The Downs, Bristol

The Downs
This tower on the Downs conceals a ventilation shaft for the railway tunnel below
Type	public open space
Location	Bristol, England
Coordinates	51°28′N 2°38′W / 51.47°N 2.63°W / 51.47; -2.63Coordinates: 51°28′N 2°38′W / 51.47°N 2.63°W / 51.47; -2.63
Area	441 acres (1.78 km²)
Status	open all year

Location of The Downs in Bristol

The Downs are an area of public open limestone downland in Bristol, England. They consist of Durdham Down to the northeast, and the generally more picturesque and visited Clifton Down to the southwest.

Durdham Down

Main article: Durdham Down

Durdham Down is the part of the Downs northeast of Stoke Road, extending to Westbury Park and Henleaze. It is owned by Bristol City Council for the benefit of the people of Bristol.

Clifton Down

Main article: Clifton Down

Clifton Down is the part of the Downs southwest of Stoke Road, between Sneyd Park and Clifton and extending to the edge of the Avon Gorge. It is owned by the Society of Merchant Venturers.

Management

Since an Act of Parliament in 1861, when Bristol Corporation acquired Durdham Down, the Downs have been managed as a single unit by the Downs Committee, a joint committee of the corporation and the Merchant Venturers.^[1]

They are used for leisure, walking, team sports and sightseeing (especially at the Avon Gorge cliff edge). There are permanent football pitches, used by the Bristol Downs Football League, the lowest tier any club has ever joined in order to be promoted to the Premier League. There are also temporary attractions on the Downs, such as circuses and the annual Bristol Flower Show.

A grey concrete water tower of 1954 stands on the Downs near the top of Blackboy Hill, with a long, low, covered reservoir alongside it.

In 1982, 6,000 people assembled on the Downs, in response of to a local newspaper advertisement placed by the makers of the new breakfast television show TV-am. The 6,000 people were used to make the words 'Good', 'Morning' and 'Britain', used for the opening titles of the TV-am show, of the same name. It took 2 hours to get the people into place, and another 2 hours to shoot.

Panorama over the downs

Gallery

The Observatory on Clifton Down gives a dramatic view of the Avon Gorge
Kites on the Downs in early autumn
The Avon Gorge from the Downs

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Downs.

↑ Clifton and Durdham Downs: a Landscape History

External links

Bristol City Council page on the Downs
Photographs of the Downs air vents
"Downs Management Plan 2006" (PDF). Bristol City Council. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
Avon Gorge and Downs Wildlife Project
Map of The Downs circa 1900

Culture in Bristol

Venues	Bierkeller Theatre Bristol Arena (proposed) Bristol Hippodrome Bristol Old Vic Colston Hall list of artists Cube Microplex O2 Academy Bristol QEH Theatre Redgrave Theatre St George's, Brandon Hill The Thekla Tobacco Factory Victoria Rooms Watershed Media Centre Wickham Theatre Winston Theatre

Festivals	Bristol Festival of Ideas Bristol Festival of Nature Bristol Harbour Festival Bristol International Balloon Fiesta Bristol International Kite Festival Bristol Shakespeare Festival St Pauls Carnival

Museums, galleries, archives and public art	Arnolfini Blaise Castle Blaise Hamlet At-Bristol Banksy Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery Bristol Harbour Railway Bristol Record Office Bristol Zoo Georgian House Glenside Museum Kings Weston Roman Villa M Shed Observatory Red Lodge Museum Royal West of England Academy See No Evil SS Great Britain

Parks	Parks of Bristol Ashton Court Blaise Castle Brandon Hill College Green The Downs Redland Green Queen Square Snuff Mills St George Park

Creative industries	Bristol record labels

Past attractions	Ashton Court Festival British Empire and Commonwealth Museum Industrial Museum

Churches	All Saints' Church Bristol Cathedral Bristol Community Church Buckingham Baptist Chapel Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne Christ Church, Clifton Down Christ Church with St Ewen Church of Holy Trinity, Hotwells Church of Holy Trinity, Stapleton Church of the Holy Trinity with St Edmund Church of St John the Baptist City Road Baptist Church Cotham Church Counterslip Baptist Church Clifton Cathedral Crofts End Church Holy Trinity Church, Kingswood Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym New Room Pro-Cathedral of the Holy Apostles St Mary Redcliffe Redland Chapel St. Augustine's Church, Whitchurch St Augustine the Less Church St George's Church St James' Priory St John the Baptist St Luke's Church St Mark's Church St Mary le Port Church St Mary on the Quay St Mary's Church, Henbury St Matthews Church St Michael on the Mount Without St Nicholas St Peter and St Paul St Peters Church, Bishopsworth St Peter's Church, Castle Park St Philip and Jacob St Stephen's Church St Thomas the Martyr St Werburgh's Church St. Paul's Church Temple Church Trinity Centre Whitefield's Tabernacle, Kingswood Whitefield's Tabernacle, Penn Street Woodlands Christian Centre

Pubs	Black Castle Public House Clifton Lido and The Victoria Public House Hatchet Inn King William Ale House Llandoger Trow Mauretania Public House Nova Scotia Old Post Office Palace Hotel Printers Devil Pump House Seven Stars Public House Shakespeare Inn Shakespeare Public House Stag and Hounds Public House The Coronation Tap The Crown The Famous Royal Naval Volunteer The Old Duke

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