Leigh Woods
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| Leigh Woods | |
|---|---|
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| Type | open access woodland |
| Location | Bristol, England |
| Coordinates | N51:27 W2:38 |
| Operated by | National Trust, Forestry Commission |
| Status | open all year |
Leigh Woods is an area of woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, opposite the English city of Bristol and north of the Ashton Court estate. Small mountain biking circuits are present in the woods and the area is a popular walking area for Bristolians. Part of the woodland was donated to the National Trust to prevent development of the city beside the gorge. Areas not owned by the National Trust have since been taken over by the Forestry Commission.
To the south of the woods is an exclusive suburb of Bristol of the same name. It is situated at the western end of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which opened in 1864, making the development of Leigh Woods as an upmarket residential area practicable. Houses in varying styles were built from the mid-1860s until the First World War. Styles adopted included Italian, neo-Jacobean, Scottish baronial, Swiss chalet, Domestic Revival and Arts and Crafts.
At the western end of the bridge is Burwalls House, a Victorian mansion owned by the University of Bristol and currently used as a centre for continuing education. On a bluff overlooking the bridge is Alpenfels, a mock Swiss chalet constructed for the Wills tobacco family.
[edit] Topography
At the southern end of the wood is Nightingale Valley (one of several thus named in the area), a dry valley which is cut into the side of the gorge, and is on the Monarch's Way. It drops from nearly opposite the north gate of Ashton Court to the River Avon beside the Western buttress of the suspension bridge; Stokeleigh Camp on a promontory, bounds the north flank of the valley.
Proceeding north, down the Avon, there are a series of limestone and mineral quarries, now disused.
At the northern end of the woods is the evocatively named Paradise Bottom. This is part of the Leigh Court Estate. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries this had an important celestine quarry and mineral line to a dock on the Avon; both are now derelict (see [1]). The area has of recent years been restored as an Arboretum.
