New Cut, Bristol | |
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Location | |
Country | England |
State | Bristol |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | River Avon |
• location | Netham Weir, Bristol, England |
• coordinates | 51°27′06″N2°33′09″W / 51.45167°N 2.55250°W |
• elevation | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
Mouth | River Avon |
• location | Rownham, Bristol, England |
• coordinates | 51°26′53″N2°37′30″W / 51.44806°N 2.62500°W |
• elevation | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
Length | 3.2 mi (5.1 km) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | River Malago |
The New Cut is an artificial waterway which was constructed between 1804 and 1809 to divert the tidal river Avon through south and east Bristol, England. This was part of the process of constructing Bristol's Floating Harbour, under the supervision of engineer William Jessop. The cut runs from Totterdown Basin at the eastern end of St Phillip's Marsh, near Temple Meads, to the Underfall sluices at Rownham in Hotwells and rejoining the original course of the tidal Avon.
The length of the cut is approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km) and with the addition of short sections of the original course of the river Avon at either end, connecting Netham weir and Totterdown basin, and the Underfall sluices to the mouth of the Entrance lock at Cumberland Basin, the overall watercourse length is 3.2 miles (5.1 km). No ships have navigated the cut on a regular basis since the 1930s, but it is still possible for boats to proceed as far as Netham weir with care. [1]
The Bristol Docks Company was formed to construct the Floating Harbour following the passage of an Act of Parliament in 1803, sponsored by the City Corporation and the Merchant Venturers. The engineer William Jessop had originally proposed a smaller scheme, which would have involved a shorter cut from Prince Street, near the city centre, to Rownham. However this would have meant that ship owners could have avoided using the new Floating Harbour and the scheme was amended to include a greater area of the river Avon, thus necessitating the longer cut which is in existence today. [2]
Work commenced on the construction on 1 May 1804 at 5am at a ceremony conducted by the directors of the Bristol Docks Company. [2] Excavation was made through the predominant Redcliffe Sandstone, a Triassic rock that can be seen in cuttings all along the New Cut. [3] There is a persistent local myth that the labour force included French prisoners of war, but there is no evidence to support this. [4] [5]
A report to the company stated that in the first year of excavation 780,625 cubic yards (596,831 m3) of earth and rock had been removed at a cost of £120,138 12s. 1d. [6] The initial estimates of £300,000 for the whole docks scheme proved insufficient and further acts had to be passed to raise the capital to £600,000. The Avon was diverted into the New Cut in January 1809 and on 2 April the first ships passed up the cut and entered the harbour at the Bathurst Basin. [7]
On 1 May 1809 the docks project was certified as complete and a celebratory dinner was held on Spike Island for a thousand of the navvies, navigational engineers who had worked on the construction, at which "two oxen, roasted whole, a proportionate weight of potatoes, and six hundredweight of plum pudding" were consumed, along with a gallon of strong beer for each man. When the beer ran out a mass brawl between English and Irish labourers turned into a riot which had to be suppressed by the press gang. [7]
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As originally envisaged, the New Cut was navigable as far as the Totterdown basin, where barges could enter the Feeder Canal and proceed up river from Netham lock to Bath, Somerset. A second lock further downstream allowed ships to enter Bathurst Basin, and hence the Floating Harbour, from the New Cut.
Shipyards sprang up on the New Cut in the 19th century. Acraman's had a yard built in St Philip's Marsh near the Feeder Canal in 1839, where they built chain-propelled floating bridges for the Gosport–Portsmouth crossing which were too wide to pass through the floating harbour. The next year Acraman's opened a second more expansive yard in Bedminster, a well equipped yard which built a number of early steam ships. The first saw occasional shipbuilding until 1874, but the second passed to John Payne Ltd in 1862 and as the Vauxhall Yard launched dozens of small vessels directly into the New Cut, until they closed in 1925. [8]
Until the 1930s, packet boats operated regular services from Bathurst Basin to Cardiff and Swansea across the Severn Estuary, so the first two bridges built across the cut below this point (the Vauxhall Bridge and Ashton Swing Bridge) were originally swing bridges to allow for the passage of seagoing steamers. The third bridge across this stretch of the cut, the Gaol Ferry Bridge, was not built until 1935, and at about the same time the two swing bridges were permanently fixed. [9] [10]
The two smaller locks linking the New Cut to the Floating Harbour (Bathurst and Totterdown) were in-filled and decommissioned during World War II, as the authorities were worried that bombs falling on either lock would cause all of the water in the harbour to drain out. [11] [12] The remains of these locks are still visible, now permanently infilled with dirt and partially covered by modern roads. [1]
The New Cut is thus still navigable for medium-size craft due to its tidal depth and high (albeit fixed) bridge clearances, but a dead end at Netham Weir, [1] with no surviving businesses using it for water access.
Few boats have navigated the New Cut since the swing bridges and smaller locks were closed, although there are occasionally inspection trips to check the state of the bridges, and tourist excursions from the Floating Harbour. [1] During the summer of 2009, special trips were run to celebrate the 200th anniversary. [13] The cut is also regularly used by canoeists. [14] In 1992, the Bristol Development Corporation secured an Act of Parliament to construct a new weir across the New Cut downstream of the Bathurst Basin to provide a constant height of water above that point and improve the development potential of adjacent land. Although enacted, none of the powers granted were used, and the weir was never built. [15]
The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is loaned from an ancestor of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel to the English Channel by waterway in the 18th and early 19th centuries. These schemes followed the approximate route eventually taken by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, but the canal was instead built as part of a plan to link Bristol to Taunton by waterway.
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of 70 acres. It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out permanently. A tidal by-pass was dug for 2 miles through the fields of Bedminster for the river, known as the "River Avon New Cut", "New Cut", or simply "The Cut". It is often called the Floating Harbour as the water level remains constant and it is not affected by the state of the tide on the river in the Avon Gorge, The New Cut or the natural river southeast of Temple Meads to its source.
The Frome, historically the Froom, is a river that rises in Dodington Park, South Gloucestershire and flows southwesterly through Bristol to join the river Avon. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) long, and the mean flow at Frenchay is 60 cubic feet per second (1.7 m3/s). The name Frome is shared with several other rivers in South West England and means 'fair, fine, brisk'. The river is known locally in east Bristol as the Danny.
The Bristol Harbour Railway was a standard-gauge industrial railway that served the wharves and docks of Bristol, England. The line, which had a network of approximately 5 mi (8.0 km) of track, connected the Floating Harbour to the GWR mainline at Bristol Temple Meads. Freight could be transported directly by waggons to Paddington Station in London. The railway officially closed in 1964.
Spike Island is an inner city and harbour area of the English port city of Bristol, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal New Cut of the River Avon to the south, from the dock entrance to the west to Bathurst Basin in the east. The island forms part of Cabot ward. The area between the Docks and New cut to the east of Bathurst Basin is in the neighbourhoods of Redcliffe and St Philip's Marsh.
Cabot was a council ward that covered the centre of Bristol, England. It took its name from the Cabot Tower, a memorial tower on Brandon Hill that was built to commemorate John Cabot's voyage and "discovery" of North America. The ward was abolished in 2016.
Bristol Bridge is a bridge over the floating harbour in Bristol, England. The floating harbour was constructed on the original course of the River Avon, and there has been a bridge on the site since long before the harbour was created by impounding the river in 1809. The current bridge was completed in 1768 and is a Grade II listed building.
Redcliffe, also known as Redcliff, is a district of the English port city of Bristol, lying south-east of the city centre. It is bounded by the loop of the Floating Harbour to the west, north and east, together with the New Cut of the River Avon to the south. Most of Redcliffe lies within the city ward of Lawrence Hill, although the westernmost section, including the cliffs and hill from which the area takes its name, is in Cabot ward. Bristol Temple Meads station is located in Redcliffe.
Netham Lock is the point at Netham in Bristol at which boats from the River Avon, acting as part of the Kennet and Avon Canal, gain access to Bristol's Floating Harbour.
The Cumberland Basin is the main entrance to the docks of the city of Bristol, England. It separates the areas of Hotwells from the tip of Spike Island.
The Underfall Yard is a historic boatyard on Spike Island serving Bristol Harbour in England.
Bathurst Basin is a small triangular basin adjoining the main harbour of the city of Bristol, England. The basin takes its name from Charles Bathurst, who was a Bristol MP in the early 19th century.
The Malago is a tributary of the Bristol Avon in southwestern England, some 5 miles (8.0 km) long. The river rises in springs on the north side of Dundry Hill on the borders of Somerset and Bristol. The main tributary is the Pigeonhouse stream which also rises on Dundry. Much of the river has been culverted as it flows through built-up South Bristol.
A floating dock, floating harbour or wet dock is a dock alongside a tidal waterway which maintains a 'constant' level, despite the changing tides.
The Ashton Avenue Bridge is a pedestrian, cycling and busway bridge in Bristol, England. Grade II listed, it was constructed as a road-rail bridge as part of the Bristol Harbour Railway. It now carries a Bristol MetroBus guided busway route and National Cycle Network cycle routes.
Temple Quay is an area of mixed-use development in central Bristol, England. The project was initiated by Bristol Development Corporation in 1989, under the name Quay Point until 1995. In that year it was handed over to English Partnerships, under whom development eventually started in 1998. It is bounded by Temple Way to the west and Bristol Temple Meads railway station to the southeast; to the northeast the development was bounded by Bristol Floating Harbour until 2002, when development of Temple Quay North started on the harbour's other side. In 2012 the whole area became part of Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.
The Bristol Feeder Canal is a body of water in Bristol, England, that connects the Floating Harbour with the River Avon.
Redcliffe Caves are a series of man made tunnels beneath the Redcliffe area of Bristol, England.
Welsh Back is a wharf and street alongside the floating harbour in the centre of the city of Bristol, England. The wharf and street extend some 450 metres (1,480 ft) along the west side of the harbour between Bristol Bridge and Redcliffe Bridge. At the northern end, the street and wharf are immediately adjacent, but to the south they are separated by a range of single story transit sheds. The wharf is a grade II listed structure and takes its name because it was freqented by vessels from Welsh ports.