Windsor Terrace, Clifton, Bristol

This terrace stands on a human made 'cliff' in the Avon Gorge, almost directly above the river Avon and a little upriver from the Clifton Suspension Bridge. You can just see one of the bridge towers at the far left of the bottom picture.

Built 1790 - 1811. In 1793 there was a major housing crash in Bristol and many builders, banks that funded them and related businesses went bankrupt. This terrace got caught in the financial crash. It seems to have been a bit of an ambitious (or mad!) project anyway.

William Watts initiated the build.

"The first shot tower in the world was built on Redcliffe Hill by plumber William Watts. In 1782 he invented a way to make perfectly round lead shot by pouring molten lead through a sieve and allowing it to drop from a height into water...
...He was soon a rich man and sold the business to Sheldon Bush and Co. for £10,000, investing much of it in property speculation on the Clifton hillside."
quoted from a more detailed piece at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/2078702898/

In order to build, a vast stone cliff (vaults) had to be constructed. It was so madly ambitious that it was built out far enough from the land to enable a small private park/garden to be included along its front for admiring the view from. You can see this garden in the photo above.

After he ran out of money, the buildings were completed by John Drew - see my entry for 17 March http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1833530

I would love to look around the house and cellars/vaults at the very end of the terrace but I certainly don't have the nerves of steel required to live in it!