Most visitors to Bristol put the Clifton Suspension Bridge at the top of their list of things to see and do. This iconic bridge, a triumph of Victorian engineering, spans the Avon Gorge at an eye watering 245 feet above the river. If you’re afraid of heights – it might not be the best idea to walk across it! As well as seeing the bridge itself, the impressive limestone gorge and surrounding area is full of places to explore.
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Made with difficulty
It’s not hard to imagine that building a bridge across the gorge wasn’t easy! On the far tower, on the Leigh Woods side, there is a Latin inscription: SUSPENSA VIX VIA FIT, which translates as, “A suspended way made with difficulty.” This suggests the trials encountered on a project which was started in 1754, and wasn’t completed until over a century later, in 1864. Sadly, by the time of its completion, the famous Victorian designer Isambard Kingdom Brunel had already died!
The idea to build the bridge across the River Avon began when Bristol wine merchant William Vick left £1,000 in his will for the project. However, it wasn’t until many decades later, in 1829, that the idea took root, and a competition to design a bridge was launched. Many engineers and inventors put in their designs, and a short list was drawn up, including the submission from Brunel. His design, which included Egyptian sphynxes on the main towers, was the winner, and in 1831 work began. However, it stopped shortly afterwards, when the project ran out of money.
A few years later, work started again, and a basket car, suspended from a cable, took people over the gorge, and it became a thrill seeking attraction! By 1843, the towers had been built, (minus the decorative sphinxes,) however work ground to a halt again, due to lack of money.
After Brunel’s death in 1859, two engineers, John Hawkshaw and William Barlow came up with a proposal to finish the bridge as a memorial to Brunel. It was completed in 1864, with a lavish opening ceremony.
The Sarah Guppy Controversy
However, the invention of the bridge isn’t without controversy. In recent years, stories began to circulate that the bridge was designed by Sarah Guppy, who lived in Bristol and had six children. She was the wife of a local sugar merchant, and spent her spare time designing inventions, for everything from a new way of protecting ships from barnacles, to a device to boil an egg from the steam of an urn.
The Guppy family were close friends with Brunel, and it’s documented that Sarah gave technical advice on a number of engineering projects, including the Great Western Railway.
In 1811, she designed and patented a method for piling foundations, to create a new type of suspension bridge across the River Avon.
In 2008, a show was put on at local fringe theatre, the Hen and Chicken, called Sarah Guppy: The Bridge, The Bed, The Truth, which delved further into her life. It suggested that not only was she was a mentor to the young Isambard, but she also shared her designs ideas with him.
In 2016, the Oxford National Directory of Biographies published a new entry about Sarah Guppy, which led to a media storm claiming that Sarah Guppy had at last achieved the recognition she deserved for designing the bridge.
Media storm
The Bristol Evening Post ran a story with the headline, Recognition at last for the mum-of-six who designed Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge – not Brunel. In the article, Anna Silva, from Oxford University Press, was reported as saying,
“In March 1811, Guppy obtained a patent for ‘erecting and constructing bridges and rail-roads without arches or sterlings, whereby the danger of being washed away by floods is avoided’.”
“She was an early advocate of a suspension bridge in Clifton and was reported to have been ‘assiduously employed in forming the model of a bridge to be erected across the Avon’ in 1811, when she sought subscriptions to erect such a bridge, in which she herself seems to have been an early investor.
“She was said to have made models for Brunel of his inventions. Though the precise impact of her ideas on his design is unknown, her early advocacy of a suspension bridge in Clifton certainly pre-dates Brunel’s own involvement in such a scheme.”
It was also reported that she gave her patented invention to engineer Thomas Telford, waiving all fees, enabling him to complete the Menai Bridge between mainland Wales and Anglesey in 1826.
The entry in the Biography Dictionary was quickly edited, after her alleged link to the Brunel design was refuted by historians. It was claimed that Brunel’s 1831 design was different from Guppy’s patent in several significant ways, which included the fact that it did not feature riverbed foundations, (a key component of Guppy’s design,) as it was constructed over 200 feet above high tide where the piers were not at risk of damage from water erosion.
Brunel achieved worldwide fame for designing the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and is still a household name today. While Sarah Guppy is remembered for saying, “It is unpleasant to speak of oneself—it may seem boastful particularly in a woman,” and for inventing a new way to boil an egg!
The Bridge Visitor Centre
On the Leigh Woods side of the bridge – you’ll find the visitor centre, with fascinating displays of old photographs and information on the building of the bridge. It is open from Monday – Saturday.
For details of things to see near the Clifton Suspension Bridge – check out my article – The Avon Gorge – giants and hot water.
If you’ve enjoyed exploring this area, click here for more things to see and do in Bristol.
