Bristol, University of, at Bristol, England; established 1876 as University College, Bristol. In 1909 it gained university status. It has faculties of arts, science, medicine, engineering, law, and social sciences, and a program of continuing education.

Bristol, John Digby, 1st earl of, 1580-1653, English diplomat. He spent most of the years 1611-24 at the Spanish court, where as ambassador he conducted the prolonged negotiations for the marriage of Prince Charles (later Charles I) to the Spanish infanta. Digby was made earl of Bristol in 1622, but the next year the visit of Charles and the duke of Buckingham to Madrid brought to an end the already deadlocked marriage negotiations, and the new earl fell into disfavor. He was recalled and confined to his house until he protested before Parliament. He was then accused of treason by Charles (then king) and imprisoned (1626) without trial in the Tower of London until Parliament released him in 1628. Bristol was for a time a supporter of parliamentary opposition to the crown, but as Parliament became more extreme, he joined the king's group of advisers. In 1642 he was committed to the Tower briefly by Parliament but rejoined Charles at Oxford after the outbreak of the civil war. Later he opposed continuing the war. He died in exile in Paris.

Bristol, George Digby, 2d earl of, 1612-77, English courtier; son of John Digby, 1st earl of Bristol. At first a member of the parliamentary opposition to Charles I, he later fought for the king in the English civil war. Afterward he served Louis XIV of France. On his return to England after the Restoration (1660), he was ineligible for office because he had been converted to Roman Catholicism. Having served Charles II in exile as secretary of state, he exerted some influence at court until his attempt to impeach the earl of Clarendon for treason failed in 1663.

Bristol Channel, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.85 mi (140 km) long and from 5 to 50 mi (8.1-80 km) wide, stretching westward from the mouth of the River Severn and separating Wales from SW England. Its chief bays are Carmarthen and Swansea in Wales and Barnstaple (or Bideford) and Bridgwater in England. Many cities are on or near the channel; among the largest are Bristol, Newport, Cardiff, and Swansea. Along the coast of S Wales is a great concentration of economic activity, and Bristol Channel serves as a major shipping corridor. Milford Haven, a major oil-importing center, has a harbor that can accommodate large modern tankers.

Bristol Avon: see Avon 1, England.

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. 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.

Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southwestern England. It extends about 85 mi (135 km) between southern Wales and southwestern England, ranging from 5 to 43 mi (8–69 km) wide. Lundy Island, once a pirate stronghold, lies in the centre of the channel; it is maintained as a trust preserve. Ships using the English port of Bristol and the Welsh ports of Swansea and Cardiff pass through the channel.

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or Lower Avon

River, southwestern England. Rising in Gloucestershire, it flows 75 mi (121 km) southwest through Bristol and into the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth, Bristol's port. Below Bristol it has cut through a limestone ridge to form Clifton Gorge, noted for its suspension bridge.

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City and unitary authority (pop., 2001: 380,615), southwestern England. Lying at the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome, the city received its first charter in 1155. Long a centre of commerce, it was the point of departure in 1497 of John Cabot in his search for a route to Asia. During the 17th–18th centuries it prospered in the triangular trade (rum, molasses, and slaves) between West Africa and the West Indian and American plantation colonies. Though Bristol suffered a decline in trade in the early 19th century, it soon rebounded with the coming of the railway. It suffered severe damage from bombing in World War II but was rebuilt. Today it is an important shipping centre, especially for oil and food products.

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