Special announcement 1st April 2017 >>
On this page:
| Graffiti - December 2022 | How Tall is our Chimney?|
| Upper Chimney works 2016| Upper Chimney works 2014| Upper Chimney works 2013 |
| Lower Chimney works 2013 |
| Earlier Works | The Leaning Chimney |
Troopers Hill has two Grade 2 listed chimneys.
The one at the top of the Hill dates from the 1790s or earlier and was built to serve a copper smelting works by the river (or possibly an earlier leadworks); a duct or flue ran up the side of the hill to the chimney. It was later used by a chemical works until falling out of use around the time of the First World War.
The lower chimney on the corner of Crews Hole Road dates from the early 1800s and was part of an engine house for Crews Hole Colliery.
You can read more about the history of the chimneys via the links below.
Troopers Hill - Upper Chimney History >>
Troopers Hill - Lower Chimney History >>
One of the aims of the Troopers Hill Management Plan is to maintain the two listed chimneys in line with the results of regular inspections.
In September 2012 both chimneys were inspected and as a result restoration work was carried out from 2013 to 2016 as described below. All this work was funded and managed by Bristol City Council.
Graffiti - December 2022
Sadly the upper chimney suffered a graffiti attack on Friday 30th December 2022.
Bristol Parks brought in specialist contractors to remove it so that it could be done without damaging the listed structure (see photo).
Chair of Friends of Troopers Hill, Susan, spoke about the graffiti on BBC Radio Bristol on Saturday 14th January.
Bristol 24/7 report on the clean up.
How Tall is our Chimney?
How tall is the chimney? This is one of the questions we get asked most often.
During the works to the upper chimney in 2016, we asked Bristol City Council if they could measure the height.
The chimney was measured by their contractor, Highline Rope Access Services, it is 15.92m or 52ft 3in tall.
Rather than just publish the answer we thought it would be fun to have a competition to see how close people can guess and ran this in March 2017.
Lots of people entered at our stand at the St George Community Fair at St Aidan's Church and we also accepted entries via Facebook & Twitter. Guesses ranged from under 30 feet (10m) to just over 120 feet (37m).
The winner (the person who guessed closest to the measurement taken by Highline) was Mali Kedward who guessed at 15.5m.
Runners up were Mark Logan, Ben Hemmings and Maddy Joyce who all guessed within a metre.
Mali won a prize of a large Easter Egg and also a butterfly ID chart to help identify the butterflies seen on the Hill which we presented on a sunny morning by the chimney.
Works to Upper Chimney
Works to the upper chimney have been carried out in three phases in 2013, 2014 & 2016.
In 2013 works were done inside to remove the risk of stones becoming loose. During further inspections as part of these works, it was established that further works to the outside of the chimney would be beneficial. There was concern that the cement slurry render smeared over the outside surfaces at some point in the past would cause the pennant stone to decay. Removal of the render would also improve the appearance of this important part of Bristol's industrial heritage.
Removal of the render was of lower priority than that carried out in 2013 as it was aimed at preserving the chimney in the long term rather than addressing an urgent safety issue. An initial phase of this work was carried out using rope access in 2014, the final phase was done from scaffolding in 2016. More details are given below.

During the works to the upper chimney in 2016, we asked Bristol City Council if they could measure the height.
The chimney was measured by their contractor, Highline Rope Access Services, it is 15.92m or 52ft 3in tall.
Rather than just publish the answer we thought it would be fun to have a competition to see how close people can guess and ran this in March 2017.

The winner (the person who guessed closest to the measurement taken by Highline) was Mali Kedward who guessed at 15.5m.
Runners up were Mark Logan, Ben Hemmings and Maddy Joyce who all guessed within a metre.
Mali won a prize of a large Easter Egg and also a butterfly ID chart to help identify the butterflies seen on the Hill which we presented on a sunny morning by the chimney.
In 2013 works were done inside to remove the risk of stones becoming loose. During further inspections as part of these works, it was established that further works to the outside of the chimney would be beneficial. There was concern that the cement slurry render smeared over the outside surfaces at some point in the past would cause the pennant stone to decay. Removal of the render would also improve the appearance of this important part of Bristol's industrial heritage.
Removal of the render was of lower priority than that carried out in 2013 as it was aimed at preserving the chimney in the long term rather than addressing an urgent safety issue. An initial phase of this work was carried out using rope access in 2014, the final phase was done from scaffolding in 2016. More details are given below.