbar (4 November 1845 – 25 August 1925) was a Scottish physician and the first woman from the UK to qualify and work as a doctor. Early life and education Eliza Louisa Walker was born in Bolarum, Hyderabad, in 1845. Her father, ...

- early female doctor * Eugénie de Montijo - later Empress Eugenie of France, wife of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, was a student in Royal York Crescent where she was known as "Carrots" *

Keith Floyd Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity cook, restaurateur, television personality and "gastronaut" who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel. On televi ...

- restaurateur and TV personality *

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

- cricketer and surgeon *

Francis Greenway Francis Howard Greenway (20 November 1777 – September 1837) was an English-born architect who was transported to Australia as a convict for the crime of forgery. In New South Wales he worked for the Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, as Australia' ...

- renowned Australian architect and designer of The Clifton Club * John Grimshaw - founder of

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

and a voice for cyclists in the UK. * Sarah Guppy - inventor and collaborator with

Charles Hansom Charles Francis Hansom (27 July 1817 – 30 November 1888) was a prominent Roman Catholic Victorian architect who primarily designed in the Gothic Revival style. Career He was born of a Roman Catholic family in York. He was the brother of Jose ...

- architect of Clifton College * Henry Selby Hele-Shaw - engineer and inventor of the Hele-Shaw clutch, Professor at the University of Bristol * Victoria Hughes - carer for prostitutes whilst cleaning the public toilets on Clifton Down *

Annie Kenney Ann "Annie" Kenney (13 September 1879 – 9 July 1953) was an English working-class suffragette and socialist feminist who became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union. She co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie ...

- leading suffragette * Thomas MacAulay - historian * Charles Miles - cricketer and soldier * Peter Nichols - actor and playwright at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

* Frank Norman - novelist and playwright * Peter O'Toole - actor starting his career at the

* Svetlana Alliluyeva - later known as Lana Peters, Stalin's daughter *

Edward Innes Pocock Edward Innes Pocock (3 December 1855 – 14 January 1905) was a Scotland international rugby union player. Playing at three-quarters, Pocock gained two caps for Scotland while representing Edinburgh Wanderers at club level. A soldier by profes ...

- Scottish rugby player, member of Cecil Rhodes' Pioneer Column, born in Clifton in 1855 * Reginald Innes Pocock - British zoologist, Edward's younger brother, born in 1863 * J. D. Sedding - English church architect *

Ellen Sharples Ellen Wallace Sharples (4 March 1769 – 14 March 1849) was an English painter specialized in portraits in pastel and in watercolor miniatures on ivory. She exhibited five miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1807, and founded the Bristol Fine Ar ...

and

Rolinda Sharples Rolinda Sharples (1793–1838) was an English painter who specialised in portraits and genre paintings in oil. She exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Society of British Artists, where she became an honorary member. Biography Rolinda Shar ...

- artist family * Tom Stoppard - playwright * John Addington Symonds - writer *

Paule Vézelay Paule Vézelay (1892–1984) was a British painter. Biography Vézelay was born Marjorie Watson-Williams in Bristol, a daughter of the pioneering ENT surgeon, Patrick Watson-Williams (1863-1938). Before the First World War she trained for a sho ...

- artist * Richmond Waller - English cricketer and decorated Royal Marines officer * Fabian Ware - Founder of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Born Clifton 17 June 1869 * Sir Lawrence Weaver - influential editor of Country Life, architectural writer and organiser of the

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibi ...

in Wembley in 1924 * William West - artist and builder of Clifton Observatory

In popular culture

In Frances Burney's novel '' Evelina'' (1778), young gentlemen are racing their phaetons on the public highways of Clifton (then still outside Bristol), and not without incident. Part of the background to Philippa Gregory's historical novel "

A Respectable Trade ''A Respectable Trade'' is a 1995 historical novel by Philippa Gregory set in the Bristol Harbour, Bristol docks in 1787. Adaptation Gregory adapted her work into a four-part TV serial which was broadcast by the BBC in 1998 and by the PBS in the ...

" – dealing mainly with the

in late 18th-century Bristol – is the start of construction at Clifton, then a far area outside the city limits as they were at the time. In some passages characters debate whether Clifton could ever become viable and whether investment in real estate there would not be too risky – questions which were evidently quite relevant at the time though to the modern reader the answers are obvious. The song "Clifton in the Rain" by Al Stewart appears on his first album Bed-Sitter Images. The song "32 West Mall", which appeared on the 1971 album '' Stackridge'' was named after the communal flat that the band shared as their headquarters at 32 West Mall in 1970. The 1978 children's paranormal drama " The Clifton House Mystery" – produced by HTV; was set in the Clifton area. The plot revolved around a family moving into an old house; and subsequently finding a skeleton of a long-dead person in a hidden room. After some unexplained incidents, they become convinced that a ghost connected in some way with the Bristol Riots of 1831 is haunting the house. The plot is based on the story of the real-life Thomas Brereton, a Dragoon commander who committed suicide after being court-martialled for his lenient approach to suppressing the rioters; although the ghost is named "George Bretherton" in the TV series. Clifton has been featured in many television sitcoms, including the late 1970s and early 1980s TV series '' Shoestring'', which was set in Bristol and starred

Trevor Eve Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English film and television actor. In 1979 he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series ''Shoestring'' and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in BBC televi ...

as a radio reporter and part-time sleuth. Much of 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. ...

...

Clifton

Demographics

Geography and transport

Famous and notable residents

In popular culture

Exhibitions and galleries

Natural history

Cliftonwood

Hotwells

References

External links