The Clifton Scene : Terraces and Suspension Bridge - the terraces of Bath stone imitated those at Bath and thus situate below the Downs, where the good air, floral and geological aspects, ensured the growth of residential property with picturesque views.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel came to Clifton in the summer of 1828 to recruit his health. He inhaled the air and sketched the Gorge. William Vick, a Bristol merchant had left monies at compound interest back in 1752 for a bridge across the Avon Gorge and in 1829 the Merchant Venturers decided there was sufficient funds for a bridge.

Brunel was 'struck with the grandeur of the idea and the splendid effect which might be produced by a bridge of this construction were it made to harmonize with scenery so peculiarly suited to such work of art', and 'it appeared to me  . . . . that a work of art thus thrown across such grand and imposing scenery should be as simple and unobtrusive as possible, and it should fix the observer rather by grandeur of the ideas that it gave to than attract his attention by anything inconsistent with the surrounding objects'. [1379]