Harbour railway track beside the Avon New Cut

Spike Island is an

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

and harbour area of the English port city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, from the dock entrance to the west to Bathurst Basin in the east. The island forms part of Cabot ward. The area between the Docks and New cut to the east of Bathurst Basin is in the neighbourhoods of Redcliffe and St Philip's Marsh.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 155 – Bristol & Bath''. . Spike Island was created by William Jessop in the early 19th century, when he constructed the New Cut and converted the former course of the River Avon into the Floating Harbour. Until the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a lock connected Bathurst Basin with the New Cut, and Spike Island was a genuine island surrounded on all sides by water. However, fears that an aerial attack on this lock at low tide could lead to a disastrous dewatering of the docks led to the lock being filled in. Historically, Spike Island was the site of working quays, shipyards, warehousing and other associated dockside industry. The Bristol Harbour Railway runs the length of the island, and formerly connected these working areas with the railway network. With the redevelopment of the docks, the Island has become an area popular with developers looking to create prime dock side housing such as ''Baltic Wharf'', ''The Point'' and ''Perretts Court''. There are also a few restaurants and popular pubs such as ''The Orchard Inn'' and ''The Cottage''. Other formerly dock-related buildings have become cultural venues or museums. These include: *

Spike Island Artspace Spike Island Artspace is an arts centre and art studio complex in Bristol, England. It occupies a former Brooke Bond tea packing factory in the Spike Island neighbourhood. It is a place for the production and exhibition of contemporary art an ...

, a collective of artists' studios located in a former tea-packing factory * M Shed, the museum of Bristol, on the site of the former Bristol Industrial Museum, in a former dockside transit shed * Bristol Archives in B Bond Warehouse, a former tobacco warehouse * Brunel's SS ''Great Britain'', preserved in the

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

in which she was built * CREATE Centre, also in B Bond Warehouse, an ecological art exhibition and Ecohome * Underfall Yard, a base for marine-related businesses plus an interactive visitor centre and café. * Puppet Place, a base for puppetry and animation-related businesses, and an artform support charity. Other historic buildings have been converted into office space, housing small businesses and legal and financial companies such as Creditcall. The path of the harbour railway across Spike Island is proposed for a £38 million rapid transit bus route from Ashton Vale to the city centre. The existing steam railway would be retained, but buses would gain a congestion-free journey into the city. Subject to planning permission and finances, work could start 2012 with services running 2014.

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* {{Areas of Bristol Areas of Bristol Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in England River islands of England