The Downs are an area of public open

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

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. They consist of

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 ...

to the north and east and

Clifton Down Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the northeast, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking and t ...

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 Henleaze is a northern suburb of the city of Bristol in South West England. It is an almost entirely residential inter-war development, with Edwardian streets on its southern fringes. Its main neighbours are Westbury on Trym, Horfield, Bish ...

, with an area of . It is owned by

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 ...

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 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 ...

, 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 Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

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. They have been designated

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

since the early 1970s by Bristol City Council.

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. There are also temporary attractions on the Downs, such as

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

es and the annual Bristol Flower Show. A grey concrete

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

of 1954 stands on the Downs near the top of Blackboy Hill, with a long, low, covered

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

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 TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

. 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 Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing the stage play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films ''Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', an ...

's 2018

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

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