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St. Andrew's Well

Main Wall, Avon Gorge.

This complicated site appears to have started life as two distinct springs, although the relationship between them is not clear (it is possible that they are one and the same). Tratman named one as St Andrew's Well, which fed a good-sized pool which is clearly marked on 19th century maps. The other was a warm spring called Black Rock Spring, which was first recorded in 1702, and was later developed as a rival to the famous Hotwell, when it became better known as New Hot Spring, aka the New Hotwell. Tratman also recorded a warm spring in a nearby artificial chamber (Cave 15), which is presumably the one secreted in bushes immediately behind the public drinking fountain by the side of the Portway. Installed in 1894, this remained operational right through until the 1960s when the road was widened. This remains accessible and is entered via a hatchway which leads into an 18th century adit. This leads in turn to a 7m deep circular well and at low tide an archway is revealed which leads into a small circular chamber containing the 'hot' water source. Plans dating from the 1950s suggest that the original engineers may well have tunnelled into the source from the river, and the adit and well were probably added later to yield a supply less prone to contamination. The drinking fountain is also known as St Vincent's Spring, but this is misleading as the real St Vincent's Well (now destroyed) was situated beneath St Vincent's Rock, more than 1km upstream, close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge. A good deal has changed since Tratman compiled his gazetteer. St Andrew's Well and the pool, (along with a similar one in Black Rock Quarry), vanished with the development of The Portway, leaving the 18th century workings as the lone surviving remnant of the entire New Hotwell development.

Alternative Names: Black Rock Spring, New Hot Spring, New Hotwells, St. Vincent's Spring

Notes: SU1 p.48