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This
charming Victorian coastal resort dates back to the 11th century.
Originally
a hillside settlement, Clevedon's name derives from
the Saxon 'cleve'. meaning cleft and 'don', meaning hill.
Clevedon
remained a small farming community until the 1820s, when the
Elton family of Clevedon Court realised its potential as a
select coastal resort. Families from nearby Bristol soon came
here to enjoy the sea air.
A new
development of substantial middle-class housing spread out
over the Hill, while the old village along the base grew to
provide the town with domestic servants and commercial facilities.
Clevedon
has retained its fine Victorian architecture including its
elegant pier. Completed
in 1869, and now restored, the pier is one of the oldest in
the country and considered to be a national monument.
The MV
Balmoral, a pleasure cruiser, and the Paddle Steamer Waverley,
visit in the summer offering cruises along the Bristol Channel.
Clevedon's
long seafront, stretching for about half a mile from the pier
to Salthouse Fields, has many genteel attractions. These
include a Victorian bandstand, a tidal lake and ornamental
gardens.
A light
railway takes visitors round the perimeter of Salthouse Fields,
which still offers donkey rides at weekends
.Clevedon's
shoreline is a mixture of pebbled beaches and low rocky cliffs.
In the mid-20th century the lack of sandy beaches meant that
Clevedon lost its appeal for residential family holidays but
the resort is still very popular with day-trippers.
Today
Clevedon is also a dormitory town for Bristol. Set on and
round seven hills, the town offers far-reaching views across
the Severn Estuary to Wales. On a clear day Lundy Island
can be seen in the Bristol Channel.
Poet's
Walk, with its fine views of Clevedon and the Severn Estuary,
is named after the many poets associated with Clevedon. In
1795 the Romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, stayed here
several months after his marriage to Sarah Fricker.
William
Makepeace Thackeray (author of Vanity Fair) was a frequent
guest of the Elton family at Clevedon Court in the mid-19th
century. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, also stayed Clevedon Court
in 1850. In 1909 the young poet Rupert Brooke came to Clevedon
to recover from an in illness.
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Clevedon
Clevedon Craft Centre Moor Lane, Clevedon BS21 6TD
