Briefing

Building archives: The opening of Clifton Suspension Bridge, 1864

By 2023-02-27T07:00:00

Clifton Suspension Bridge

The Builder reports on the opening of Brunel’s historic bridge, which was finally completed more than a century after plans were first laid.

In December 1864 the world’s longest chain bridge was opened in Bristol nearly 35 years after construction had started. The origins of Clifton Suspension Bridge went back even further, to 1753, when a local merchant left £1,000 in his will with instructions to build a bridge over the Avon Gorge when the money had grown to £10,000 through interest. 

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