[Illustration]
Clifton is the Montpellier of England, and is associated with all that
is delightful in nature: of this, the Engraving before us is a true
picture, whether we contemplate the winding Avon; the sublime beauty of
its rocks--
Clifton's airy rocks,
(as Mr. Bowles poetically calls them), the picturesque scenery of the
opposite shore; or the abodes of cottage comforts which cluster into a
rural village beside the cliff till the eye reaches a splendid range of
crescents and terraces which art has reared on the stupendous brow
above.
Clifton is situated on the south and west of the cliff, or hill, (whence
its name), one mile westward of the city of Bristol, over great part of
which it commands a very pleasing prospect, as also of the ships that,
on the flood and ebb tides, sail up and down the Avon. From the opposite
shore the richly cultivated lands of Somersetshire present themselves in
a very beautiful landscape, rising gradually four or five miles from the
verge of the river to the top of Dundry Hill, whereon is a high tower,
esteemed the Proteus of the weather, as being commonly enveloped with
mist, so as scarcely to be visible, against rain; but, on the contrary,
if it be seen clear and distinct in the morning, it denotes the approach
of a fine day.
The salubrious situation of Clifton has long since attracted the
wealthy. Hence, the hill is nearly covered with superb buildings, (for
which the freestone of the country affords peculiar facilities), till
the village has almost become an elegant city. The Downs are covered
with verdure all the year, and the turf abounds with aromatic plants,
growing wild, which are not to be met with elsewhere in England. Here
are also discernible ancient fortifications and intrenchments; and coins
of the later Roman emperors have frequently been found about the camp;
there are other military works opposite, on the Somersetshire side of
the Avon. Besides the above remains, on Clifton Downs, is an old tower
with a brick floor, but without any roof. (_See the Engraving._) From
three open spaces, formerly doors, are exquisite views: in front an
extensive prospect of Gloucestershire; on the right, part of Clifton,
and in the background Dundry Hill; and on the left, King's Road, with
the ships at anchor, the Bristol Channel, and the mountains of South
Wales. At the end of the Downs stands the mansion of Sir William Draper,
once so conspicuous in the public mind from the severe chastisement he
received from Junius. To the left is an expensive monument erected by
Sir William, who was colonel of the 79th regiment, to the memory of his
soldiers who fell in the East Indies, in 1768; and to the right is a
pillared tribute to the patriotic Earl of Chatham, with a brief Latin
inscription by Sir William Draper.
Our view of Clifton is from the Ferry, and is from an effective
lithograph, of very recent date.
Added to the charms of the romantic scenery of Clifton are the
attractions of the Bristol Hot Wells, in the vicinity; upon which
fashion has conferred too great celebrity to render description needful.
The richness and grandeur of the scenery of the Hot Wells are almost
inconceivable; in some places the rocks, venerably majestic, rise
perpendicularly, or overhanging, craggy and bare; and in others they are
clothed with luxuriant shrubs and stately trees. From the bottom of
these cliffs, on the east bank of the river, issues the Bristol Hot Well
water. The spring rises out of an aperture in the solid rocks and is
computed to discharge about forty gallons in a minute.
The author of the _History and Beauties of Clifton Hot Wells_, in
describing this scenery, says, "One of the sublimest and most beautiful
scenes in nature is exhibited by those bold and rugged eminences behind
the crescent, known by the name of _St. Vincent's Rocks_, which appear
to have been rent asunder by some violent convulsion of nature." They
are misshapen and massy projections, nearly 300 feet in height. Pieces
of this rock, when broken, have much the appearance of a dark, red
marble; and when struck by a substance of corresponding hardness, emit a
strong sulphureous smell. It is sometimes used as a substitute for
foreign marble for chimney-pieces; but principally for making lime. In
the fissures of these rocks are found those fine crystals usually called
Bristol stones, which are so hard as to cut glass, and sustain the
action of fire and of _aquafortis_; this, however, is only the case with
such as are tinged. The imperfect ones, in which there appears something
like small hairs, white specks, or bubbles of air and water, turn white
when calcined.