At the S edge of the city outside the walls, the Marsh was an open air site surrounded on 3 sides by water -- the River Frome along the N and the bend in the River Avon at the W and S.
Used for grazing as well as popular pastimes and special civic displays in the open air.
The well-drained open area of the Marsh was a popular location for bear-baiting by touring bearwards in the 16th c.
Fully developed as an office and commercial area.
1480 William Worcestre visited Bristol and recorded the length of the Marsh on the side of the town walls facing S, from the edge of the River Avon to the River Frome 'along the red path' next to the town walls on the E, as 420 steps (Neale, William Worcestre: Topography 3).
1699 Construction began on a large brick residential development known as Queen's Square.
REED Bristol 64, 70, 73, 76, 78, 80, 83, 110, 112--14, 119
