| Bristol was the city that gave birth to the Great Western Railway, provided most of the finance for it, and gave Brunel his most important professional opportunities. At Bristol – thanks to the generosity of the committee that ran the line from that end – Brunel was able to build a permanent terminus. He paid homage to Bristol’s mediaeval past with a Tudor Gothic design for the station at Temple Meads, which was built in 1839-40. It was extended by the construction of the ‘Joint Station’ in 1865-78. This later building is now the operational railway station, and Brunel’s original terminus houses the Commonwealth & Empire Museum. |
|
