View source for Bathurst Basin

{{Short description|Harbour basin in Bristol, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
{{coord|51.4469|-2.5948|display=title}}

[[File:050123 28 bristol lightship.jpg|thumb|The ''[[John Sebastian (ship, 1886)|John Sebastian]]'' ([[Trinity House]] [[Lightvessel|L.V. No 55]]) in Bathurst Basin]]
[[File:Bristol, The Bathurst Basin (geograph 1524899).jpg|thumb|Bathurst Basin, with the [[Bristol General Hospital|General Hospital]] in the background]]

'''Bathurst Basin''' is a small triangular basin adjoining the [[Bristol Harbour|main harbour]] of the city of [[Bristol]], England. The basin takes its name from [[Charles Bathurst]], who was a Bristol MP in the early 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cork|first=Tristan|date=2017-03-12|title=Forget Colston, here's five Bristol landmarks named after other slave trade businessmen|url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/forget-colston-heres-five-bristol-8465|access-date=2020-06-23|website=bristolpost}}</ref>

The basin was built on an area of an old mill pond, [[Trin Mills]].{{efn-lr|Also known as Treen, Trimm or Trim Mills}} The pond was supplied by the [[River Malago]], from [[Bedminster, Bristol|Bedminster]] to the South. It lost its water supply as the [[New Cut (Bristol)|New Cut]] was created in 1809, running to the South of the enlarged Floating Harbour and catching the flow of the Malago. After this it formed a connecting basin, through two sets of [[lock (water transport)|lock]]s, between the Floating Harbour and the tidal [[River Avon (Bristol)|River Avon]] in the New Cut.<ref name="Walker (1939), 111" /> The connection enabled smaller vessels to bypass the main entrance locks in Cumberland Basin. From 1865 a deep water dock with a stone quay front was built. The area used to be an industrial dock with warehouses and numerous shipyards at the adjoining Wapping Shipyard and Docks, including [[Hilhouse]], [[William Scott Shipbuilders|William Scott & Sons]] and [[William Patterson (engineer)|William Patterson]]. Now there is a small marina, with residential quayside properties.

The [[Bristol Harbour Railway]] connected to the main line system at [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station|Temple Meads]], via a lifting [[bascule bridge]] over the northern entrance dock to the basin and a tunnel beneath [[St Mary Redcliffe]]. The tunnel still exists, but is now blocked,{{efn-lr|The tunnel mouth may be seen to the right of the ''Ostrich''}} and the original railway bridge has been replaced with a swing footbridge. This bridge is manually swung by a hydraulic pump action.{{efn-lr|The slowness of the manual bridge swing was a source of some local amusement when the TV hospital drama ''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]'' filmed an accident involving it, and a victim who couldn't escape the inexorable movement of the presumably mechanised automatic monster.}}

[[Bristol General Hospital]] is located on the Eastern quay of the basin. When constructed in 1859, the hospital was built with basement warehouse space to defray its operating costs.<ref name="Bygone Bristol, City Docks, p44-45" /> The Southern quay has never had any substantial buildings on it and for many years was used by Holms Sand & Gravel Co. as a depot for building materials, brought in by boat and offloaded into road vehicles. A travelling [[bulk-handling crane|crane]] on an overhead gantry was used to handle these.<ref name="Bygone Bristol, City Docks, p44-45" /><ref>{{Cite web
  |title=Death rattle of Bristol's port: Sand boat in Bathurst Basin
  |author=Fray Bentos
  |series=1970s photographs of lost Bristol
  |date=3 August 1975
  |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/fray_bentos/2516642955/in/set-72157594155572977/
  |format=photograph
}}</ref>

== 1888 fire ==
On 21 November 1888 the Basin was the scene of a serious explosion and fire. The [[ketch]]  ''United'' was laden with 310 barrels of [[naphtha]], distilled from [[coal tar]] in [[Brislington]], and ready for departure to London. The cargo had been loaded the previous day at [[Welsh Back, Bristol|Welsh Back]] and the Master, Henry Cartwright, was now waiting for strong winds to drop.  Knowing the risk of fire for this flammable cargo, all flames had been banned from around the vessel and it had been kept in the entrance lock, not the main basin, overnight. Just after 11am, a sudden explosion rocked the basin. 'A high wall of flame of appalling fierceness' followed by 'a cloud of smoke of the blackest description', typical of burning naphtha, hurled one of the crew across the harbour to land with a broken leg. The explosion broke windows around the basin, including all those in the lower floor of the Hospital. Although rescuers boarded the ''Union'', they were unable to rescue the trapped crew owing to the heat of the fire and three of the four crew burned to death. Liquid, burning naphtha floated across the surface of the basin and set fire to the ships there, with flames reaching masthead height. After three hours the fire burned out, aided by the efforts of horse-drawn fire engines and the docks' [[fire float]].

== Decline of the Basin ==

The lock to the New Cut was blocked at the beginning of [[World War II]] to ensure that in case of damage by bombing, the waters of the Floating Harbour could not drain into the river.<ref name="Bygone Bristol, City Docks, p44-45" >{{cite book
  |title=Hotwells and the City Docks
  |last=Lewis  |first=Brian
  |publisher=Bygone Bristol
  |isbn=1-899388-28-1
  |pages=44–45
}}</ref> It was shut permanently in 1952.

== Decline of the docks ==

=== Use for leisure ===

The basin is the home for Cabot Cruising Club who own the [[lightvessel]] ''John Sebastian'', which was commissioned in 1886. It was acquired by the club in 1954 and opened as its headquarters a few years later in 1959. Facilities at the basin include a toilet and shower block, a water tap and refuse and chemical toilet disposal points.

Also in the surroundings of the basin are the Ostrich and Louisiana (originally the Bathurst Hotel) [[public house|pubs]].

== References ==
{{Notelist-lr}}

{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="Walker (1939), 111" >{{Cite journal
  |last=Walker  |first=F. 
  |title=The Port of Bristol
  |journal=[[Economic Geography (journal)|Econ. Geogr.]]
  |publisher=Taylor & Francis
  |volume=15  |issue=2
  |date=April 1939
  |pages=109–124 
  |doi=10.2307/141420
  |jstor=141420 
}}</ref>

}}

{{clear left}}

== Location within Bristol harbour ==
{{Bristol harbour map}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bathurst Basin}}
*[http://www.bristolfloatingharbour.org.uk/harbour-trails/heritage-trails/the-inner-harbour/ Bristol Floating Harbour heritage trail]

[[Category:Bristol Harbourside]]