The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial docks situated in and near the city 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 ...

in England. They are now operated by the Bristol Port Company, which owns both

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...

and

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 ...

s. Until 1991 the Port of Bristol Authority, part of

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 wards ...

, operated

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, Avonmouth, Portishead and Royal Portbury Docks. Headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, The Bristol Port Company is a full service logistics company. They offer a full range of shipping, distribution and logistics services.

History

The Port of Bristol grew up on the banks of the Rivers Avon and

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

, at their confluence upstream of 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 r ...

which connects the city with the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...

. This part of the port was known as the Bristol City Docks, and is now more usually known as

Bristol Harbour Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...

. The Avon and Frome are small, shallow rivers incapable in themselves of accommodating ocean-going ships, even those of the age of sail, as can still be seen by inspecting the branch of the Avon known as the New Cut at low tide. The harbour depended on the extreme tides (14 metres) experienced in the Bristol Channel. Ships that wished to enter the harbour waited for the tide to begin to rise and floated up the river, through the

, and into the harbour on the tide. Ships leaving the harbour set out at the high tide, and floated down to the sea with the ebbing tide. In the 1800s the harbour was enclosed by

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, together with a diversion of the River Avon, resulting in its alternative name of the ''Floating Harbour'', the Float, taken from the fact that the ships were able to float at all times, rather than resting in the mud at low tide, as had previously been the case. Shipping Masters appointed under the Merchant Shipping Act included Henry Hellier Peters. The navigation of the Avon Gorge always presented a challenge, and became more and more difficult as ships got larger. In 1877, Avonmouth Old Dock, the first of the

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 ...

, was opened, and in 1884 the Bristol Corporation acquired both the Avonmouth and Portishead Docks. In 1908 the Royal Edward Dock was built at Avonmouth to the north of the mouth of the River Avon and with direct access to the

Severn estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...

and

In 1972 the large deep water

, across the river mouth from the Royal Edward Dock was constructed, again with direct access to the Bristol Channel. These developments rendered the old Bristol City Docks in the Floating Harbour redundant as a commercial dock, and they have since been redeveloped as the centrepiece of many leisure, residential and retail developments in and around

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 S ...

. A sand company was the last to use the docks commercially in 1991. The closure of the power stations at Portishead also made the Portishead Dock redundant, and it was finally closed in 1992. In 1991 Bristol City Council sold a 150-year lease of the Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks to First Corporate Shipping Ltd, a private company owned by Terence Mordaunt and

David Ord Sir David Charles Ord (born July 1948) is a British businessman. Early life and education Ord graduated from University College London and was a Sloan Fellow of the London Business School. Career He is the co-owner and Managing Director of the ...

. The business trades as The Bristol Port Company (BPC). Since then over £600m has been invested in the docks and the annual tonnage throughput has increased from 4m tonnes to 14m tonnes. Up to 2014 the company made several applications to buy the site's freehold but these were rejected. Following a referendum in 2012, the city voters created the role of Mayor, subsequently electing George Ferguson. In March 2015 he and his cabinet decided to sell the freehold for £10 million but retain a 12.5% non-voting stake in the company. The city's council members voted on 2 June to object to the decision on the grounds of poor value for money, and referred it back to the mayor. Two weeks later the Mayor's cabinet resolved to sell the freehold. Following criticism by the editor of Money Week magazine, George Ferguson told the Financial Times the deal was exceptional value for the city. First Corporate Shipping donated £25,000 to both

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

and

Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...

during the 2019 Conservative party leadership contest.

Freeport

The Port of Bristol is one of the six sites

has proposed for a Freeport, saying they were an "excellent" way to boost investment in left-behind parts of the country. The Bristol Port Company welcomed the news, seeing it having the potential to boost investment opportunities in and around UK ports. However some port and trade experts predicted the main effect would be to divert activity into the port from the surrounding region rather than create new jobs.

New container terminal

A new deepsea

container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

is planned in Avonmouth.

Sources

Bristol Port website
Retrieved 29 March 2005 at 15:08 BST.

External links

The Bristol Port Company websitePort of Bristol panoramic tour from the BBCPort of Bristol archive collection
{{Transport in Bristol History of Bristol Transport in Bristol Ports and harbours of the Bristol Channel Competent harbour authorities Bristol Harbourside