Bristol Harbour

, St Augustine the Less Church and Bristol Cathedral, published c. 1850. The view shows the historic harbour with ten sailing ships and rowing boats before the channel was filled in 1892–1938.]] Bristol grew up on the banks of the Rivers Avon and Frome. Since the 13th century, the rivers have been modified for use as docks including the diversion of the River Frome in the 1240s into an artificial deep channel known as "Saint Augustine's Reach", which flowed into the River Avon. Saint Augustine's Reach became the heart of Bristol's docks with its quays and wharfs. in the Cumberland lock, Hotwells, during the 2004 Harbour Festival]] As early as 1420, vessels from Bristol were regularly…

]] In the 18th century, the docks in Liverpool grew larger and so increased competition with Bristol for the tobacco trade. Coastal trade was also important, with the area called "Welsh Back" concentrating on trows with cargoes from the slate industry in Wales, stone, timber and coal. The limitations of Bristol's docks were causing problems to business, so in 1802 William Jessop proposed installing a dam and lock at Hotwells to create the harbour. The £530,000 scheme was approved by Parliament, and construction began in May 1804. The scheme included the construction of the Cumberland Basin, a large wide stretch of the harbour in Hotwells where the Quay walls and bollards have listed…

]] The harbour is now a tourist attraction with museums, galleries, exhibitions, bars and nightclubs. Former workshops and warehouses have now largely been converted or replaced by cultural venues, such as the Arnolfini art gallery, Watershed media and arts centre, M Shed museum, Antlers Gallery and the We The Curious science exhibition centre, as well as a number of fashionable apartment buildings. The Bristol Harbour Railway, operated by M Shed, runs between the museum and the CREATE Centre on some weekends and bank holidays. Historic boats are permanently berthed in the harbour. These include Isambard Kingdom Brunel's , which was the first iron-hulled and propeller-driven ocean liner; A…