In
the 14th century Bristol was a major wool-exporting
port. The port flourished for the next 400 years and as well as exporting
wool and leather, imported wine, tobacco and cocoa beans. These imported
goods became the basis for Bristol's manufacturing industries. By
the 17th century, the port was heavily involved in the slave
trade and this resulted in Bristol becoming the second most important
port in England after London.
Bristol contains the first Methodist
chapel, the New Room, built for John Wesley
in 1739. Other important buildings that date from this period include
the Corn Exchange (1741) and the Theatre Royal (1766).
The abolition of the slave trade in the
19th century created problems for the port. Bristol's harbour was
fairly shallow and with a lack of industrial towns in the area, the
town found it difficult to compete with other ports such as Liverpool.
In the early 19th century the docks in Bristol were rebuilt by William
Jessop. Further improvements were made by Isambard
Brunel in 1830. The port was given a boast when Brunel decided
to build his steamships, Great Western (1837) and Great
Britain (1843) in Bristol.
Isambard Brunel also helped the city by
building the Great Western Railway from
London to Bristol in 1841. This was followed
by the Bristol & Exeter Railway (1844) and the Bristol & Gloucester
Railway (1844). This stimulated further economic growth and by 1861
the population of the city had increased to 154,000.
(1)
Daniel Defoe, A Tour Through the Whole
Island of Great Britain (1724)
Bristol
is the greatest, the richest, and the best port of trade in Great
Britain, London only excepted. The Bristol merchants have a very great
trade abroad. They also have always buyers at home, and no cargo is
too big for them. The shopkeepers in Bristol, who in general are wholesale
men, have so great an inland trade among all the western counties.
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