Description
One of England's oldest and most important ports, located on the River Avon. It was a pioneering center for trade with the Americas and a significant participant in the Atlantic slave trade, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, before being gradually supplanted by Liverpool.
Year of Foundation or Oldest Source
Mentioned as a commercial port in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1051 (Brigg Stow). Possibly active since Roman times.
Country (State or Region)
United Kingdom (England)
Location
Bristol, Southwest England, on the rivers Avon and Frome, with access to the Bristol Channel and the Atlantic via the River Severn.
Structuring
Initially a river port with quays along the rivers Avon (Welsh Back, Redcliffe Back) and Frome. Navigation was hindered by the high tides of the Bristol Channel and the sinuosity of the Avon. Outer anchorages at Hungroad (Avon) and Kingroad (Severn) were used by larger ships. In the early 19th century (1804-1809), the Floating Harbour was built by excavating the New Cut to divert the Avon and transform the old riverbed in the city center into a constant-level dock. In the late 19th century, docks were built at Avonmouth (1877) and Portishead (1879), closer to the sea, to accommodate larger ships. It had cranes (one donated in 1475) and other support facilities. Bristol Castle (Norman) protected the medieval port.
Notes
It was England's second most important port for centuries, after London, especially prominent in trade with Ireland, the Iberian Peninsula, North America (Virginia, Newfoundland), and the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was one of the main English slave trade ports, with 2,108 voyages recorded between 1698 (end of the Royal African Company's monopoly) and 1807. The Society of Merchant Venturers, a powerful merchant guild founded in the 16th century, played a crucial role in the administration and development of the port from the 17th century. It was an important shipbuilding center, where pioneering ships such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Western and SS Great Britain were launched in the 19th century. It gradually lost primacy in the slave trade and Atlantic trade to Liverpool due to factors such as the limitations of the River Avon and perhaps less business dynamism. The Bristol Archives hold a rich documentary collection on the city's maritime history.
Sources
BRISTOL ARCHIVES. Bristol's maritime records - selected sources. [s.d.].; BRISTOL ARCHIVES. Ships, seamen and emigrants source guide. [s.d.].; BRISTOL BRANCH OF THE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. Merchants and Merchandise in Seventeenth-Century Bristol. 1968.; BRISTOL HISTORY.ORG. History. [s.d.].; DISCOVERING BRISTOL. Bristol as a trading port; Bristol's slave ships. [s.d.].; MINCHINTON, Walter E. The Slave Trade of Bristol with the British Mainland Colonies in North America, 1699-1770. In: ANSTEY, Roger; HAIR, P. E. H. (eds.). Liverpool, the African Slave Trade and Abolition. Liverpool: Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1976. p. 39-59.; SORBONNE-UNIVERSITE.FR. Bristol in the Atlantic World. [s.d.].; THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES. Discovery: Bristol Archives. [s.d.].; VISIT BRISTOL. History of Bristol. [s.d.].; WELLS, Charles. A short history of the port of Bristol. Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, 1909.
