Sea Mills, Bristol

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Image:Sea Mills dock wall and bridge.jpg

Sea Mills is a suburb of the English port city of Bristol. It is situated situated some 3.5 miles (6 km) north-west of the city centre, towards the seaward end of the Avon Gorge. Nearby suburbs are Shirehampton, Sneyd Park, Combe Dingle and Stoke Bishop. Sea Mills forms part of the city ward of Kingsweston. <ref name=wardmap1>Kingsweston Ward Map. Bristol City Council. Retrieved on June 16, 2006.</ref><ref name=osexp154>Ordnance Survey (2004). OS Explorer Map 154 - Bristol West & Portishead. ISBN 0-319-23627-7.</ref>

Sea Mills was the site of a Roman settlement, known as Portus Abonae. The name and location suggest that this was a river port, but to date there has been no archaeological proof of this. The Roman settlement seems to have been abandoned by the 4th century, and there is no evidence of Saxon settlement.<ref name=smhist>About Bristol Suburbs - Sea Mills - Early History. About Bristol. Retrieved on June 15, 2006.</ref>

By the Middle Ages Bristol had become a major port, with all traffic between the port and the sea having to pass through the Avon Gorge and past Sea Mills. In 1712, Joshua Franklin, a Bristol merchant, built a wet dock at Sea Mills, to eliminate the need for large sailing ships to navigate the dangerous River Avon any further upstream. This was located where the River Trym enters the River Avon. However, poor transport links doomed the enterprise and the harbour facilities fell into disrepair by the end of the 18th century. Some remains of the dock still exist, and are used as a harbour by pleasure craft.<ref name=smhist>About Bristol Suburbs - Sea Mills - Early History. About Bristol. Retrieved on June 15, 2006.</ref>

In 1865, the Bristol Port Railway and Pier opened from Hotwells to a deep water pier on the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth. Sea Mills railway station was one of the original stations on the line. The station still exists, although the line is now part of the National Rail network, and the line has been extended to run from Bristol Temple Meads to Severn Beach.<ref name=smhist3>About Bristol Suburbs - Sea Mills - Stations. About Bristol. Retrieved on June 16, 2006.</ref>

In the 1920s and 30s, Sea Mills was developed as a planned green suburb. Much of the housing was local authority, although it is now mainly in private ownership. Adjacent to the Portway is a small estate of prefabricated bungalows dating from a post-WW2 housing scheme.<ref name=smhist2>About Bristol Suburbs - Sea Mills - The Housing Estate. About Bristol. Retrieved on June 15, 2006.</ref>

The wide A4 Portway trunk road passes along the south-west edge of Sea Mills and links central Bristol with its outport at Avonmouth. Running parallel to the serpentine path of the River Avon, the Portway was the most expensive road in Britain when it was opened in 1926. Both the Portway and the railway line have bridges over the harbour outfall into the Avon.

Ocean-going ships used to sail past Sea Mills, going to and from Bristol Docks. Nowadays most of the shipping is in the form of pleasure craft, Bristol's main docks now being at Avonmouth and Portbury.