Bristol

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Bristol 1 Industrial city (1990 pop. 60,640), Hartford co., central Conn., on the Pequabuck River; settled 1727, inc. 1785. Its clock-making industry dates from 1790. It also makes machinery, electrical equipment, and metal products, and is home to the ESPN television network. The American Clock and Watch Museum is there, and on Lake Compounce is the nation's oldest continually operating amusement park.

2 Industrial borough (1990 pop. 10,405), Bucks co., SE Pa., on the Delaware River opposite Burlington, N.J.; settled 1697, inc. 1720. Its many manufactures include plastics, paper, medical supplies, and electronic equipment. The third oldest borough in the state, it was once a busy river port with important shipbuilding activities. Among its historic structures is the Friends Meetinghouse (c.1710). A restoration of 17th- and 18th-century buildings and a replica of William Penn 's country manor are nearby.

3 Town (1990 pop. 21,625), seat of Bristol co., E R.I., a port of entry on Narragansett Bay; inc. as a Plymouth Colony town 1681, ceded to Rhode Island 1746. An early center of commercial trade, the port was (18th-19th cent.) a base for whaling and shipbuilding. The Herreshoff boatyard, where many winners of the America 's Cup were built, was in operation until 1945. Manufacturing includes wire and cable, cotton thread, and fiberglass boats. King Philip's War (1675-76) began and ended on the site of the town, and a monument on Mt. Hope marks the spot where King Philip fell. The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology has notable collections of Native American relics. On Hope St. is a row of preserved colonial homes. The town is the seat of Roger Williams Univ. Mt. Hope Bridge connects Bristol with Portsmouth .

4 Industrial cities on the Tenn.-Va. line, Sullivan co., Tenn. (1990 pop. 23,421), independent and in no county in Virginia (1990 pop. 18,426); settled 1749 as Sapling Grove, inc. as separate towns 1856, as Bristol city 1890. The two cities, although separate municipalities, are economically a unit that is the transportation and processing center of a mountainous region. Livestock is raised and electronic equipment, metal products, and caskets are produced there. Shelby's Fort (built 1771) was frequented by Daniel Boone . Two hundred years of controversy preceded the location of the state line down the middle of State Street. King College is in Bristol, Tenn., and Virginia Intermont College is in the Virginia city. In the area are Bristol Caverns and Bristol Motor Speedway.

Bristol city (1991 pop. 370,300), SW England, at the confluence of the Avon and Frome rivers. Bristol, a leading international port, has extensive facilities, including docks at Avonmouth, Portishead, and Royal Portbury. It is a transportation hub and is a financial services center. General and nuclear engineering and the design and manufacture of aircraft are the largest industries. The Concorde, the former Franco-British supersonic airliner, was built in Bristol. Others industries include flour milling, printing, and the manufacture of paper, footwear, and tobacco products.

Points of interest in Bristol include the 14th-century church of St. Mary Redcliffe, known for its fine architecture; a 14th-century cathedral (rebuilt 1868-88) with a Norman chapter house and gateway; the Merchant Venturers' Almshouses; University Tower; and some notable examples of Regency architecture. The Clifton suspension bridge, spanning the Avon and the scenic Avon Gorge, connects Bristol with Leighwoods. Bristol has a famous university.

Bristol has been a trading center since the 12th cent. First chartered as a city in 1155, it became a separate county by order of Edward III in 1373, the first provincial town to receive this honor. During the reign of Edward III the manufacture of woolen cloth was developed. The cloth was exported chiefly to Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. From Bristol the explorers John Cabot and his son Sebastian (to whom there is a monument on Brandon Hill) sailed to Newfoundland and America. In the 18th cent. Bristol was active in the colonial triangular trade: English goods went to Africa; African slaves to the West Indies; and West Indian sugar, rum, and tobacco to Bristol. The Great Western (1838), one of the first transatlantic steamships, and the Great Britain (1845) the first ocean steamship with a screw propeller, were launched from Bristol.

The port declined during the late 18th and early 19th cent. because of competition from Liverpool, the end of slave trading, and the decline of the West Indian trade. It revived in the mid-19th cent. The city was heavily damaged during World War II. The poets Thomas Chatterton and Robert Southey were born there.

Bristol. A city at the junction of the rivers Avon and Frome, just inland from the Severn estuary. It is not recorded before c.1020, but by 1066 was a flourishing port, shipping slaves to Ireland. The Normans built there one of the key strategic castles of England, and Earl Robert of Gloucester (1107–47) made it his power base in supporting his half-sister Matilda in the civil wars from 1138. The original centre lay between the two rivers, just inside Gloucestershire, but the Redcliffe area south of the Avon (and in Somerset) quickly became an important suburb. By 1216 Bristol was influential enough to have an elected mayor, and by c.1240 enterprising enough to divert the river Frome to make a better harbour. Trade until the 15th cent. was chiefly with Ireland, Gascony, and the Iberian peninsula, with Bordeaux wines the main imports. By 1377 Bristol ranked in the poll tax as the largest provincial town after York; its importance was recognized in 1373 when the king took it out of Gloucestershire and Somerset and made it a county corporate; later its status was further enhanced when it became a cathedral city (1542) and when its traders were incorporated as the Society of Merchant Venturers (1552). Bristol suffered severely in the Civil War of 1642–6, but enjoyed a golden age in the late 17th and 18th cents. as the largest and wealthiest English town after London. Its wealth by then came chiefly from transatlantic trade (especially in slaves) and its associated new industries (sugar and tobacco). By 1800, however, it was overtaken in importance by Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham, and in 1831 it was the scene of serious riots during the passage of the first Reform Bill. More positively, in the 1830s and 1840s I. K. Brunel helped to make Bristol an important terminus for railways and for Atlantic steamships, and from 1868 new docks at Avonmouth helped the city recover prosperity. In the 20th cent. it developed into a large and thriving conurbation.

David M. Palliser

Bristol, whose university was the first in Britain to have a university department of drama, has a long theatre history. Elizabethan companies on tour played in the city, and Edward Alleyn and Richard Burbage appeared there. The first permanent theatre opened in 1729 at Jacob's Wells outside the city boundary. Mrs Hannah Pritchard appeared there in the 1740s, as did Charles Macklin. It closed during 1757, reopened a year later, and was used for the last time in 1765. In 1766 a larger theatre was built in King Street, with a new-style horseshoe-shaped auditorium. In 1778 it obtained a royal patent and became the Theatre Royal, being run in conjunction with the Theatre Royal at Bath until 1817, a connection which brought prosperity to both houses. The stock company in Bristol was a training-ground for young actors, among them Kate and Ellen Terry; but as the centre of the city ceased to be a residential area the status of the theatre declined and it went through hard times, playing mainly farce and pantomime. When it closed after an air-raid in 1941 it seemed doomed to destruction; but in 1943 it started a new lease of life (see BRISTOL OLD VIC).

Bristol A city at the junction of the rivers Avon and Frome. It is not recorded before c.1020, but by 1066 was a flourishing port. The Normans built there one of the key strategic castles of England. By 1216 Bristol was influential enough to have an elected mayor. In 1377 it ranked in the poll tax as the largest provincial town after York; its importance was recognized in 1373 when the king made it a county corporate; later its status was further enhanced when it became a cathedral city (1542). Bristol enjoyed a golden age in the late 17th and 18th cents. Its wealth came chiefly from transatlantic trade (especially in slaves) and its associated new industries (sugar and tobacco). By 1800, however, it was overtaken in importance by Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. In the 1830s and 1840s I. K. Brunel helped to make Bristol an important terminus for railways and for Atlantic steamships, and from 1868 new docks at Avonmouth helped the city recover prosperity.

Bristol City and unitary authority at the confluence of the rivers Avon and Frome, sw England. An important seaport and trade centre since achieving city status in 1155, it was a major centre for the wool and cloth industry. From the 15th–18th century, it was England's second city and the base for many New World explorations. The 19th century witnessed a gradual decline in the city's economy due to competition from Liverpool. Bristol suffered intensive bombing during World War II. Clifton Suspension Bridge (designed by Brunel) was completed in 1864. Other sites include a 12th-century cathedral and the 14th-century church of St Mary Redcliffe. Bristol has two universities, the University of Bristol (1909) and the University of the West of England (1992). The main port facilities are now at Avonmouth. Industries: aircraft engineering, chemicals, tobacco. Pop. (1994 est.) 402,000.

Bristol, Canada, UK, USA UK (England): formerly Brycgstow and Bristou ‘Meeting Place by the Bridge’ from stōw and brycg, a reference to a stone bridge built at the place where the Lower Avon and the Frome Rivers used to join.

Bristol Brist. Brycg stowe 11th cent., Bristou 1086 (DB). ‘Assembly place by the bridge’. OE brycg + stōw.

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