The Frome /ˈfruːm/, 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 (32 km) long, and the mean flow at Frenchay is 60 cubic feet per second (1.7 m3/s). 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.
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