Pero's Bridge#Pero

The bridge is composed of three spans; the two outer ones are fixed and the central section can be raised to provide a navigation channel in the harbour. The most distinctive features of the bridge are the pair of horn-shaped sculptures which act as counterweights for the lifting section, leading it to be commonly known as the Horned Bridge or Shrek's Bridge as the counterweights resemble the ears of the animated star of the eponymous film.

The bridge is named after {{no self-redirect|Pero Jones}} who lived from around 1753 to 1798, arriving in Bristol from the Caribbean Island of Nevis in 1783. He was enslaved by merchant John Pinney (1740–1818) who lived at 7 Great George Street.{{cite web | title=Pero's Bridge | work=History Footsteps | url=http://www.englandpast.net/education/legacy2.html | access-date=19 August 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811005124/http://www.englandpast.net/education/legacy2.html | archive-date=11 August 2007 | df=dmy-all }}{{cite web | title=Bristol's Georgian House Museum | work=Bristol City Council | url=http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/georgian-house-city-museums-and-art-gallery.en | access-date=19 August 2006|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060813185322/http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/georgian-house-city-museums-and-art-gallery.en |archive-date = 13 August 2006}} Pinney also brought his wife's maid with him, Frances Coker, who had also been born a slave, but Pinney had freed her in 1778.{{Citation |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73299 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |pages=ref:odnb/73299 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/73299 |access-date=2023-02-09 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.|url-access=subscription }}

The bridge was designed by the Irish artist Eilis O'Connell, in conjunction with Ove Arup & Partners engineers.{{cite web|title=Eilis O Connell Biography|url=http://www.eilisoconnell.com/Pages/Biography.htm|work=Eilis O Connel sculptor|access-date=31 July 2013}} It was formally opened in 1999 by Paul Boateng MP, then a Home Office minister.{{cite news|last=Nicks|first=Gary|title=Bridge to a future of racial harmony|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T17888363495&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T17888363490&cisb=22_T17888363497&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=166254&docNo=9|access-date=31 July 2013|newspaper=Western Daily Press|date=17 March 1999|url-access=subscription }} The name of the bridge was attacked by then Liberal Democrat councillor Stephen Williams. He condemned the decision as "gesture politics", instead wanting a statue or permanent memorial to remember Bristol's role in the slave trade.{{cite news |last1=Booth |first1=Martin |title=THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF PERO’S BRIDGE |url=https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/features/untold-history-peros-bridge/ |access-date=15 June 2020 |work=Bristol 24/7 |date=14 June 2020}} Eilis O'Connell commented "The council can call it what they want, but Pero's Bridge sounds a bit political."{{cite news|last=Onions|first=Ian|title=Slave Bridge Attack; New name a snub to city benefactor|url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T17888363495&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T17888363490&cisb=22_T17888363497&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=166254&docNo=8|access-date=31 July 2013|newspaper=Bristol Evening Post|date=17 November 1998|format= subscription required}} Hundreds of people now attach padlocks to the bridge as a sign of affection to each other.

For four days in June 2020, the Statue of Edward Colston, a Bristolian slave trader, lay at the bottom of the harbour directly south of the bridge after being toppled from its plinth by protestors during the George Floyd protests. It was then retrieved by the council and put in storage. It now resides as a permanent feature in Bristol's M-Shed museum shown now lying instead of standing, with all original protest graffiti maintained.{{Cite news|date=2020-06-11|title=Edward Colston statue pulled out of Bristol Harbour|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-53004748|access-date=2020-10-01}}

File:Pero's Bridge 2.jpg

The length of the lifting span is {{convert|11|m}} and a {{convert|9|m|adj=on}} navigation channel is provided.{{cite web | title=Pero's Bridge, Bristol, UK | work=Arup | url=http://www.arup.com/bridges/project.cfm?pageid=2142|archive-date=26 August 2004| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040826144218/http://www.arup.com/bridges/project.cfm?pageid=2142 | access-date=19 August 2006}}

{{reflist}}

{{cite book |last=Eickelmann |first=Christine |author2=David Small |title=PERO: The Life of a Slave in Eighteenth-Century Bristol |year=2004 |publisher=Redcliffe Press Ltd |isbn=1-904537-03-0}}

{{commons category}}

• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/cityviews/360/perosbridge/bridge.shtml 360 degree panorama of the bridge from BBC]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235445/http://buy.bristol-city.gov.uk/Bristol_City_Council_Photo_Library/products/Peros_Bridge_2.htm Bristol City Council presentation & booklet]
• {{Structurae|id=20003942|title=Pero's Bridge}}

{{Transport in Bristol}}

Category:Bascule bridges in England

Category:Bridges in Bristol

Category:Bristol Harbourside

Category:History of Bristol

Category:Tourist attractions in Bristol

Category:Bridges completed in 1999

Category:Pedestrian bridges in England

Pero

Category:1999 establishments in England