One of the more unusual remnants of Bristol’s history can be found throughout the city, but is rarely noticed as it’s literally beneath our feet.
Throughout almost the entirety of the Old City you will find a curious metal edging along most of the pavements.
Other examples of this curiosity can be found along stretches of the harbour side and Park Street - in fact, it’s one of those things you start to spot everywhere once you’re aware of it.
By the Victorian era, the streets of Bristol were a bustling hub of activity, with carts and wagons being towed by horses often colliding with the edges of the city’s pavements.
For a long time, this wasn’t much of an issue as the wooden wheels posed little threat to the streets, but by the 1880s metal-ridged wheels had become much more affordable and were popular due to being robust and dependable.
As a result, the ancient pavements of the Old City were starting to chip away and soon there were concerns that the kerbs would be damaged beyond repair.
Because of this, plans were soon afoot to fit the pavements with an iron edge to save their integrity and by the 1890s it had proved so successful that it was implemented along busy roads throughout the city.
Leeds and Southampton were quick to follow suit, and examples of this iron edging can be found in those cities too, but nowhere has as much as Bristol.
By the early 1920s, sections of Bristol’s pavements were still being fitted with this edging and it was hoped that eventually the whole city would be covered, however plans were soon stalled when it became clear that the car would soon become the king of the streets in the 20th century.
Despite being only partially implemented, the iron edging is a fascinating memento from a long-gone era, and is often credited for ensuring that the streets of the Old City have remained remarkably well preserved.
