The development at Totterdown bridge requires an Archaeological Excavation and Watching Brief (see full report below). The required report includes what is known about the area to date:
4 Archaeological and Historical Background
4.1 Historically, the site lay just within the bounds of the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Bedminster. The Domesday Book, produced in 1086, suggests very strongly that there was high-status occupation in Bedminster by at least the late Anglo-Saxon period (Thorn and Thorn, 1980). Although their exact locations are not known, historians agree that the parish contained both a royal manorial estate and a Christian minster, which were probably both in decline by the later Medieval period (La-Trobe Bateman 1999, 7). In 1605, the manorial estate of Bedminster was bought by Sir Hugh Smyth; by virtue of its size alone, its acquisition made that family, later of Ashton Court, among the most eminent landowners in the region (Collinson 1791, 288). Previously a picturesque rural village, Bedminster became the centre of industrialisation in the Bristol region from the 18th century onwards (Collinson 1791, 280). Coal-mining established itself as a major industry during the 18th century, and by the 19th century there were 15 pits in or close to the core settlement area (Taylor and Shapland 2012). Other notable industries included tanning, rope-making, brick and tile-making, cigarette manufacture, printing and packaging (La Trobe Bateman, 1999). Along with Bedminster’s industrial expansion came a dramatic increase in population levels, and the urbanisation of the parish began in earnest during the 19th century. In 1835, following the 1832 Reform Act, the boundaries of Bristol were extended to take in Bedminster (Latimer 1970, 185 and 208), and in 1881, Bedminster was incorporated into the Parliamentary boundaries of the city (Latimer 1970, 526).
4.2 The proposed development sits on the site of the 18th century Brislington Gate, a turnpike gate along the historic course of the Bath Road. Its HER entry, 1991M, describes the monument thus:
Brislington Gate, a turnpike gate, across Bath Road. The toll gate was apparently established in the early eighteenth century by the Bristol turnpike trust. A renewal of the trustees powers by Parliament in February 1749 prompted local rioting, and in July 1749 Bedminster Gate was one of a number of turnpike gates destroyed by labourers with blackened faces who called themselves “Jack a Lents” (Latimer 1893, 274). The tollgate survived on this site until 1834 when the Turnpike road was diverted to the present route of the Bath Road because of the problems of frequent flooding and slippage. A new Turnpike House, the present Turnpike Inn [Note: Renamed The Thunderbolt], was created 100m east of the former gate. The original Turnpike House survived as a cottage, then as part of the buildings for a boat repair yard until the site was cleared in c.1990. A Pennant rubble wall possibly a surviving element of the toll house forms part of the northern boundary of this site (09/11/2007).
4.3 The development site has previously been subject to two Archaeological Desk-Based Assessments (Bryant 2007; Longman 2017) and an Archaeological Evaluation (Stevens 2007). The Evaluation summary states:
Three trenches were opened during the evaluation. Trench I contained evidence of two surfaces; one a Macadam road and the other an earlier limestone cobbled surface. Trench 2 revealed structural remains of the 18th-century Turnpike House and further evidence of the Macadam surface as well as a possible earlier phase of occupation. Both the limestone cobbled road and the Macadam surface continued within Trench 3.
4.4 The earliest maps to depict the development site date to the late 18th century (BRO AC/PL/92) and show that, apart from the historic course of the Bath Road and the Brislington Gate, the area was undeveloped agricultural land. This landscape remained unchanged on historic maps until the 1841 Bedminster tithe map; this is the earliest map to depict the present course of the Bath Road after its diversion in 1834, and demonstrates that, although the toll house remained, Brislington Gate had been demolished. Possibly as part of these developments, the large open field in which the site had previously sat had been divided into smaller plots, and two probable barns or outhouses had been erected just to the west of the toll house, well within the boundaries of the current proposed development. By the latter half of the 19th century, the rapid urbanisation of Bedminster had reached the site and the area surrounding it had been developed into residential properties, with Totterdown Bridge (HER 2115M) being constructed in 1888. However, the site itself remained largely unchanged during this period. At the turn of the 20th century, the two probable barns on the western edge of the site had been demolished and an additional building had been erected immediately to the west of the toll house, with a landing stage giving access to the river constructed not long after. No further changes are shown on cartographic sources until the late 1950s onwards, when a number of industrial units and modern buildings were established along the western side of the site.
4.5 In summary, historic maps of Bedminster and previous archaeological investigations carried out within the proposed development area demonstrate the existence of in situ 18th – 20th century archaeological remains, namely the historic course of the Bath Road, with its surviving Macadam surface, and the Brislington Gate and accompanying toll house.
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