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Industrial ruins alongside the River Avon alongside Hotwell Road, in Hotwells, Bristol, Avon.
The name "Avon" is a cognate of the Welsh word afon, "river". The Avon rises just north of the village of Acton Turville in South Gloucestershire, before flowing through Wiltshire. In its lower reaches from Bath to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth near Bristol the river is navigable and known as the Avon Navigation. The Avon is the 19th longest river in the UK at 75 miles (121 km) although there are just 19 miles (31 km) as the crow flies between the source and its mouth in the Severn Estuary.
The distribution of archaeological finds suggests that the western end of the river between Bath and Avonmouth formed a border between the Dobunni and Durotriges during the late Iron Age, prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. Further east, between Bath and what is now Wiltshire, it may also have formed a border of the territory ruled by the Belgae. After the Roman occupation the river formed a boundary between the lands of the Hwicce (which became Mercia) and the kingdom of Wessex.
The river Avon had been navigable from Bristol to Bath during the early years of the 13th century but construction of mills on the river forced its closure. The floodplain of the Avon, on which the city centre of Bath is built, has an altitude of about 59 ft (18 m) above sea level. The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel. Periodic flooding, which shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city, was normal until major flood control works were completed in the 1970s.
The Bristol Avon Navigation, which runs the 15 miles (24 km) from the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hanham Lock to the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth, was constructed between 1724 and 1727, following legislation passed by Queen Anne, by a company of proprietors and the engineer John Hore of Newbury. The first cargo of 'Deal boards, Pig-Lead and Meal' arrived in Bath in December 1727. It is now administered by the Canal & River Trust.
Throughout Bristol's history the Avon Gorge has been an important transport route, carrying the River Avon, major roads and two railways. The Bristol Channel and Avon estuary have a very high tidal range of 15 metres (49 ft), second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada; and the gorge is relatively narrow and meandering, making it notoriously difficult to navigate. Several vessels have grounded in the gorge including the SS Demerara soon after her launch in 1851, the schooner Gipsy in 1878, the steam tug Black Eagle in 1861 and the Llandaff City.
22385
Industrial ruins alongside the River Avon alongside Hotwell Road, in Hotwells, Bristol, Avon.
The name "Avon" is a cognate of the Welsh word afon, "river". The Avon rises just north of the village of Acton Turville in South Gloucestershire, before flowing through Wiltshire. In its lower reaches from Bath to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth near Bristol the river is navigable and known as the Avon Navigation. The Avon is the 19th longest river in the UK at 75 miles (121 km) although there are just 19 miles (31 km) as the crow flies between the source and its mouth in the Severn Estuary.
The distribution of archaeological finds suggests that the western end of the river between Bath and Avonmouth formed a border between the Dobunni and Durotriges during the late Iron Age, prior to the Roman conquest of Britain. Further east, between Bath and what is now Wiltshire, it may also have formed a border of the territory ruled by the Belgae. After the Roman occupation the river formed a boundary between the lands of the Hwicce (which became Mercia) and the kingdom of Wessex.
The river Avon had been navigable from Bristol to Bath during the early years of the 13th century but construction of mills on the river forced its closure. The floodplain of the Avon, on which the city centre of Bath is built, has an altitude of about 59 ft (18 m) above sea level. The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel. Periodic flooding, which shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city, was normal until major flood control works were completed in the 1970s.
The Bristol Avon Navigation, which runs the 15 miles (24 km) from the Kennet and Avon Canal at Hanham Lock to the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth, was constructed between 1724 and 1727, following legislation passed by Queen Anne, by a company of proprietors and the engineer John Hore of Newbury. The first cargo of 'Deal boards, Pig-Lead and Meal' arrived in Bath in December 1727. It is now administered by the Canal & River Trust.
Throughout Bristol's history the Avon Gorge has been an important transport route, carrying the River Avon, major roads and two railways. The Bristol Channel and Avon estuary have a very high tidal range of 15 metres (49 ft), second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada; and the gorge is relatively narrow and meandering, making it notoriously difficult to navigate. Several vessels have grounded in the gorge including the SS Demerara soon after her launch in 1851, the schooner Gipsy in 1878, the steam tug Black Eagle in 1861 and the Llandaff City.