BRISTOL, a cathedral city of Eng land, a municipal and a parliamentary borough, situated partly in Gloucester shire, partly in Somersetshire, but form ing a county in itself. It stands at the confluence of the rivers Avon and Frome, which unite within the city, whence the combined stream (the Avon) pursues a course of nearly 7 miles to the Bristol Channel. The town is built partly on low grounds, partly on emi nences, and has some fine suburban dis tricts, such as Clifton, on the opposite side of the Avon, and connected with Bristol by a suspension bridge 703 feet long and 245 feet above high water mark. Notable among buildings are the cathedral, founded in 1142, exhibiting various styles of architecture, and re cently restored and enlarged; St. Mary Redcliff, said to have been founded in 1293, and perhaps the finest parish church in the kingdom. Among mod ern buildings are the exchange, the guild hall, the council house, the post office, etc. The charities are exceed ingly numerous, the most important be ing Ashley Down Orphanage, for the orphans of Protestant parents, founded by the late George Muller. Bristol has a number of endowed schools, the prin cipal of which are the grammar school, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, the Red Maids' School (which educates and pro vides for 80 girls, and gives them mar riage portions), Colston's Hospital, the Trade School, and the Cathedral School.
Among the educational institutions are the University College, the Theological Colleges of the Baptists and Independ ents, Clifton College, and the Philo sophical Institute. There is a school of art, and also a public library. Bristol has glass works, potteries, soap works, tanneries, sugar refineries, and chemical works, ship building and machinery yards. Coal is worked extensively with in the limits of the borough.
In old Celtic chronicles we find the name Caer Oder, or "the City of the Chasm," given to a place in this neigh borhood, a name ioeculiarly appropriate to the situation of Bristol, or rather of its suburb, Clifton. The Saxons called it Bricgstow, "bridge-place." In 1373, it was constituted a county of itself by Edward III. It was made the seat of a bishopric by Henry VIII., in 1542 (now united with Gloucester). In 1831, the Reform agitation gave origin to riots that lasted for several days. The rioters destroyed a number of public and private buildings, and had to be dis persed by the military. Sebastian Cabot, Chatterton, and Southey were na tives of Bristol. Pop. about 365,000.