Landlord Voice Magazine June 2015 - Bristol | Page 12

Bristol Through the Years Iron Age The Place at the Bridge The road to prosperity The Saxon settlement of Brycgstow, or ‘The Place at the Bridge’ is founded around the year 1000. In the following years the town becomes a busy trading centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name. By 1067 Brycgstow is well defended and fortified and resists an invasion sent from Ireland by Harold Godwinson's sons. Iron Age 11th-14th Centuries The port grows and the Black Death 15th-18th Centuries 11th 14th Centuries Seafaring and slavery By the 15th century Bristol is the second most important port in the country and the launch point for many famous voyages, including the first English-led expedition to North America in 1499, led by Bristolian merchant William Weston. During the 17th and 18th centuries Bristol, along with Liverpool, becomes a centre of the triangular slave trade, where manufactured goods were shipped to West Africa and exchanged for people. 15th 18th Centuries Around the 11th Century the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon becomes home to a rapidly developing port and by the 12th century Bristol is handling much of England's trade with Ireland. The town is connected to neighbouring suburbs when a stone bridge is built in 1247 and goes on to become a shipbuilding and manufacturing centre and one of England’s largest medieval towns outside London by the 14th Century. But the Black Death of 1348–49 puts an end to this when between one third and one half of the population dies of plague. 20th Century-present 20th Century - Present Bristol's population stands at 330,000 by the early 1900s and its port continues to flourish with the building of the Royal Edward Dock. During the second half of the century aircraft manufacturers build new factories in the city. The city is decimated by Luftwaffe raids during World War II. Approximately 1,300 people are killed and nearly 100,000 buildings are damaged. The city is re-built with numerous skyscrapers during the 1960s and 1970s and the Georgian Queen and Portland squares are restored. Since the 1980s the city’s Broadmead shopping district has been revamped and its tallest mid-century tower blocks demolished. Today its economy is centred around aerospace and financial services, high-tech and creative media start-ups and a thriving tourist industry.