Cycling stops in Bristol

36 places · United Kingdom

Bristol is a city you leave by climbing. The ground rises the moment you cross the Avon, and within half an hour the roads are running over the Mendips toward Cheddar and the Somerset Levels, or north onto the Cotswold edge above the Severn.

In between sit the Chew Valley lakes, which is where most of the city's riding happens: quiet lanes, a reservoir on either side and a café at the far end.

Cafés

Salt & MaltCaféSalt & Malt sits on the shore of Chew Valley Lake, serving breakfast, lunch and a fish and chip menu from a dining room with a nautical theme.The PelicanCaféThe Pelican is a pub in the centre of Chew Magna, established in 1615 and reopened in 2024 under The Pony Group's Josh and Holly Eggleton.Warmley Waiting Room CaféCaféWarmley Waiting Room occupies the original waiting room of the former Warmley railway station, on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path.

Climbs, views & nature

Brandon HillPeak · 76 mBrandon Hill is Bristol's oldest public park, granted to the city in 1174 and opened to the public in 1625.Dundry HillPeak · 233 mDundry Hill is an oolite ridge nearly four miles long, topped by the tower of St Michael's church, built around 1482 and still used as a landmark across the …Leigh WoodsNature reserveLeigh Woods covers about two square kilometres of ancient woodland on the south-west side of the Avon Gorge, opposite Clifton Suspension Bridge, the largest …Mendip Hills National LandscapeProtected areaThe Mendip Hills National Landscape, formerly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, covers 198 square kilometres of Carboniferous limestone rising sharply f…Swildon's Hole CavernCaveSwildon's Hole is the longest cave on the Mendip Hills, running over 9,000 metres through crawlways, chambers and active streamways.The Clifton ObservatoryObservation tower · BristolClifton Observatory started as a windmill in 1766, later ground snuff, then burned out after a gale set its sails alight in 1777.

History & landmarks

Aerospace BristolMuseum · BristolAerospace museum with the final Concorde ever built.Ashton Court Mansion HouseManor · BristolAshton Court's manor house dates back to the 11th century and appears in the Domesday Book; the current building took shape in the 1630s, when Thomas Smyth a…Blaise HamletMuseumBlaise Hamlet is a group of nine thatched cottages John Nash designed in 1810-11 for retired staff of the Blaise Castle Estate.Blaise Museum - Kingsweston Roman VillaArchaeological siteThis late-third-century Roman villa was uncovered in 1947 when workers building the Lawrence Weston estate cut through its walls, and excavation ran until 1950.Bristol CastleArchaeological siteBristol Castle stood here from the 11th century, first a motte-and-bailey castle recorded in 1088, then rebuilt in stone with a keep and new walls in the 12t…Bristol CathedralCathedral · BristolBristol Cathedral began as an Augustinian abbey founded around 1140 by Robert Fitzharding, consecrated in 1148.Bristol Zoo ProjectZoo · BristolBristol Zoo Project, at Cribbs Causeway, is the successor to Bristol Zoo Gardens, whose Clifton site closed in 2022 after 185 years.Cadbury CampArchaeological siteCadbury Camp is an Iron Age hill fort in Somerset, England, near the village of Tickenham.Cheddar Gorge & CavesAttraction · CheddarEngland's largest gorge, over 130 metres deep and three miles long, cuts through the Mendip Hills here.Church of St JamesChurchSt James' Church at Cameley dates from the late 12th century, with a 15th-century tower and a porch added in 1620.Clevedon CourtManorManor house with 14th-century great hall and chapel block on Court Hill in Clevedon.Clifton Suspension BridgeAttractionClifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge over 300 feet above the river, designed by a 24-year-old Isambard Kingdom Brunel after he won an 1831 competit…Cox's Cave and The Crystal QuestAttractionCox's Cave was found by mill owner George Cox in 1837 while quarrying limestone, and opened as a show cave the following year.Gough's CaveAttractionGough's Cave has been dissolving out of Cheddar Gorge's limestone for half a million years.Kings Weston HouseManor · BristolKings Weston House is an English Baroque manor built between 1712 and 1719 by Sir John Vanbrugh, architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard, on the site …Leigh CourtManorLeigh Court is a Greek Revival mansion Thomas Hopper built in 1814 for Bristol merchant Philip John Miles, on the site of an Elizabethan house whose owner sh…Maes KnollArchaeological siteIron Age hill fort with a prominent earthwork rampart on Dundry Down ridge.Priddy CirclesArchaeological sitePriddy Circles are four Neolithic earthwork enclosures set in a line across the Mendip plateau, each nearly 200 metres across and spread over about 1.2 kilom…Royal York CrescentAttractionRoyal York Crescent is a Georgian terrace above Clifton, built between 1791 and 1820 after money troubles from the war with France stalled the work for years.Saint Mary-le-Port ChurchRuinsSaint Mary-le-Port's origins trace to the late Saxon or early Norman era, near Bristol's original quayside on the Avon before the harbour moved to the Frome.Site of Nailsea GlassworksMonumentSt Peter's ChurchRuinsSt Peter's Church dates to 1106, one of Bristol's oldest churches, with a Norman tower base and a 15th-century nave.St Thomas a Beckets ChurchPlace of worshipSt Thomas à Becket Church in Pensford dates from the 14th century, with only its tower surviving from a building recorded active in 1341; the rest was rebuil…St. Mary the VirginChurch · BristolSt Mary the Virgin's site may have held a church since a Christian grant to the Bishop of Worcester around AD 691.Stanton Drew Circles And CoveArchaeological siteStanton Drew holds England's third-largest complex of prehistoric standing stones, far less visited than Stonehenge or Avebury.Sutton CourtManor · BristolSutton Court began in 1310 as a fortified manor house, its peel-like tower and castellated wall dating from that build.Tyntesfield HouseManorCountry house with Victorian Gothic Revival architecture and a 19th-century chapel.
HISTORY
St. Mary the Virgin
Linda Bailey, CC BY-SA 2.0
St. Mary the Virgin
Roger Cornfoot, CC BY-SA 2.0· Wikimedia Commons
St. Mary the Virgin
Neil Owen, CC BY-SA 2.0· Wikimedia Commons
St. Mary the Virgin
Tadeusz Hare, CC BY-SA 4.0· Wikimedia Commons
St. Mary the Virgin
William Avery, CC BY-SA 2.5· Wikimedia Commons
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St. Mary the Virgin

Bristol · Bristol

St Mary the Virgin's site may have held a church since a Christian grant to the Bishop of Worcester around AD 691. The present building's Late Norman to Early Gothic core dates from about 1200, with its chancel, tower and chapels added through the 13th and 14th centuries. Thomas Rickman added the north chapel in 1836, and George Edmund Street restored the church in 1875-77.

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From Wikipedia

St Mary the Virgin (grid reference ST562788) is a Church of England parish church in Henbury, a suburb of Bristol, England. Located within an extensive churchyard visible from the nearby Blaise Castle Estate, the building has been designated by Historic England as a Grade II* listed building. The site has a history of Christian worship possibly dating to a 7th-century grant of land to the Bishop of Worcester. The core of the present building was constructed around 1200 in the transitional Late Norman to Early Gothic style, with the chancel, tower, and chapels added during the 13th and 14th centuries. For several centuries, the church functioned as a prebend of the college at Westbury-on-Trym, counting the theologian John Wycliffe among its prebendary. The fabric of the church was significantly altered during the 19th century through extensive restoration work carried out by the Gothic Revival architects Thomas Rickman and George Edmund Street. While retaining its medieval nave arcades and distinctive segmental doorways, the interior was refitted with new furnishings, stained glass, and a stone reredos. The churchyard is notable for its historic monuments, including the Grade II* listed...

Common questions

Why stop at St. Mary the Virgin on a bike ride?
St Mary the Virgin's site may have held a church since a Christian grant to the Bishop of Worcester around AD 691. The present building's Late Norman to Early Gothic core dates from about 1200, with its chancel, tower and chapels added through the 13th and 14th centuries. Thomas Rickman added the north chapel in 1836, and George Edmund Street restored the church in 1875-77.
Where is St. Mary the Virgin?
St. Mary the Virgin is in Bristol, Bristol (United Kingdom).

Checked 13 August 2026

Story draws on Wikipedia material, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited per image · Coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Spot a mistake? The open-data way to fix it: edit OpenStreetMap.

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Photo: Linda Bailey, CC BY-SA 2.0 · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Sources: OpenStreetMap