The Frome historically the Froom, is a river that rises in Dodington Park, South Gloucestershire, and flows south westerly through Bristol, joining the former course of the river Avon in Bristol's Floating Harbour. It is approximately 20 miles long. The name Frome is shared with several other rivers in South West England and means 'fair, fine, brisk’. The river is known locally in east Bristol as the Danny. The Frome originally joined the Avon downstream of Bristol Bridge, and formed part of the city defences, but in the thirteenth century it was diverted through marshland belonging to St Augustine's Abbey (now Bristol Cathedral), as part of major port improvement works. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the lower reaches of the river were culverted and the river now flows under The Centre into St Augustine's Reach. As with many urban rivers, the Frome has suffered from pollution, but several stretches run through parks and reserves that sustain a range of wildlife. The river's power was harnessed by many watermills, and the river mouth area was developed as shipyards by the eighteenth century. As the city of Bristol developed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, flooding became a major problem, remedied by the construction of storm drains and diversions. Frenchay is a village and suburb of Bristol.Frenchay was first recorded in 1257 as Fromscawe and later as Fromeshaw, meaning the wood on the Frome. The village is situated between the B4058 road, which runs parallel to the M32 motorway, and the wooded River Frome valley. This camera was installed and is maintained by the Environment Agency and can be viewed
here. All content is available under the
Open Government Licence v3.0. Frenchay gives its name to the Frenchay Campus of the University of the West of England, though the campus itself is situated in the neighbouring parish of Stoke Gifford. Frenchay was the home to Frenchay Hospital, greatly expanded during World War II for the US Army, which treated wounded soldiers returning from the D-Day landings in Normandy. Facilities merged with Southmead Hospital, further towards the centre of the city in 2014. A&E services closed on 19 May 2014. The closure of Frenchay Hospital has made way for a new housing development. Many Quaker merchants from nearby Bristol made their homes here, including Joseph Storrs Fry, the Quaker chocolate manufacturer, who styled his company J S Fry & Sons, which manufactured the first ever commercially available chocolate bar in the world. He moved to Grove House (now Riverwood House) in 1800. He died in 1835 and is buried in the burying ground behind the Meeting House along with his wife and daughter, Pricilla. John Wadham (1762–1843) of Frenchay Manor House, was from 1789, a co-owner and director of Wadham, Ricketts & Co, later Wadham, Ricketts, Fry & Co, which manufactured Bristol blue glass at the Phoenix Glassworks near Temple Gate, Bristol, examples of which can be seen in Bristol Museum, and was a director of the Bristol Floating Harbour Company in 1820.
