Bristol

This fourth paperback "City Guide in the Buildings of England" series covers Bristol, for many centuries England's second port, and in architectural terms still amongst its richest cities. Outstanding buildings remain of every century from Norman times onward. Medieval prosperity shows in the many churches, including the Cathedral and the stately St Mary Redcliffe, with their unforgettably ingenious vaults. Timber-framed houses large and small survive in quantity, as do large expanses of stone-built Georgian houses. These culminate in the steep hilltop suburbs of Clifton and Hotwells, with their thrilling juxtapositions of streets and terraces. Clifton is famous too for Brunel's mighty suspension bridge, and the great engineer also left his mark at the Neo-Tudor Temple Meads station, the terminus of the Great Western Railway. Bristol's extensive quays and docks are now finding new uses: apartments and restaurants have colonized their intriguingly diverse warehouses, with adventurous new structures to fill the gaps. Lively, up-to-date accounts of every significant building are included, with detailed walks exploring the outer areas, and a scholarly narrative introduction to put the architecture in context. A separate section covers excursions to nearby attractions, including the picturesque almshouses at Blaise Hamlet and two country houses, Vanbrugh's Kingsweston and the newly famous Victorian mansion at Tyntesfield. Superb, specially taken colour photographs appear throughout, and extensive maps and plans make the book easy to use. The result is at once the essential visitors' companion, and an indispensable work of reference for every architectural historian.