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Holy well

The Hotwells

Avon Gorge, Bristol

A spa in the Avon Gorge that once rivalled Bath.

A warm spring rises at the foot of the Avon Gorge, and in the 1700s Hotwells became a fashionable spa, with a pump room, assembly rooms and lodging houses. Fanny Burney and Jane Austen mention it.

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When
From the 1600s
Where
51.4470, -2.6200
Group
Holy wells & springs

Visiting

A spout in the gorge marks the spring. Look up at the Clifton Suspension Bridge above.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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