Stop 18 - Temple Meads
Stop 18 Temple Meads: Bristol's Victorian railway station. Brunel's 1841 terminus and the Gothic main shed; GWR trains to London, Cardiff and the South West.
Temple Meads is Bristol’s main railway station and one of the oldest and grandest in Britain. The site has two distinct parts: Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s original 1841 terminus (now the bus station, and home to the University of Bristol’s Isambard Building) and the Gothic Revival main station extension of 1878, designed by Matthew Digby Wyatt, which is still in daily use.
What to see
The 1841 Brunel terminus at the north end of the site is a genuine piece of railway history - one of the earliest surviving intercity terminuses anywhere, with a wooden roof that Brunel designed to look like a medieval hammerbeam hall. It ceased to be a station in 1965 and sat derelict for decades. Today it houses a university innovation centre but the exterior and much of the original train shed are visible from the bus stop.
The main station next door is a working Grade I listed Victorian building - stained glass on the concourse, a spectacular clock tower visible from across the city, and a single curved platform shed that is one of the finest surviving from the period. Even if you are not catching a train, walk inside; the concourse is free.
How long to stay
Twenty minutes for the exterior; longer if you have a train to catch. If you are changing from the main station onto the Insight Bus, the stop is a two-minute walk outside the main entrance.
Nearby stops
- Stop 14 - Cabot Circus is twelve minutes north-west on foot.
- Stop 17 - Victoria Street is five minutes west along the road.
- Stop 19 - St Mary Redcliffe is seven minutes west along Redcliffe Way.
Practical info
Full step-free access throughout. Left luggage, toilets (small charge), full-service cafes and a WH Smith on the concourse. Onward bus services from the 1841 bus station; taxi rank at the main entrance.
