Features / Bristol
We cannot erase Bristol’s history!
Come on a walk with me through Bricgstowe, a city in which nothing changes because WE CANNOT ERASE HISTORY.
Let’s start on Grope Cunt Lane, where prostitutes have plenty of customers from sailors arriving into the city.
Crossing the River Frome and close to the foot of Knyfesmith Street behind the Three Sugar Loaves pub is Whore Street, also frequented by those thirsty sailors.
is needed now More than ever
A few hundred yards up the hill, we arrive at Fucking Grove. On the boundary with Gloucestershire, it’s a place for couples to canoodle away from prying eyes.
Let’s finish our walk with some entertainment at Gallows Acre, where a noose is tied around the neck of a convicted man who is executed for the heinous crime of stealing a horse.
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The original Saxon settlement of Bricgstowe – meaning ‘the place of the bridge’ – grew up between the meeting place of the Avon and the Frome rivers.
Grope Cunt Lane was renamed to Nelson Street in the 18th century as city fathers sought to make some of Bristol’s street names more respectable. And who better than national hero Admiral Horatio Nelson, despite allegedly supporting the slave trade.
Christmas Steps was once called Knifesmith Street because this was where the cutlers’ and armourers’ workshops were located. By the Tudor period the street was already becoming known as Christmas Street, possibly from a combination of Knight and Mass as processions on holy days once took place here.
The name of Whore Street was changed to Horse Street and eventually Host Street by those prudish city fathers.
Hither Fockynggrove and Inner Fockynggrove sat on the northern boundary of the city and county of Bristol in 1373. They were located around where Bristol Grammar School is today according to this map by Dr Evan Jones from the University of Bristol.
Public executions used to take place at Gallows Acre, located at the highest point of St Michael’s Hill in Kingsdown. They happened there until 1816 when the spectacle was moved to on top of the gatehouse at the New Gaol, now part of Wapping Wharf.
Join Martin Booth on a two-hour walking tour around the Old City and Castle Park: www.yuup.co/experiences/explore-bristol-s-quirkiest-corners
Nelson Street used to be known as Grope Cunt Lane – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read next:
- The hidden river flowing underneath Bristol city centre
- ‘The Old City has been abandoned, neglected and unloved for many years’
- Nelson Street cycle lane fencing removed by mistake
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