The first evidence of human activity of any kind in Bristol dates from approximately 60,000 years ago thanks to archaeological findings. Although there are some remains of Roman forts and villas in the area, Bristol’s history doesn’t really begin until around AD 1000 when the town was formed and immediately became a relatively important trading centre. This is known because the town had its own mint and was producing silver pennies that had the town’s name on them. William the Conqueror took the town in 1066 and it easily repelled an invasion by King Harold's army the following year.

Medieval Bristol

The Normans built one of the strongest stone castles in England in 1155. By now, Bristol had become an important port town and it was in charge of much of England’s trade with Ireland. A stone bridge was built in 1247 and this lasted for more than 500 years until the modern Bristol Bridge was built in the middle of the 18th century. In 1373, Bristol became a county and its expansion was impressive. Indeed, Bristol was the fourth largest town in England during Medieval times. However, the Black Death of 1348-49 is believed to have wiped out more than 33% of the town’s population. This caused the population to stagnate for a couple of hundred years.

Middle Ages

However, Bristol was still the second most important port in England during the 15th century. Several important voyages of trading and exploration had their origins from the port of Bristol or else they were carried out by merchants from the town. William Weston was an explorer from Bristol and he led the first expedition to North America to be headed by an Englishman in 1499. Bristol was also an important location during the English Civil War when Bristol took the side of Parliamentary forces but was captured in 1643 by Royalist forces. Parliamentary forces won Bristol back in 1645 and Oliver Cromwell had Bristol Castle destroyed in 1656.

18th And 19 Century

Bristol was to grow even more thanks to the increase in the number of American colonies and the rise in African slavery with Bristol one of the ports used for voyaging to Africa and capturing slaves in the 18th century. More than 2,000 ships set sail from Bristol to take slaves from Africa and transport them to the New World in the 18th century. However, Bristol started to fall behind cities like Liverpool and Manchester because of competition, the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the wars against France in the 1790s.

Nonetheless, the population of Bristol increased by some 300% during the 18th century thanks to the growth of industry during the Industrial Revolution. Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed the Great Western Railway which travelled between London Paddington and Bristol. The first Methodist Chapel was created by John Wesley in Bristol in 1739. The town also suffered riots in the late 18th century and most notably in 1831 when the Second Reform Bill was rejected.

Modern Bristol

The population of Bristol at the start of the 20th century was approximately 330,000 and the city would continue to grow during the modern era. The Royal Edward Dock was opened in the early part of the century and was an important structure to boost the usefulness of the town’s port. The University of Bristol was opened in 1909 with the main building opening 16 years later.

World War II hit Bristol like it did with so many British cities. Constant raids by the German Luftwaffe saw 1,300 people killed and over 100,000 buildings destroyed. Some 3,000 of these buildings were ruined beyond possible repair. The town was rebuilt but most of the architecture consisted of cheap tower blocks. On the plus side, the transport network was greatly improved with the M4 and M5 motorways created in the 1960s and 1970s. From the 1990s onward, the city council have strove to greatly improve the city’s infrastructure and has done so by closing a number of main roads and rebuilding the Broadmead shopping centre. They have also torn down most of the cheap towers blocks that were an eyesore for so long. A number of stylish studio apartments have been built and £240 million has been spent regenerating Canon's Marsh.