The pin manufactory was established here by John Tisley, in the year
1626, and the business is now become so extensive, that the returns from
London alone are estimated at near twenty thousand pounds per annum.
Before the introduction of pins into England, anno 1543, skewers of
brass, silver and gold, and likewise thorns curiously scraped, called by
the Welsh women pindraen, were used. Though the pins themselves are
apparently simple, yet their manufacture is not a little curious and
complex. The wire in its most rough state is brought from a wire company
in the neighbourhood of Bristol: till the year 1563, English iron wire
was drawn out by manual strength. The first operation attending this
curious process is the fixing the circular roll of wire to the
circumference of a wheel, which in its rotation throwing the wire against
a board, with great violence, takes off the black external coat: vitriol
is next applied to bring the brass to its common colour. The brass wire
being too thick for the purpose of being cut into pins, is reduced to any
dimension the workman pleases, by forcibly drawing it through an orifice
in a steel plate, of a similar diameter. The wire being thus reduced to
its proper dimensions, is next straightened: it is then cut into portions
of six inches in length, and afterwards to the size of the pin, and each
piece respectively sharpened on a grinding-stone, turned by a wheel. We
now come to a distinct branch of the manufactory: the forming the heads,
or, as the workmen term it, head spinning: this is accomplished by means
of a spinning-wheel, which, with astonishing rapidity, winds the wire
round a small rod: this, when drawn out, leaves a hollow tube between the
circumvolutions: every two circumvolutions, or turns, being cut with
shears, form one head. The heads thus formed are distributed to
children, who, with great dexterity, by the assistance of an anvil, or
hammer, worked by the foot, fix the point and the head together. The
pins, thus formed, are boiled in a copper, containing a solution of
block-tin pulverized, and the lees of port; and by this last process, it
changes its yellow brassy colour, and assumes the appearance of silver or
tin. The labourers are all paid according to the weight of their work.
Near Glocester, at the small island of Alney, formed by the river Severn
dividing itself into two branches, historians relate that Canute and
Edmund, after many bloody engagements in Essex, determined to prevent a
farther effusion of blood by a single combat. Neither, however, as the
story relates, obtaining a victory, peace was concluded, and the kingdom
divided between them. We paid, however, little regard to the supposed
place of this contest, as it was not for us puisne antiquarians to
discuss points, on which the greatest historians had so materially
differed.
The roads round Glocester have been greatly improved of late years, more
particularly the one to Ross and Hereford, which was hilly, rocky and
generally dangerous: their texture and surface are now totally changed,
and, winding the hills, the gradual ascent removes both danger and
difficulty; the expense must have been enormous, and the traveller pays
proportionally in turnpike tolls; they are, generally speaking, round
Glocester and Hereford, the highest in England. Nothing can surpass the
excellence of the road from Glocester to Bristol, to which conveyances
are constantly going; and to such parties as have not visited that eager
bustling mart of trade, two or three days may be afforded with a
certainty of meeting with the most ample return for the trouble and
expense bestowed. The Church of St. Mary Redcliff, which is both ancient
and beautiful; the Abbey Church or cathedral; the docks; the charities,
and particularly that for teaching the blind to work; the hot wells at
Clifton; St. Vincent’s rocks, and the diminished vessels gliding on the
Avon; the beautiful views, mansions, villas, and pleasure grounds in
every direction in its vicinity, evincing at once the taste and opulence
of its merchants and citizens, but particularly those going to and
returning from King’s Weston, the view of Lord de Clifford’s mansion, and
the varied prospects it commands, as well as those from the park and
plantations, which are open to the public, constantly varying the scenery
on the Avon, Kingroad, and the distant Cambrian Alps, afforded pleasure
so exquisite to my romantic fancy, that for ten times the labour and
expense bestowed, I would not have debarred myself of them. Here most
happily are blended commercial riches and the life of trade with all that
nature’s bounty can bestow to please the fancy or delight the sight.
The antiquity of Bristol is recorded by Gildas, who has set it down as
one of the principal fortified cities in Britain, when the Romans
abandoned the island in the year 430. But little mention is made of it
again in history till the year 1063, when Harold, the son of Earl Godwin,
embarked from Bristol with an army to wreak his vengeance on Griffith,
King of Wales, who had committed divers aggressions. After sailing along
the coast and landing his men at various points, he reduced the country
to yield obedience to King Edward, and having compelled the Welsh to cut
off the head of their king and give him hostages for their fidelity, he
returned again to England.
The Castle of Bristol was formerly of great extent and strength, and is
repeatedly mentioned by historians for the gallant defences it has made,
and the noble prisoners it has held in safe custody; but it was not till
the time of Charles the First that it belonged to the city, when being
found to be a harbour and receptacle for rogues and vagabonds, it was
first added to the jurisdiction of the county of the city of Bristol, and
afterwards sold to the mayor and burgesses for 959_l._, to be held under
the manor of East Greenwich in Kent, at the yearly fee-farm rent of
40_l._
Both Henry the Second and Henry the Third, during their minorities, were
placed at Bristol as a place of security, at which they might receive
their educations. It was here in the year 1211 that the following
infamous act of tyrannic cruelty was exercised by King John. That
monarch having laid a heavy tax upon all the Jews throughout his
dominions, one of that race, named Abraham, having refused to pay the
tax, was fined in the sum of ten thousand marks; this the obstinate Jew
likewise refused to pay, which so much exasperated the King, that he
commanded one of his teeth to be drawn every day till the sum was paid;
the unfortunate Jew had seven of them taken out of his head, and then
submitted to the payment, rather than lose his last tooth, he having but
one left.
Bristol sends two members to Parliament; the first regular summons by
writ was issued by King Edward the First, directing that two proper
persons should be sent as its representatives to the Parliament at
Shrewsbury.
“King Henry the Seventh visited Bristol in 1490, and held his court in
St. Augustine’s Back, when the citizens, willing to shew the King all the
respect they could during his residence, arrayed themselves in their best
clothes; the King thinking some of their wives rather too well dressed
for their station, ordered that every citizen who was worth 20_l._ in
goods, should pay twenty shillings, for that their wives went so
sumptuously apparelled.”
The present Cathedral was the collegiate church of the monastery of St.
Augustine, originally founded by King Henry the Second, and Robert
Fitzharding, father of Maurice, the first of the Berkeley family. At the
suppression of the monasteries by King Henry the Eighth, after that of
St. Augustine had been destroyed, with the exception of the gate, and the
west end of the collegiate church had begun to share the same fate, the
King changed his mind, and resolved upon erecting it into a bishopric,
directing the church to be repaired, and thenceforth termed the cathedral
church of the holy and undivided Trinity, appointing Paul Bush, rector of
Winterborn, to be the first bishop, appropriating the revenue of the
suppressed monastery, amounting to 765_l._ 15_s._ 3_d._ per annum, partly
to the bishop and partly to the chapter; consisting of a Dean and six
Prebendaries. He likewise took the county of Dorset from the see of
Salisbury, transferring it to that of Bristol.
The interior of the Cathedral, though not to be named with those of
Glocester and Worcester, is still worthy of attention; particularly its
vaulted roof, those of the side aisles, and an emblematic picture of the
Holy Trinity, by Vansomers, over the altar. The windows of the side
aisles, which are of enamelled glass, are said to have been the gift of
Nell Gwynn.
On the south-west of the cathedral are the cloisters; and at the
south-east corner of the cloisters is the bishop’s palace, which was in
great part rebuilt in 1744, when the following extraordinary circumstance
happened. “A parcel of plate, supposed to have been hidden during the
time of the civil wars, fell through the floor in the corner of one of
the rooms; this accident occasioned the floor to be taken up, when, to
the surprise of those persons present, a dungeon underneath was
discovered, in which were found many human bones, and instruments of iron
for torture; at the same time was laid open a private passage to this
dungeon, which passage was part of the original edifice; it was an arched
way only large enough for one person to pass, and was made within the
wall; one end led to the dungeon, and the other end to an apartment of
the house, which by appearance had been made use of for a court of
judgment. Both the entrances of this mural passage were walled up, and
so concealed, that no one could suspect the wall to be hollow.”
St. Mary Redcliff Church, which is supposed to be one of the most
beautiful gothic structures of a parish church in England, next merits
attention. The present edifice was erected by William Caning, an eminent
merchant of Bristol, about the year 1456; the foundation having been
commenced by his grandfather of the same name, on the site of the former
church, built by Simon de Burton, in the year 1294. Caning having been
rendered unhappy by the death of his wife, and being pressed by the King
to a second marriage, he took holy orders to avoid an act so repugnant to
his feelings; he was afterwards Dean of Westbury, to which he was
likewise a great benefactor. He died in 1474, and was buried in the
south end of the aisle of this church, in which are two monuments erected
to his memory; in the one he is represented in his magisterial robes (he
having been five times Mayor of Bristol) with his lady by his side, with
a long inscription on two tables. In the other monument he is habited as
a priest.
The roof, which is of stone displaying many curious devices, with much
good workmanship, and the lofty pillars which support it, are beautiful;
the interior, which consists of a middle and two side aisles, has a light
and highly pleasing effect, and is generally much admired. The altar is
very elegant and richly decorated, and over it are three capital
paintings by Hogarth. The organ, which is of great size and compass,
contains upwards of one thousand speaking pipes, and for richness of tone
is scarcely to be equalled. It was in a room over the north porch
entrance in an old chest that Chatterton, then a youth of seventeen, gave
out that he found the poetical manuscripts, ascribed to Rowley and
others, and said to have been written in the fifteenth century.
Chatterton’s father was sexton of St. Mary’s Redcliff and master of a
charity school in Pile-street, in which school, under a Mr. Love, who
succeeded his father, and at the Colston Blue-coat school, he received
his education.
The Exchange in Corn-street is a noble building of freestone highly
finished; it cost upwards of 50,000_l._ The principal front is 110 feet;
it is of the Corinthian order upon a rustic basement. Next to the
Exchange stands the Post-office, and higher up on the opposite side of
the street, the Council-house, where the mayor or some other magistrate
sits daily to administer justice, from twelve till two o’clock.
The charities of this city are numerous and extensive; the Infirmary is a
noble building, situate in Earl-street, St. James’s; it is conducted on
the most liberal plan.
The port of Bristol has of late years been greatly enlarged and improved,
principally on a plan suggested by the Rev. William Milton, Rector of
Heckfield, Hants; an excellent engineer, and a man of most extensive
mechanical abilities, whose only reward for so great a service rendered
to this wealthy port was a present of a piece of plate; had he rendered
as great a service to the merchants and corporation of Liverpool, he
would most likely have obtained a handsome independence for life; for
although the charities of Bristol speak highly in its favour, still its
high spirit, its hospitality, or its generosity are not quite so
proverbial as those of Liverpool.
The Hot-well is distant about a mile and a half to the west of Bristol,
in the parish of Clifton: the water is too well known for its great
efficacy in pulmonary complaints, and cases of general debility, to
require any recapitulation of its virtues, in this slight sketch of the
Hot-well and Clifton.
As a place of fashionable resort, not only for invalids, but for
pleasure, its beautiful situation, both for walks and rides, the
gentility of the company that frequent it, the easy and well regulated
expence with which persons may with comfort and respectability reside
here, must always ensure it an overflow of company in the season. The
Avon below St. Vincent’s rocks is but little wider than it is at Bristol;
but as the spring tides rise from 30 to 36 feet, the heaviest ships can
navigate it at such times.
St. Vincent’s rocks, overhanging the Avon, afford to the pedestrian, and
particularly to the botanist, an infinity of amusement; a great portion
of the plants, if not peculiar to this spot, are but rarely to be met
with elsewhere.
These rocks are chiefly composed of a species of chocolate-coloured
marble, bearing a good polish; it is worked into chimney-pieces, &c.,
with good effect, the refuse burning into a strong and beautiful white
lime. The reverberation of sound occasioned by the miners blasting these
rocks, and the dreadful crash of the masses thus hurled from their native
beds down the craggy precipices is grand and terrific; it is in the
fissures of the rocks thus opened that those beautiful crystals, called
Bristol stones, are found.