 To achieve this, any bridge constructed between Bristol Bridge and Avon Gorge, from Hotwells to Ashton Gate, would require massive embankments and viaducts.The alternative was to build across the narrowest point of the Avon Gorge, well above the height required for shipping.In 1753 Bristolian merchant William Vick had left a bequest in his will of £1,000 (equivalent to £ in ), invested with instructions that when the interest had accumulated to £10,000 (), it should be used for the purpose of building a stone bridge between Clifton Down (which was in Gloucestershire, outside the City of Bristol, until the 1830s) and Leigh Woods in Somerset.