Bristol is a city, a unitary authority and a ceremonial county of its own in South West England. It covers 42 square miles (110 km2) and had 471,285 residents at the 2021 census, making it the largest city in the South West.
The city stands on the River Avon about 106 miles (171 km) west of London and 26 miles (42 km) east of Cardiff. It has been a county in its own right since 1373.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | South West England |
| Area | 42 sq mi (110 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 471,285 |
| Density | 4,285 people per km2 |
| Status | City, unitary authority, ceremonial county |
| County status since | 1373 |
| Council | Bristol City Council |
| River | Avon |
Towns and Villages in Bristol
Bristol has no separate towns or villages inside its boundary. What it has are named districts and former villages swallowed by the city as it grew, from medieval Clifton and Westbury on Trym to the twentieth-century estates at Southmead and Hartcliffe. The list below covers the main ones.
- Arno’s Vale
- Ashley Down
- Ashton Gate
- Ashton Vale
- Avonmouth
- Bedminster
- Bishopsworth
- Bower Ashton
- Box Makers Yard
- Brentry
- Brislington
- Bristol
- Broom Hill
- Broomhill
- Burchells Green
- Canon’s Marsh
- Chester Park
- Clay Bottom
- Clay Hill
- Clifton
- Crofts End
- Easton
- Filwood Park
- Fishponds
- Hartcliffe
- Headley Park
- Henbury
- Hengrove
- Henleaze
- Highridge
- Hillfields
- Horfield
- Hotwells
- Inn’s Court
- Kensington Park
- Kingsdown
- Knowle Park
- Lockleaze
- Lower Knowle
- Montpelier
- Moorfields
- Netham
- Newtown
- Novers Park
- Redfield
- Ridgeway
- Rose Green
- Russell Town
- Sea Mills
- Shirehampton
- Sneyd Park
- Southmead
- St Anne’s
- St Anne’s Park
- St Philip’s Marsh
- Stapleton
- Stockwood
- Stoke Bishop
- The Dings
- Two Mile Hill
- Tyndall’s Park
- Uplands
- Upper Eastville
- Upper Knowle
- Victoria Park
- Westbury on Trym
- Whiteway
- Withywood
Several places people treat as Bristol sit outside the city boundary in neighbouring authorities, among them Kingswood, Filton, Yate and Downend in South Gloucestershire.
Geography
Bristol sits where the Avon cuts through a limestone ridge to reach the Severn estuary. The Avon Gorge, 300 feet deep and spanned by Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge since 1864, is the city’s defining landform.
The ground is anything but flat: Clifton, Kingsdown and Totterdown all sit on steep slopes, and Dundry Hill rises to the south just over the boundary. Gloucestershire lies to the north and Somerset to the south, and the historic county boundary between them ran through the middle of the old city.
The Floating Harbour, completed in 1809, keeps water in the city docks at a constant level, an engineering answer to the Avon’s tidal range of up to 13 metres, one of the largest in the world.
Demographics
The 2021 census recorded 471,285 residents, up about 10% on 2011 and one of the faster growth rates among English cities. The wider Bristol built-up area, which spills into South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, holds well over 700,000 people.
The city has an unusually young age profile, driven by two universities with roughly 60,000 students between them. Around 16% of residents identify as belonging to a minority ethnic group, with long-established African-Caribbean, Somali, Polish and South Asian communities, concentrated in St Pauls, Easton and Lawrence Hill.
Economy and Local Life
Aerospace is the anchor industry. Filton, on the northern edge, has built aircraft since 1910, assembled Concorde and now designs and tests wings for Airbus; Rolls-Royce and GKN employ thousands more nearby.
Financial and legal services cluster in the centre and at Temple Quay. Creative work is a genuine specialism: Aardman Animations, the BBC Natural History Unit and a substantial games sector are all based in the city. The Port of Bristol operates downstream at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury, handling cars, containers and bulk cargo.
Daily life centres on the Harbourside, Gloucester Road with its long run of independent shops, and the Bristol Balloon Fiesta each August.
History
The settlement was Brycgstow, the place at the bridge, and was minting coins by about 1000. By the fourteenth century it was the second port of England after London, trading wine from Bordeaux and wool to Ireland.
John Cabot sailed from Bristol in 1497 and reached North America. From the late 1600s the city grew wealthy on the transatlantic trade, including the trafficking of enslaved Africans; Bristol merchants fitted out more than 2,000 slaving voyages before abolition, a history the city has confronted publicly since the 2020 removal of the Colston statue.
Brunel worked here on the Great Western Railway, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain, which is preserved in the dock where she was built. Bombing in 1940 and 1941 destroyed much of the old centre, which is why Broadmead is a post-war shopping district.
Getting There
The M4 and M5 meet at Almondsbury just north of the city, and the M32 runs from that junction into the centre. The A4 links Bristol to Bath and to Avonmouth, and the A38 runs south past the airport.
Bristol Temple Meads, opened in 1840, is the main station, with Great Western services to London Paddington in about 90 minutes and CrossCountry trains to Birmingham, the North and the South West. Bristol Parkway, north of the city, serves the same routes and the South Wales line. Bristol Airport lies at Lulsgate, eight miles south, with a dedicated bus link from the centre.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Bristol?
471,285 at the 2021 census, up roughly 10% on 2011. The wider built-up area exceeds 700,000.
Is Bristol in Somerset or Gloucestershire?
Neither. Bristol has been a county in its own right since 1373 and is today a unitary authority and ceremonial county. Historically the city straddled the boundary between the two.
What are the main districts of Bristol?
Clifton, Redland, Bishopston, Horfield, Southmead, Henbury, Shirehampton, Bedminster, Knowle, Brislington, Fishponds, Easton and St George, among others.
How far is Bristol from London?
About 106 miles (171 km) by road, and roughly 90 minutes by train from Temple Meads to Paddington.
What is the postcode area for Bristol?
BS, which also covers parts of South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.