Bristol Cathedral, Christ Church and St Mary's Redcliffe

My first trip to Bristol was many years ago when I went there on Dec 23rd to buy a TRS Computer and I took it with me ‘up North’ as my Christmas present to myself. While I’ve had many other home computers, I still have very fond memories of it, learning to program on it, etc.

On my arrival from Bath, I decided to get a taxi to Clifton Cathedral and I was very glad that I did. I’d no idea how hilly Bristol is. Very happy to walk downhill, uphill is another matter.

What is now called Bristal was once home to Iron Age settlements and, of course, the Romans. It received its royal charter in 1155 and, until the Industrial Revolution, was consistently one of the top three cities in England. Bristol was a major port for the transatlantic slave trade. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried an estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas.

Bristol Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it became in 1542 the seat of the newly created Bishop of Bristol and the cathedral of the new Diocese of Bristol.

The eastern end of the church dates from the 12th century, with the Elder Lady Chapel which was added in the early 13th century. Much of the church was rebuilt in the English Decorated Gothic style during the 14th century and in the 15th century, the transept and central tower were added. The nave was incomplete at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 and was demolished. In the 19th century Gothic Revival, a new nave was built by George Edmund Street partially using the original plans. The western twin towers, designed by John Loughborough Pearson, were completed in 1888.

Here are some photos of this lovely cathedral.

Clifton Cathedral or the Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul is the Roman Catholic cathedral and isn’t the church that I visited as I just discovered when I was researching it. I asked the taxi driver to take me to Clifton Catholic cathedral and I’ve just discovered he took me to Christ Church Clifton. Which is quite close to the cathedral but actually isn’t the cathedral. I see another visit to Bristol in the future.

Here are some photos of Christ Church Clifton.

After a very nice lunch, I was walking back to the train station and I saw St Mary Redcliffe. It would have been rude to ignore it and I went in. There’s very little of the 12th-century building with the majority of it being from the 13th and 14th centuries. It was famously described by Queen Elizabeth I as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."

The spire fell after being struck by lightning in 1446 and was not rebuilt until 1872. Little of the original stained glass remains following damage in the English Civil War with extensive new glass being added during the Victorian era. The tower contains 14 bells designed for full-circle English-Style change ringing. Other music in the church is provided by several choirs and the Harrison & Harrison organ.

Here are some photos of what Queen Elizabeth I described as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."