Said in myth to have been founded in the first century BC by two brother-kings who later conquered Rome, Bristol may not be the Eternal City but it has a trading history that stretches back almost a thousand years.
The medieval Eire
Bristol’s history begins in earnest in the medieval era, when its thrived on its connections with Ireland. The first Plantagenet king of England, Henry II, gave his “men of Bristol” the right to live and work in Dublin in 1172, after he’d seized control of the island’s eastern flank.
By 1300, Bristol was England’s second largest port after London. Under Edward III, in the fourteenth century, the Irish relationship flourished. Bristol imported large volumes of raw wool from Ireland, which it processed into cloth products for re-export to Spain and Portugal. It was also an import hub, bringing wine from those two countries as well as other goods from the west of France.
The relationship with Ireland also saw Redcliffe pottery and Dundry stone exported to the island, and Bristol’s ships eventually carried 91% of Ireland’s trade in the medieval era. Ireland returned the favour with high volumes of fish and wool exports. Initially a net exporter of grain to England through Bristol, Ireland gradually became a net importer.
Age of empire
By the seventeenth century, Bristol had transitioned away from trade with Ireland, broadening its horizons to solidify its connections with France, Spain and Portugal, while also building links with Hamburg, Venice, Holland and the Baltics. As well as cloth, it exported coal and lead while importing products including timber and olive oil.
It was also in this period that Bristol began trading with North America and the Caribbean. As well as beginning the city’s involvement with the transatlantic slave trade, this also meant it became a hub for new imports of tobacco, sugar and other raw materials from the burgeoning British Empire. Towards the end of the century, around 35% of the ships coming into Bristol were carrying goods from the Americas.
The import of sugar and cacao from Jamaica and Africa saw the rise of “sugar houses” in Bristol, as well as chocolate makers.
Up in smoke
The growth of trade through Liverpool saw a corresponding dip in the trade that passed through Bristol, as the thriving cotton industry in Manchester and surrounding Lancashire became the focus for UK exports and the Industrial Revolution developed.
Despite this competition, the 1800s saw an explosion in Bristol’s population, supported by trade. The growth of tobacco firms was a particular story in this period, when the WD & HO Wills Company was established as the first mass-producer of cigarettes in the country. Many of the firm’s buildings still dot the city.
Modern Bristol
The decline of Bristol relative to more heavily industrialised regions of the UK continued into the twentieth century, at the start of which it was only the 10th largest city economy in the country.
Today, it is a centre for advanced manufacturing in aeronautics, following its ascension to a major position in the UK’s civil aircraft manufacturing industry. It played a role, alongside a factory in Toulouse, in the manufacture of the supersonic Concorde aircraft. The city also hosts hot air balloon and airship exporter – and 1989 Queen’s Award winner for exports – Cameron Balloons, which participates in its yearly Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
Imperial Tobacco, the parent company of the WD & HO Wills Company, remains headquartered in Bristol. Today, it’s a major exporter and the fourth largest tobacco firm in the world.
In the years from 2009–2024, the city’s digital, science and tech sector has grown to 13.4% of all jobs in the city, double the speed of its growth nationally and the sixth largest of any British city.
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