Clifton, watering-place and par. with ry. sta., forming W. suburb and part of the parl. and mun. bor. of Bristol, W. Gloucestershire, pop. 22,915,4 Banks; is situated on the sides and summit of lofty cliffs overhanging the Avon, and rising in St Vincent Rocks to the height of 308 ft. The river, which is here navigable, is crossed by a magnificent suspension bridge, designed by Brunel; it has a span of 702 ft., and the roadway is 245 ft. above high-water. The once celebrated hot springs, to which, in the beginning of the 18th century, the place owed its rise, are no longer frequented. C. College, a proprietary grammar-school, giving education to 550 boys, has a high reputation. On C. Down are remains of ancient earthworks.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))