Bristol Avon Bridge (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Bristol.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire.
Modern Authority of Bristol; City of.
1974 county of Avon.
Medieval County of Gloucestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: ST59007291
Latitude 51.45368° Longitude -2.59143°

Bristol Avon Bridge has been described as a certain Fortified Bridge.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Bristol Bridge, built in stone in 1247-8, probably on the site of an earlier timber bridge, acquired a superstructure of houses and shops, and, from 1361, a chapel. An oak sill 40 feet long, discovered in 1747 embedded in the masonry, was thought to be part of thee pre-1247 timber structure. The bridge was demolished and replaced in 1768. (PastScape 1008177)
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption, dedicated in 1361, stood in the centre of Bristol bridge. Its remains were probably destroyed by a fire of 1646. (PastScape 1007680)

The Chapel of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was 75 feet by 21 feet. It stretched right across the centre of the bridge and out beyond it on either side, supported on extended piers. There was even a bell-tower. At street level was a crypt used by the Council for meetings. On the next floor was the chapel, which ran over a tunnel-like gateway with gates at either end. This magnificent structure was finished in 1361. It was closed at the Reformation along with other bridge chapels, which were seen as superstious. The building was converted to other purposes until finally taken down. (Jean Manco 2005)

The bridge is built over wth houses just as London bridge is, but its not so bigg or Long-there are 4 arches here. (Celia Fiennes)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1008177; 1007680.
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Bristol Past
  About Bristol
Books
- Lobel, M.D. and Carus-Wilson, E.M., 1975, 'Bristol' in Lobel, M.D. (ed) The Atlas of Historic Towns Vol. 2 (London: Scolar Press/Historic Towns Trust) online copy
  Bown, Dorothy, 1974, Bristol and how it grew (Bristol: Bristol Visual & Environmental Group)
  Buchanan, R.A. and Cossons, N., 1969, Industrial Archaeology of the Bristol Region (David & Charles)
  Nicholls, T.F. and Taylor, J., 1881, Bristol Past and Present (Bristol and London) Vol. 1 p.
Periodical Articles
- Harrison, D., McKeague, P. and Watson, B., 2010, 'England's fortified medieval bridges and bridge chapels: a new survey' Medieval Settlement Research Vol. 25 p. 45-51 online copy
  Manco, J., 2005 Aug, 'Bristol Bridge' The Bristol Magazine
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Neale, Frances (ed), 2000, William Worcestre: The Topography of Medieval Bristol (Bristol Record Society 51) p. 2-3 online preview
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Celia Fiennes, 1888, Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press) Vision of Britain online transcription
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Bruce Watson, 2013 Sept, Gazetteer of fortified bridges (working list kindly shared with Gatehouse)

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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