The Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge, looking south from the Downs

The Avon Gorge (Grid reference ST560743) is a 2.5km (1.5mi) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, South West England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge 2km west of Bristol city centre, and about 5km from the mouth of the river at Avonmouth. The gorge forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bristol. In the past, when Bristol was an important port, the gorge formed a spectacular defensive gateway to the city. The Avon Gorge and River Avon, Bristol, taken from Clifton down. ... The Avon Gorge and River Avon, Bristol, taken from Clifton down. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... A gorge is a narrow passage between steep mountains or hills. ... The Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge The River Avon is a river in the south west of England. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Greater Bristol. ... South West England is one of the regions of England. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... The Murray River in Australia. ... Categories: Stub | Bristol | Ports and harbours of the UK ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ... North Somerset is a unitary authority in England, historically part of the county of Somerset but now administered independently. ... Seaport, a painting by Claude Lorrain, 1638 The Port of Wellington at night. ...

On the east of the gorge is the town of Clifton, part of Bristol city, and The Downs, a large public park. To the west of the gorge is Leigh Woods, the name of both a village and the National Trust forest it is situated in. There are three Iron Age hill forts overlooking the gorge, as well as a more recent observatory. The Clifton Suspension Bridge, an icon of Bristol, crosses the gorge. The crowded Princess Victoria Street lies at the heart of Clifton Village Clifton is an inner suburb of the English port city of Bristol. ... Categories: Stub | Bristol ... Leigh Woods is a small area of woodland in Bristol. ... The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, is a British preservation organization. ... A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded function as carbon dioxide sinks, animal habitats, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earths biosphere. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The term hill fort is commonly used by archaeologists to describe fortified enclosures located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. ... The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset, UK. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it is a distinctive landmark that is often used as a symbol of Bristol. ...

Shown within Bristol (above) and England.

Image File history File links Bristol_ag_csb_map. ... Image File history File links EnglandBristol. ...

Geology and formation

Looking north from the bridge, with Leigh Woods on the left and the A4 road on the right.

The gorge cuts through a ridge mainly of limestone, with some sandstone. This particular ridge runs from Clifton to Clevedon, ten miles away on the Bristol Channel coast, though limestone is found throughout the Bristol area. The fossil shells and corals indicate that the limestone formed in shallow tropical seas in the Carboniferous, 350 million years ago. For a long time it was unclear what caused the Avon to cut through the limestone ridge, rather than run south west through the Ashton Vale towards Weston-super-Mare. However, Bristol was at the southern edge of glaciation during the last ice age, and it has been suggested that ice blocked the Ashton Vale,^[1] or a glacier carved the gorge.^[2] Image File history File linksMetadata Bristol_ag_from_csb_041004. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bristol_ag_from_csb_041004. ... Limey shale overlaid by limestone. ... Sandstone near Stadtroda, Germany Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. ... Map sources for Clevedon at grid reference ST3971 Clevedon Village - circa 1907 Clevedon seafront is extremely windswept, as witnessed by this tree. ... The location of the Bristol Channel The Severn Bridge and Bristol Channel, looking northwestward from England towards Wales The Bristol Channel coast at Ilfracombe, North Devon, looking west towards Lee Bay The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from South West... It has been suggested that Fossil record be merged into this article or section. ... The Carboniferous is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Devonian period, about 359. ... Weston-super-Mare is an English seaside resort town in North Somerset, population 65,000 (1991 estimate). ... Aletsch glacier, Switzerland A glacier is a large, long-lasting river of ice that is formed on land and moves in response to gravity. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ...

At various times the sides of the gorge have been quarried, leaving steep gorge walls. In the 18th century the gorge was quarried to produce building stone for the city. Stone was taken by boat into the floating harbour. In the 19th century celestite was discovered in Leigh Court estate, and the Wills family authorised quarrying. Between 1880 and 1920 Bristol was producing 90% of the world's celestite, but the enterprise did not last long into the 20th century^[3]. Quarries on the Bristol side of the gorge are now popular with climbers and are a habitat for Peregrine falcons and other wildlife. Clear grey-blue celestite crystal crust from Madagascar Celestine from the Machow Mine, Poland. ... Habitat (from the Latin for it inhabits) is the place where a particular species lives and grows. ... Binomial name Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), sometimes formerly known in North America as Duck Hawk, is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a large crow: 38-53 cm (15 to 21 inches) long. ...

Ecology

The bridge and river at low tide, from Observatory Green.

The steep walls of the gorge support some rare fauna and flora, including species unique to the gorge. There are a total of 24 rare plant species and two unique trees: the Bristol and Wilmotts's whitebeams.^[4] Other notable plants include Bristol rock cress, Bristol onion, Spiked Speedwell, Autumn Squill and Honewort. Because of its steep sides, there are many parts of the gorge on which trees can not grow, making way for smaller plants. The gorge is also home to many rare invertebrate species.^[5] The gorge has a unique microclimate, around 1 degree warmer than the surrounding land.^[1] The steep south-west facing sides receive the afternoon sunlight, but are partially sheltered from the prevailing winds. When winds come from the Bristol Channel in the north west they may be funnelled into the gorge, creating harsh and wet conditions. The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, England. ... The Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, England. ... Species Sorbus subgenus Aria Sorbus aria - Common Whitebeam Sorbus arranensis - Arran Whitebeam Sorbus bristoliensis - Bristol Gorge Whitebeam Sorbus devoniensis - Devon Whitebeam Sorbus folgneri - Folgners Whitebeam Sorbus intermedia - Swedish Whitebeam Sorbus mougeotii - Vosges Whitebeam Sorbus rupicola - Rock Whitebeam Sorbus thibetica - Tibetan Whitebeam Sorbus vestita - Himalayan Whitebeam Plus many other species... Binomial name Veronica spicata L. Veronica spicata (Spiked Speedwell) is a species of the genus Veronica. ... Invertebrate is a term coined by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to describe any animal without a spinal column. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The steep gorge walls make an ideal habitat for peregrine falcons, with a plentiful suply of food nearby in the form of pigeons and sea gulls. Peregrines have a history of nesting in the gorge, but having become rare in the British Isles they did not breed and were rarely seen in the gorge after the 1930s. In 1990 Peregrines returned to the gorge, and have successfully bred in most of the following years.^[6] On warm days a strong uplift forms in the gorge, on which birds of prey soar while hunting. The gorge also houses large populations of Jackdaw and horseshoe bats, both of which find homes in the caves and bridge buttresses.^[4] Binomial name Falco peregrinus Tunstall, 1771 The Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), sometimes formerly known in North America as Duck Hawk, is a medium-sized falcon about the size of a large crow: 38-53 cm (15 to 21 inches) long. ... Pigeon redirects here. ... Genera Pagophila Larus Rissa Creagus Xema Rhodostethia Gulls are seabirds in the family Laridae and subfamily Lari. ... Binomial name Corvus monedula (Linnaeus, 1758) Jackdaw range The Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) is one of the smallest species (34-39 cm in length) in the genus of crows and ravens. ... Horseshoe bats (family Rhinolophidae) are a large family of bats including approximately 130 species grouped in 10 genera. ...

Due to its geology and ecology, an area of 155.4 hectares of the gorge and surrounding woodland has been protected as a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the original notification taking place in 1952. The site may in future be protected as a Special Area of Conservation under the European Habitats Directive. The Leigh Woods side of the gorge is largely owned by the National Trust. The Downs on the city side of the gorge are owned by Bristol City Council and managed as a large public park. The actual gorge side is protected in partnership with Bristol Zoo, WWF and English Nature.^[5] The council's management of the gorge involves balancing the need to protect its ecology with recreational uses such as rock climbing. A hectare (symbol ha) is a metric unit of surface area, equal to 100 ares (the name is a contraction of the SI prefix hecto + are). ... A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. ... A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. ... Categories: Stub | Bristol ... Located between Clifton Down and Clifton College, near the Clifton Suspension Bridge, in Bristol (southwest England) and opened in 1836, Bristol Zoo is a Victorian walled zoo covering a small area by modern standards, but with a considerable number of species represented. ... WWF, the global environment conservation organization, was constituted and registered in 1961 pursuant to Sections 80 et seq. ... English Nature is the United Kingdom Government Agency that promotes the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England. ...

History of human use

The Portishead Railway runs through a short tunnel under the bridge buttress.

The gorge area was inhabited at least as early as the iron age, probably by the Dobunni tribe. In Leigh Woods above Nightingale Valley, a steep dry valley beside the suspension bridge, is Stokeleigh Camp, one of three iron age hill forts in the area. Stokeleigh was occupied from 3BCE to 1CE, and was also used in the middle ages. The camp was protected on two sides by the cliff faces of the gorge and Nightingale Valley, and was also protected by earthworks, and is now a scheduled ancient monument. A second hill fort was situated across Nightingale Valley, but has since been built on, and bridge road cuts through it. The third hill fort was situated on the opposite side of the gorge, in what is now observatory green. Archaeology, plus the configuration of the three forts, suggest they played a role in defending the gorge.^[4] Image File history File linksMetadata Bristol_ag_railway_tunnel_02. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Bristol_ag_railway_tunnel_02. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The Dobunni were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Islands prior to the Roman invasion of Britain. ... The term hill fort is commonly used by archeologists to describe fortified enclosures located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. ... A Scheduled Ancient Monument is defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and the National Heritage Act 1983 of the United Kingdom government. ...

During the middle ages and industrial revolution the area which now forms The Downs was used as common grazing land, was mined for lead, calamine, iron and limestone, and became home to a windmill which produced snuff from the tobacco which had become one of the city's principal imports. In 1777 the windmill bunt out in a storm, and the building was converted into the observatory, which houses a camera obscura. In the 18th and 19th centuries Bristol's economy boomed and Clifton became a desirable place to live. Mansion houses were built over looking the gorge, but after grazing was stopped, trees grew and obscured the view from these mansions. In the Victorian era, with houses creeping further onto the Downs, an Act of Parliament was passed to protect them as a park for the people of Bristol. In 1754 a bridge to span the gorge was proposed, but it was nearly 80 years before work began on Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge, and a further 30 years of delays before it was completed. Today the bridge is perhaps the best known landmark in Bristol. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish white Atomic mass 207. ... Calamine is the common name for an ore of zinc. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... Pitstone Windmill, believed to be the oldest windmill in the British Isles A windmill is an engine powered by the wind to produce energy, often contained in a large building as in traditional post mills, smock mills and tower mills. ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... For other uses see Camera obscura (disambiguation) The camera obscura (Lat. ... Brunel before the launching of the Great Eastern. ... The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset, UK. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it is a distinctive landmark that is often used as a symbol of Bristol. ... Originally, a landmark literally meant a geographic feature used by explorers and others to find their way back or through an area. ...

Throughout Bristol's history the gorge has been an important transport route. It is the gateway to Bristol Harbour, and provided protection against storms or attack. The Bristol Channel and Avon estuary have a very high tidal range, and the gorge is relatively narrow and meandering, making it notoriously difficult to navigate and giving rise to the phrase ship shape and Bristol fashion. St Augustines Reach and Peros Bridge, during the 2004 Harbour Festival. ...

Today Bristol Harbour is no longer an important port, but the gorge is still a transport route. The A4 road runs through the gorge, linking Bristol city centre to the M5 motorway, which bypasses the city near Avonmouth. Two railways run through the gorge, on the east side the passenger railway to Avonmouth and Severn Beach runs through part of the gorge, and through a tunnel under the Downs, while on the west side is the former Portishead Railway, which was closed by the Beeching Axe in the 1960s, but has now been reopened for freight traffic as far as Royal Portbury Dock, 4km (2.5mi) downstream. Between 1893 and 1934, the Clifton Rocks Railway linked the passenger steamer pier at Hotwells with Clifton on the rim of the gorge. The A4 at Hotwells in Bristol The A4 crosses Picadilly Circus in central London The A4 is a major road in England, also known as the Great West Road. ... This article concerns the M5 motorway in England. ... Categories: Stub | Bristol | Ports and harbours of the UK ... Severn Beach is a small town on the mouth of the river Severn in South Gloucestershire in England. ... Tunnel in the Avon Gorge. ... Many railway lines were closed as a result of the Beeching Axe The Beeching Axe was an informal name for the British Governments attempt in the 1960s to control the spiralling cost of running the British railway system by closing what it considered to be little-used and unprofitable... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The Royal Portbury Dock The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. ... The Avon Gorge. ... Hotwells is a district of Bristol, England located in the lee of high ground that Clifton occupies and directly to the north of the City Docks. ... The crowded Princess Victoria Street lies at the heart of Clifton Village Clifton is an inner suburb of the English port city of Bristol. ...

A footpath and National Cycle Network cycleway run alongside the Portishead Railway and along the old towpath. The first section of the NCN to be built was the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, opened in 1984. ...

Mythology

The formation of the Avon Gorge is the subject of mediaeval mythology. The myths tell tales of two giant brothers, Vincent and Goram, who constructed the gorge. One variation holds that Vincent and Goram were constructing the gorge together and Goram fell asleep, to be accidentally killed by Vincent's pickaxe. Another variation tells of the brothers falling for Avona, a girl from Wiltshire, who instructs the giants to drain a lake which stretches from Rownham Hill to Bradford-on-Avon (i.e. the Avon valley). Goram began digging the nearby Hazel Brook Gorge in Blaise Castle estate, but consumed too much beer and fell asleep. Vincent dug the Avon Gorge and drained the lake, winning the affection of Avona. Upon waking Goram stamped his foot, creating "Goram's Chair" in the Blaise Castle estate, and threw himself into the Bristol Channel, turning to stone and leaving head and shoulder above water as the islands Flat Holm and Steep Holm.^[7] Wiltshire (abbreviated Wilts) is a large southern English county. ... ... The mansion. ... Flat Holm (Welsh: Ynys Echni) is a Welsh island lying in the Bristol Channel approximately 3. ... Categories: UK geography stubs | English islands ...

References

1. ^ ^a b River Avon Trail, 'Avon Gorge'. Accessed 2006-05-05.
2. ^ Vicki Buckley and Alex Perry, 1999. Local Geology Weekend. Accessed 2006-05-05.
3. ^ C.G. Down, 1968. "Paradise Bottom." The Industrial Railway Record No. 22 - p352-354
4. ^ ^a b c BBC Bristol, "The Avon Gorge - Bristol's Great Glacier?" Accessed 2006-05-05.
5. ^ ^a b Avon Wildlife Trust, "The wildlife and habitats of Avon." Accessed 2006-05-05.
6. ^ Bristol Ornithological Club, "Peregrine Falcon History In The Avon Gorge." Accessed 2006-05-05.
7. ^ Eugene Byrne & Simon Gurr, 2002. "Bristol Myths and Legends." Bristol 2008: St Vincent's Rock.

2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ...

External links

• Photographs of the Avon Gorge
• Photograph of Peregrine Falcon in the gorge