About Us

The streets within Cabot Circus provide a fascinating insight into the history of the city. The new street names were chosen with specific reference to their history and surroundings and as part of a program of public consultation.


The Circus

• The central space at the heart of the Cabot Circus development
• Named to invoke a sense of energy, movement and action
• A new focal point and destination from which visitors can navigate the city.

Concorde Street

• Named as part of a city-wide consultation involving input from many thousands of people
• Links the Horsefair with the Circus
• The central reference in Concorde Street harks back to Britain’s design heritage. It celebrates the amazing feat of design of the supersonic jet, much of which was designed and built in Bristol.
• Concorde 216 is now on permanent display in Filton, its story woven into the history of the city.

Brigstowe Street

• The first recorded reference to Bristol, or Brigstowe, meaning ‘place by the bridge’ is in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle of 1021
• The name Brigstowe echoes the city’s historic position at forefront of trade and development.
• Street linking Philadelphia Street in Quakers Friars and the Circus

George White Street

• Named after Sir George White, a great philanthropist born in Cotham in 1854.
• George White was responsible for created Bristol’s tramway system and latterly for bringing the aerospace industry to Bristol by founding the Bristol Aeroplane Company in Filton in 1910.
• He was dedicated to supporting charities of every kind and even saved the Bristol Royal Infirmary from bankruptcy in 1904 and funded the building of the Edward VII wing in 1912.
• The street named in his honour links Broadmead with the Circus. Brigstowe Street

Stratton Lane

• Originally part of Pritchard Street, later renamed in honour of the local iron-founders Stratton, Hughes and Co.
• The name has clear connections with the local industry of the area.
• Links Cabot Circus with Bond Street North.

Milk Street

• An historic name of a street that used to exist in this area, but was not in current usage.
• The original Milk Street disappeared under the circuit road in the 1950’s.
• This thoroughfare links the main scheme with Bond Street South.

Hollister Street

• Hollister was the original landowner of the area on which the surrounding streets were built.
• It re-instates a historic name that was not in current usage
• Links the main scheme with Bond Street South

Philadelphia Street

• This street name is connected with William Penn, the English leader of the Quakers
• William Penn founded Philadelphia, capital of Pennsylvania, USA, in 1681.
• The curved street in Quakers Friars leading from Penn Street at one end to Merchant Street at the other.

The Friary

• The collective name of the historic buildings complex in the Quakers Friars area
• Founded by Maurice de Gaunt, son of Robert de Berkeley the site was originally a Friary for the Dominican brotherhood
• Although little remains of the original buildings, the site name retains this ecclesiastical reference.
• Prior to the re-development the Friary housed Bristol registry office and the licence remains for ceremonies to take place within the building.

Dominican Place

• Behind the Friary complex, this includes the courtyard area between the two guildhalls (Bakers and Cutlers).
• Named after the Dominican Friars who were the first people to establish a building on this site.
• A plaque on the wall of the Friary complex refers to the Dominicans, providing a visible link to the area’s history.

Narrow Weir

• An historic street name that disappeared with the re-development of Broadmead in the 1950’s.
• Links Broadweir to Quakers Friars, beside the Harvey Nichols store

Quakers Lane

• This key access point to Quakers Friars draws pedestrians through from Broadmead.
• Links Broadmead (the street) and Quakers Friars