Stop 15 - Newgate and Castle Park
Stop 15 Castle Park and Newgate: the long riverside park on the site of the old Bristol Castle. Cherry blossom in April, Norman ruins and a 1940 blitz memorial.
Castle Park is the open space immediately east of Bristol Bridge, running along the north bank of the Floating Harbour. It is a long, narrow, much-loved public park that occupies one of the oldest and most destroyed parts of the city: the site of Bristol Castle (flattened by Cromwell in 1655) and the medieval shopping streets that rose in its place (flattened by the Luftwaffe in November 1940).
What to see
The remains of St Peter’s Church, at the park’s centre, are deliberately preserved as a ruin - the shell of a medieval church bombed in the 1940 Bristol Blitz, kept roofless as a memorial to the civilians killed that night. It is often full of wildflowers in summer.
The Norman vaulted cellars at the eastern end of the park are all that survives of Bristol Castle; they are open on some open-heritage weekends and otherwise visible through a glass panel.
In early April the park is extraordinary for cherry blossom - a line of 100 trees planted along the central path. Bring a sandwich.
How long to stay
Thirty minutes for a walk through. An hour in blossom season. In the evenings the park is popular with skaters and students; in daytime with workers from the surrounding offices and with families.
Nearby stops
- Stop 13 - Broadmead is three minutes north-west.
- Stop 14 - Cabot Circus is five minutes north.
- Stop 16 - Bristol Bridge is one minute south across the road.
Practical info
Flat, paved paths throughout, mostly step-free. Public toilets at the Galleries (four minutes walk) or at Cabot Circus. Water fountains near St Peter’s. The park is safe and well-used in daytime; quieter after dusk.
