Bristol, England: Background information when reading An Olive Grove in Ends

Bristol, England

This article relates to An Olive Grove in Ends

Moses McKenzie's debut novel, An Olive Grove in Ends, is set in Bristol, UK, a port city in southwest England, about 120 miles due west of London.

The Romans built a settlement in what is now Bristol early in the 2nd century CE. The oldest castle in the area — Bristol Castle, at the confluence of the Avon and Frome Rivers — was first mentioned in print in 1088 CE, and the city was incorporated in 1155. Its location made it ideal for trading and manufacturing, and during the 14th century, Bristol imported raw wool from Ireland, wove it into cloth, and then exported it to Spain and Portugal in exchange for sherry and port. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was used as a clearinghouse for sugar, tobacco and cacao from the Americas, Jamaica and West Africa, exporting textiles, pottery and glass in return. It was a key hub for the slave trade, with somewhere around half a million Africans transported to the United States on ships originating in Bristol in the 18th century alone.

Bristol's importance as a port and shipyard increased over time, and its nascent air industry added to its prominence by World War II. Because of the city's strategic importance, it was subjected to heavy bombing by Nazi aircraft from 1940 through 1944. It became the fifth-most heavily targeted city in England, and overall, nearly 90,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed in the air raids.

Today, Bristol is home to some 700,000 people, making it the sixth-most populous city in England and one of the nation's eight "Core Cities." It has continued to play an important role in the import and export of goods into the UK, and it has a thriving aerospace/aviation industry. It's also known as an educational center, with two world-class universities — the University of Bristol and the University of West England — located there.

The population of Bristol is younger on average than the rest of the UK. In addition, it's relatively ethnically diverse, with 22% of residents being non-white and over 90 languages spoken in the city according to the 2011 census.

Some other interesting trivia about Bristol:

• Bristol was named by the Sunday Times (UK) as the "Best City in Britain in Which to Live" in 2014 and 2017.
• Several well-known public figures were born in Bristol, including actors Cary Grant, Maisie Williams, and David Prowse (Darth Vader), Harry Potter author JK Rowling, artist Banksy, and comedian John Cleese.
• There are 35 places named Bristol across the world (29 in the US alone), all named after the UK original.
• Bristol has its own community currency called the Bristol Pound, launched in 2012.
• Waterside Plaza in New York City was built using the rubble from bombed-out Bristol, which was used as ballast on the liberty ships returning to the US after offloading their cargo in Bristol.
• Lead shot was invented in Bristol.
• It's estimated that a third of the world's nature documentaries are produced in the city.
• Bristol was home to Fry's Chocolate before it was purchased by Cadbury in 2010; Fry's was the first company in the world to manufacture chocolate bars and chocolate Easter eggs.

Bristol Observatory and Clifton Suspension Bridge, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to An Olive Grove in Ends. It originally ran in June 2022 and has been updated for the July 2023 paperback edition. Go to magazine.