Avonmouth

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude=
longitude=
official_name= Avonmouth
static_

static_image_caption= Boundaries of the city council ward.
population= 12,177
unitary_england= Bristol
region= South West England
lieutenancy_england= Bristol
constituency_westminster=Bristol North West
post_town= BRISTOL|postcode_district = BS11
postcode_area= BS |dial_code= 0117
os_grid_reference= ST516785
london_distance= convert|124.4|mi|km

Avonmouth is a port and suburb on the Severn Estuary, at the mouth of the River Avon. The place is within the city of Bristol, England.

The port also gives its name to a Bristol council ward, which also includes Shirehampton and the western end of Lawrence Weston.

Suburb of Avonmouth

Avonmouth is a suburb of the city of Bristol, at the mouth of the River Avon on its north bank and on the Severn Estuary. It is the location of a large port, Avonmouth Docks. The Royal Portbury Dock, under the same management, is on the other side of the Avon. Avonmouth is home to several large chemical manufacturing plants and a gas fired power station. There is also a significant residential area in Avonmouth between the industrialised zone and the M5 motorway. Avonmouth is sometimes considered as a satellite town of Bristol as opposed to a suburb.

The M5 motorway runs through Avonmouth, and crosses the Avon by the Avonmouth Bridge. The M49 motorway runs between the M5 near Avonmouth and the M4 motorway at the Second Severn Crossing. The old Severn Bridge and the M48 motorway are linked to Avonmouth by the A403. It is served by a usually hourly service to Bristol at the Avonmouth railway station on the Severn Beach Line. The northern suburbs of Cardiff are visible on the west bank of the Severn Estuary.

A 10 hectare area of Avonmouth Sewage Treatment Works is managed as a nature reserve by Avon Wildlife Trust. The man-made lagoons and a pool provide a feeding and resting area for many birds including ducks such as pochard, tufted duck, teal and shoveler. The rough grassland provides a refuge for voles and other small mammals, which are preyed upon by kestrels and barn owls. [cite web|url=http://www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/level1/reserves/avonmouth.htm|title=Avonmouth Sewage Treatment Works|work=Reserves|publisher=Avon Wildlife Trust|accessdate=2008-06-01]

Council ward of Avonmouth

Apart from Avonmouth itself, the ward includes Shirehampton and part of Lawrence Weston.

Shirehampton

Shirehampton, near Avonmouth, at the north-western edge of the city of Bristol, is a district of Bristol which originated as a separate village. It retains something of its village feel, having an identifiable High Street, and is still thought of as a village by many of its 6,867 inhabitants. [1991 census data; 2001 data not readily separable from Avonmouth.] Although separated from Bristol by the length of the Avon Gorge and a reach of the River Avon, the community is still a convenient location from which to reach all parts of the city and its work environment. Travel is also easy from Shirehampton into Gloucestershire, South Wales and Somerset since it lies within easy reach of all the main motorways in the area, including the M5, the new M4 Second Severn Crossing, and the M49, and it is served by the A4 Portway and by Shirehampton railway station, which allow access to the city centre. It is informally known to local people as "Shire".

Lawrence Weston

The western end of the Lawrence Weston area crosses the boundary into the Avonmouth ward, however the majority of the area falls within Kingsweston ward.

References

External links

* [http://www.cotch.net/special:search.php?key=Avonmouth Photographs of Avonmouth]
* [http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Maps/OS62htm/0207.htm map of Avonmouth circa 1900]