In Brief

Clifton Observatory

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Clifton Observatory was originally built as a mill in 1766. In 1828, it was rented to an artist, William West, who installed the camera obscura. From within the camera, visitors could see a panoramic view of the Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge, which had not been completed at the time of the Hitchcocks' 1850 visit. It is still a tourist attraction today.

The suspension bridge was designed by the famous British civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The method for making safe foundations for the bridge was invented and patented by a woman inventor, Sarah Guppy, a friend of Brunel's.