Hidden in Plain View- Bristol's High Cross and Walled Old City

David Bruce will give a keynote paper on Bristol's High Cross and Town Walls (See link to full draft paper and below for abstract) at the Hidden Heritage (click to book) one day conference in Saturday 9th April 2016. European Walled Towns Members welcome.

mrwatson64 writes "There has been much excitement in the [Hidden Heritage]conference office and we can't wait to get the final preparations sorted. ... ; we have 17 speakers from the UK and several European countries

Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all Walled Towns

The Twenty-five Year Anniversary Illustated Timeline leaflet of the European Walled Towns (originally Walled Towns Friendship Circle) is linked here
'Brightstowe' in 1581 is Bristol now and its walls are largely hidden but the Old City still values its history and its markets - the grand 25M high High Cross languishes in a garden in Wiltshire - would be great to see it back in the centre of Bristol qiute complicated to persuade both City to ask for it and the National Trust to release it.

Chichester Symposium - Transport in Walled Towns AND other presentations

On the Thursday morning of the the Chichester Symposium, I gave a presentation on Transport in Walled Towns: Space, making SPACES, for people in walled towns.
Lowry in Berwick-upon-Tweed was my inspiration
For my slides see link and for all the presentations at the Symposium see the Page ""EWT XXIV ... "on this website:
http://www.walledtownsresearch.org/p/ewt.html

Bristol Walled Town Text

High Cross

Mediaeval second city of England (after London)
Bristol has grown from a tightly bounded walled town and  'sacred city' centred on its High Cross to a wide ranging city of trade and commerce. A County in its own right since 1377, frequently rebellious, Bristol demolished its Castle Royal in the 17th Century. The City 'lost' its High Cross over the next hundred yeras and in 1764 it was 'sold' to a country estate in Dorset (and on 19th May 2012 there was a trip to Stourhead to see it) . The medieval walls were hidden beneath Bristols later prosperity, except for one fine gate - St. Johns.
Bristol Civic Society in 2011 published a report by Haydn Mason of on 'The Lost Walls of Bristol' (p5) 

Bristol features in Braun and Hogenberg Vol III.1 (see detail below)
and in Baedeker 1906 Gross Britannien (German) map p88/89
Further information  is included in David M. Bruce's presentation to the Bristol Civic Society.