Behind Closed Doors: Inside the hidden vaults of Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol

  • Watch Ian Downs explore the hidden vaults of Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clifton Suspension Bridge is one of Bristol's most famous landmarks. But part of Brunel's impressive structure lay undiscovered for years.

ITV West Country's Behind Closed Doors series takes a look inside places and locations people pass every day, but don't know what happens inside or why they exist.

As part of the series, Ian Downs descended 36ft underground and into the Leigh Woods abutment.

Before 2002, no-one had been inside the abutment. It was not until the Clifton Suspension Bridge trustees made improvement works to a pavement nearby that the entrance was found.

The old slabs were removed and a shaft was discovered. This led to a network of 12 vaulted chambers underground, the largest of which is higher than two double-decker buses.

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Laura Hilton, who is the visitor services manager, said: "We think of the chambers as the undersides of railway arches. The really important part is the top surface: that provides a platform for the tower [of the suspension bridge] to stand on.

"It brings the two towers closer together and shortens the span of the bridge, and that meant that the bridge is better able to withstand windy conditions.

"So it is a very important part of the planning process that made the bridge able to last for such a long period of time."

Laura added that comparatively little is known about how the chambers were originally constructed in the 1800s.

"All of Brunel's plans and designs for this space were lost and have yet to be rediscovered", she said.

"We have a few little sketches in his personal notebooks, and we have one drawing from 1839, which shows the structure almost - but not quite - completed.

"So, understanding the interior layout, how it was constructed and in what order is something we're still trying to get to the bottom of," Laura added.

People interested in visiting the chambers will be able to do later this year, with the lamp-led tours being organised for the autumn, so tourists may view the site as the Victorians once did.

  • If you would like to see behind the doors of a place or location anywhere in the West Country, please let us know by emailing westcountry@itv.com