Bristol in the New Millennium

© David Hoey 2002

The frontage of the original Temple Meads Station, opened in 1838, this was the Bristol "Temple Gate" Office of the Great Western Railway Company, incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1835. (The nearby station we all use these days was built later, in the 1860’s.) The railway itself first began operations between Bristol and London in 1841. The building in this view is said to be the world’s oldest purpose-built railway terminus, being built fully fifteen years before Paddington, in London. The actual Bristol to London railway engineering and construction work was supervised by that famous Victorian engineer-of-all-trades Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who also designed the building in this view. The gauge of the lines was originally 7’- 0½", as specified by Brunel himself, but in later years had to give way to the otherwise universal Standard Gauge of 4’- 8½" used by all the other British railway companies. Many a modern railway engineer wishes that the reverse had happened instead, as this "Broad Gauge" would now have provided the necessary increased stability for today’s high-speed trains. In these modern times, this noble building now houses the national "British Empire and Commonwealth Museum".