IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Lower Clifton Hill, BRISTOL, BS8 1BT

With his or her back to the perimeter of Clifton the observer is faced here with a view of the main entrance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital School. The low ivy-topped wall against which the "Lower Clifton Hill" street-name sign stands embraces the gated entrance to Hill's Almshouses. Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (a.k.a. "QEH") is an independent school for boys founded in 1586 courtesy of a legacy from John Carr, a Bristol merchant, gaining its Royal Charter in 1590. The current building is built of Brandon stone and dates from 1847. Much of it is Grade II-listed. Prior to its relocation to this site the school was housed in Gaunt's Hospital mansion house, Unity St (1590-1767) and in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, i.e. at the foot of Christmas Steps (1767-1847).

Formerly the almshouses founded by Thomas William Hill, Esq., in 1868. The land was donated by the Society of Merchant Venturers and the houses designed by Charles Hansom. It was originally intended to house twelve poor women but these days is a supported living facility specialising in mental health care. Grade II listed.

A pub at the end of Lower Clifton Hill.

This damaged OS cut mark can be found on the Lodge, east side of Jacobs Wells Road. It marks a point 40.791m above mean sea level.

Queen Elizabeth's Hospital school was founded in 1561 and remains an independent day school.

An overflow graveyard for St Paul's Church, Clifton (now demolished), it was closed in 1871. It contains the grave of Thomas Beddoes, an English physician and scientific writer who worked to treat tuberculosis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Beddoes

Set into the walls of Q.E.H. school, this water source is in need of some refreshing. It appears to be dedicated to St John (as are others) and does not work presently.

When Bristol's Clifton and Hot Well areas were starting to become popular venues, there followed a chain of events. As the spring waters gained a reputation for curative powers and the wealthy burghers settled in a fashionable spot, it attracted many other desperate patients who were from outside the city walls. Inevitably, the waters did not cure them all and those who perished here, far from home, were buried in this small cemetery. It served as an overflow to the (now demolished) St Paul's church. However, with the growing population came local sewage problems and the effluent eventually found its way into the very waters that were claimed to cure illnesses. With its reputation shot to ribbons, the custom of taking the waters soon stopped, and with it the area's fall from favour. The burial grounds operated for nearly a century in sympathy. Today it is being restored to some of its glory and is a public space when open.

In the lower right-hand corner Bellevue Terrace can be seen joining or leaving Lower Clifton Hill, which in turn joins Jacob's Wells Road. In the background is Queen Elizabeth's Hospital school (a.k.a."QEH"), an independent school for boys that has been located on this site since 1847. Prior to its relocation here it was housed in Gaunt's Hospital mansion house, Unity St (1590-1767) and in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, at the foot of Christmas Steps (1767-1847). Behind the ivy-topped wall is the Hill's Almshouses complex (a.k.a. Stoneleigh House almshouses). It is in Tudor Gothic Revival style and here one of its projecting rear-facing gable ends can be seen linked by a two storey 9-bay cast-iron verandah of arches with trefoils in the spandrels, a panelled screen just below the first-floor windows that look as though they have long been glazed with 20th century glazing. It also looks as though modernised apartments have now been created for somewhat fewer than the original "12 poor women".