SPIKE ISLAND, BRISTOL

'Spike Island' is an area of the English port city of Bristol, adjoining the city centre. It comprises the strip of land between the Floating Harbour to the north and the tidal ''New Cut'' of the River Avon to the south, from the dock entrance to the west to ''Bathurst Basin'' in the east. The island forms part of Cabot ward. Cabot Ward Map Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map 155 - Bristol & Bath''. ISBN 0-319-23609-9.
Spike Island was created by William Jessop in the early 19th century, when he constructed the New Cut, and converted the former course of the River Avon into the Floating Harbour. Until the Second World War, a lock connected Bathurst Basin with the New Cut, and Spike Island was a genuine island surrounded on all sides by water. However fears that an aerial attack on this lock at low tide could lead to a disastrous dewatering of the docks led to the lock being filled in, and today Spike Island is an island only by name.
Historically, Spike Island was the site of working quays, shipyards, warehousing, and other associated dockside industry. The Bristol Harbour Railway runs the length of the island, and formerly connected these working areas with the railway network. With the redevelopment of the docks, the Island has become an area popular with developers looking to create prime dock side housing such as ''Baltic Wharf'', ''The Point'' and ''Perretts Court''. There are also a few restaurants and popular pubs such as ''The Cottage''.
Other former dock related buildings have become cultural venues or museums. These include:

★ Spike Island Artspace, a collective of artists' studios located in a former tea-packing factory

★ The Bristol Industrial Museum, in a former dockside transit shed

★ The Create Environment Centre, in a former tobacco warehouse

★ Brunel's SS ''Great Britain'', preserved in the dry dock she was built in.

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★ for Spike Island.