View source for Pero's Bridge

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox bridge
|name=Pero's Bridge
|image=Perosbridge.JPG
|caption=
|official_name=
|carries=Pedestrian
|crosses=[[St Augustine's Reach]] in [[Bristol Harbour]]
|locale=[[Bristol]], England
|maint=[[Bristol City Council]]
|id=
|design=[[bascule bridge]]
|mainspan={{convert|11|m|abbr=on}}
|length=
|width=
|height=
|clearance_above=
|clearance_below={{convert|3.3|m|abbr=on}}
|traffic=
|open=1999
|closed=
|toll=
|map_cue=
|map_image=
|map_text=
|map_width=
|coordinates = {{coord|51.4501|-2.5979|display=inline,title}}
}}

'''Pero's Bridge''' ({{gbmapping|ST585726}}) is a pedestrian [[bascule bridge]] that spans [[St Augustine's Reach]] in [[Bristol Harbour]], [[Bristol]], England.  It links [[Queen Square, Bristol|Queen Square]] and [[Millennium Square (Bristol)|Millennium Square]].

== Structure ==
The bridge is composed of three [[Span (architecture)|spans]]; the two outer ones are fixed and the central section can be raised to provide a navigation channel in the harbour.  The most distinctive features of the bridge are the pair of horn-shaped sculptures which act as [[counterweight]]s for the lifting section, leading it to be commonly known as the Horned Bridge or [[Shrek (franchise)|Shrek]]'s Bridge as the counterweights resemble the ears of the animated star of the eponymous film.

== Pero ==
The bridge is named after {{no self-redirect|Pero Jones}} who lived from around 1753 to 1798, arriving in Bristol from the [[Caribbean]] Island of [[Nevis]] in 1783. He was enslaved by merchant [[John Pinney]] (1740–1818) who lived at [[Georgian House, Bristol|7 Great George Street]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Pero's Bridge | work=History Footsteps | url=http://www.englandpast.net/education/legacy2.html | access-date=19 August 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811005124/http://www.englandpast.net/education/legacy2.html | archive-date=11 August 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Bristol's Georgian House Museum | work=Bristol City Council | url=http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/georgian-house-city-museums-and-art-gallery.en | access-date=19 August 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060813185322/http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/georgian-house-city-museums-and-art-gallery.en <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 13 August 2006}}</ref> Pinney also brought his wife's maid with him, [[Frances Coker]], who had also been born a slave, but Pinney had freed her in 1778.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73299 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |pages=ref:odnb/73299 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/73299 |access-date=2023-02-09 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== History ==
The bridge was designed by the Irish artist [[Eilis O'Connell]], in conjunction with [[Arup Group Limited|Ove Arup & Partners]] engineers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eilis O Connell Biography|url=http://www.eilisoconnell.com/Pages/Biography.htm|work=Eilis O Connel sculptor|access-date=31 July 2013}}</ref> It was formally opened in 1999 by [[Paul Boateng]] MP, then a [[Home Office]] minister.<ref name=WDP01>{{cite news|last=Nicks|first=Gary|title=Bridge to a future of racial harmony|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T17888363495&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T17888363490&cisb=22_T17888363497&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=166254&docNo=9|access-date=31 July 2013|newspaper=Western Daily Press|date=17 March 1999|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  The name of the bridge was attacked by then [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] councillor [[Stephen Williams (British politician)|Stephen Williams]]. He condemned the decision as "gesture politics", instead wanting a statue or permanent memorial to remember Bristol's role in the slave trade.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Booth |first1=Martin |title=THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF PERO’S BRIDGE |url=https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/untold-history-peros-bridge/ |access-date=15 June 2020 |work=Bristol 24/7 |date=14 June 2020}}</ref> Eilis O'Connell commented  "The council can call it what they want, but Pero's Bridge sounds a bit political."<ref name=BEP01>{{cite news|last=Onions|first=Ian|title=Slave Bridge Attack; New name a snub to city benefactor|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T17888363495&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T17888363490&cisb=22_T17888363497&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=166254&docNo=8|access-date=31 July 2013|newspaper=Bristol Evening Post|date=17 November 1998|format= subscription required}}</ref> Hundreds of people now [[love lock|attach padlocks]] to the bridge as a sign of affection to each other.

For four days in June 2020, the [[Statue of Edward Colston]], a Bristolian slave trader, lay at the bottom of the harbour directly south of the bridge after being toppled from its [[plinth]] by protestors during the [[George Floyd protests]]. It was then retrieved by the council and put in storage. It now resides as a permanent feature in Bristol's M-Shed museum shown now lying instead of standing, with all original protest graffiti maintained.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-06-11|title=Edward Colston statue pulled out of Bristol Harbour|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-53004748|access-date=2020-10-01}}</ref>

== Dimensions ==
[[File:Pero's Bridge 2.jpg|thumb|Close up of the horn-shaped counterweights]]
The length of the lifting span is {{convert|11|m}} and a {{convert|9|m|adj=on}} navigation channel is provided.<ref>{{cite web | title=Pero's Bridge, Bristol, UK | work=Arup | url=http://www.arup.com/bridges/project.cfm?pageid=2142|archive-date=26 August 2004| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826144218/http://www.arup.com/bridges/project.cfm?pageid=2142 | access-date=19 August 2006}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{cite book |last=Eickelmann |first=Christine |author2=David Small |title=PERO: The Life of a Slave in Eighteenth-Century Bristol |year=2004 |publisher=Redcliffe Press Ltd |isbn=1-904537-03-0}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/cityviews/360/perosbridge/bridge.shtml 360 degree panorama of the bridge from BBC]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235445/http://buy.bristol-city.gov.uk/Bristol_City_Council_Photo_Library/products/Peros_Bridge_2.htm Bristol City Council presentation & booklet]
* {{Structurae|id=20003942|title=Pero's Bridge}}

{{Transport in Bristol}}

[[Category:Bascule bridges in England]]
[[Category:Bridges in Bristol]]
[[Category:Bristol Harbourside]]
[[Category:History of Bristol]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Bristol]]
[[Category:Bridges completed in 1999]]
[[Category:Pedestrian bridges in England]]
[[Category:Slavery in the United Kingdom|Pero]]
[[Category:1999 establishments in England]]