Bristol

From the records: “A minster was founded in the 8th century at Westbury on Trym and is mentioned in a charter of 804.”

From the records: “The town of Bristol was founded on a low hill between the rivers Frome and Avon at some time before the early 11th century.”

From the records: “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 1052 Harold Godwinson took ship to Brycgstow and later in 1062 he took ships from the town to subdue the forces of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn of Wales, indicating the status of the town as a port.”

From the records: “By 1067, Brycgstow was a well-fortified burh, and that year the townsmen beat back a raiding party from Ireland led by three of Harold Godwinson's sons.”

From the records: “In 1140 St Augustine's Abbey was founded by Robert Fitzharding, a wealthy Bristolian who had loyally supported the Earl and Matilda in the war.”

From the records: “At some time after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 a motte-and-bailey was erected on the present site of Castle Park.”

From the records: “By the 12th century, there was an important Jewish community in Bristol which survived through to the late 13th century when all Jews were expelled from England.”

From the records: “A stone bridge was built across the Avon, c. 1247 and between the years of 1240 and 1247 a Great Ditch was constructed in St Augustine's Marsh to straighten out the course of the River Frome and provide more space for berthing ships.”

From the records: “By the mid-14th century Bristol is considered to have been England's third-largest town (after London and York), with an estimated 15–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the Black Death of 1348–49.”

From the records: “The town incorporated neighbouring suburbs and became a county in 1373, the first town in England to be given this status.”

From the records: “From about 1420–1480 the port also traded with Iceland, from which it imported a type of freeze-dried cod called 'stockfish'.”

From the records: “In 1497 Bristol was the starting point for John Cabot's voyage of exploration to North America.”

From the records: “In 1574 Elizabeth I visited the city during her Royal Progress through the western counties.”

From the records: “In 1630 the city corporation bought the castle and when the First English Civil War broke out in 1642, the city took the Parliamentary side and partly restored the fortifications.”

From the records: “In 1739, John Wesley founded the first Methodist chapel, the New Room, in Bristol.”

From the records: “The 18th century saw an expansion of Bristol's population (45,000 in 1750) and its role in the Atlantic trade in Africans taken for slavery to the Americas.”

From the records: “The Somersett Case of 1772 clarified that slavery was illegal in England.”

From the records: “The limitations of Bristol's docks were causing problems to business, so in 1802 William Jessop proposed installing a dam and lock at Hotwells to create the harbour.”

From the records: “The Bristol Riots of 1831 took place after the House of Lords rejected the second Reform Bill.”

From the records: “Notable were Mary Carpenter, who founded ragged schools and reformatories, and George Müller who founded an orphanage in 1836.”

From the records: “These include Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain, which was the first iron-hulled and propeller-driven ocean liner; and a replica of the Matthew, in which John Cabot sailed to North America in 1497.”

From the records: “In 1753 Bristolian merchant William Vick had left a bequest in his will of £1,000 (equivalent to £190,000 in 2025), invested with instructions that when the interest had accumulated to £10,000 ( equivalent in 2025</span>"}]]}' id="mwYg">£1,920,000), it should be used for the purpose of building a stone bridge between Clifton Down (which was in Gloucestershire, outside the City of Bristol, until the 1830s) and Leigh Woods in Somerset.”

From the records: “The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, which later became the Bristol Aeroplane Company, then part of the British Aircraft Corporation and finally BAE Systems, was founded by Sir George White, owner of Bristol Tramways in 1910.”

From the records: “Bristol's city centre also suffered severe damage, especially in November and December 1940, when the Broadmead area was flattened, and Hitler claimed to have destroyed the city.”

From the records: “The Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 arose from the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company (in conjunction with the Transport and General Workers' Union) to employ Black or South Asian bus crews in the city of Bristol, England.”

From the records: “Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project during the 1960s.”

From the records: “On 1 April 1979, the first modern bungee jumps were made from the bridge by members of the University of Oxford Dangerous Sports Club.”

From the records: “The city received the 2015 European Green Capital Award, becoming the first UK city to receive this award.”

From the records: “Colston was a Bristol-born merchant who made some of his fortune from the slave trade, particularly between 1680 and 1692.”