Art / sarah guppy
New gravestone and artwork celebrates 18th century female engineer
The life of the first woman in the world to patent a bridge has now been given an official commemoration as part of Women’s History Month.
Born in 1770, Sarah Guppy was an engineer and inventor who patented her first design for a bridge in 1811.
Guppy has often been incorrectly credited with the design of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge.
is needed now More than ever
Sarah Guppy’s grave has now been restored and sits in St Andrew’s Churchyard. It also commemorates her daughter, who died before her mother in 1838
She instead patented her idea for a chain bridge before the announcement of the first competition for a bridge across the Avon Gorge.
The “innovative and unduly neglected” engineer was friends with Brunel however.
Sheila Hannon, who runs Show of Strength Theatre Company, believes the pair stayed under the same roof at the former Arnos Court under the ownership of William Reeves, now Arnos Manor Hotel.
The little known engineer was believed to have also lived in the building that is now the Lansdown pub in Clifton.
Her time here has been commemorated with an artwork by the prolific Bristol-based stencil artist, Stewy.
Restored from a lost photo of Guppy, Stewy has recreated her image and sprayed her stencil onto a window from the top floor of the pub, overlooking the street below.
Sarah now looks out the window of her old home, thanks to the stencil artist Stewy – photo: Archie Lippiatt
Guppy died in Clifton in 1852, and was buried in St Andrew’s Churchyard, where Sheila discovered her grave while researching for her play about the 18th century engineer in November 2021.
The grave was in such bad condition that Sheila had it removed and raised funds to restore it. A commemoration to celebrate her life will take place on Saturday, March 25 at 11am at St Andrew’s Churchyard through the Birdcage Walk.
Chris Curling, Sarah’s great grandson four times removed will be at the ceremony. Curling is also the great, great, great grandson of TR Guppy, the engineer who worked with and funded Brunel’s projects, including the Great Western Railway and the SS Great Britain.
Main photo: Archie Lippiatt
Read next:
- Commemorating Bristol’s little known radical woman
- New mural celebrates women’s empowerment
- ‘I visited the Suspension Bridge for the first time having lived in Bristol my whole life’
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