Cribbs Causeway
Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its out-of-town shopping and leisure facilities. The retail and leisure complex takes its name from the road, and includes retail parks, supermarkets, an enclosed shopping centre known as Cribbs, an ice-rink, Vue, a cinema,
Hollywood Bowl, a ten-pin bowling venue, and a gym.
The Cribbs Causeway road is a historic route, as it follows a section of a Roman road from Sea Mills to South Gloucestershire, part of a longer Roman route from Gloucester to the south-west of England. The modern road of that name is situated north of Bristol, and west of the town of Patchway, in the civil parish of Almondsbury. It runs approximately north-east from the northern edge of Bristol at Henbury, to a point just beyond the M5 motorway, and forms parts of today's A4018 and B4055 roads. It is one of the primary access routes from Bristol to the Cribbs Causeway retail and leisure complex; other primary access routes being the M5 motorway itself, and the Hayes Way link to the A38.
The Hazel Brook rises at Cribbs Causeway, flowing southwards through Blaise Castle estate, before joining the River Trym.
History
Cribbs Causeway is believed to be the route of a Roman road from Sea Mills to Gloucester, part of a longer Roman route from Gloucester to the south-west of England. It later became the route of a turnpike from Bristol to New Passage. In the 20th century it was part of the main road from Bristol to the Aust Ferry, until the Severn Bridge opened in 1966. In the early 1960s it was upgraded to an A road, and linked with the New Filton Bypass to the A38 north of Patchway. In 1971 the New Filton Bypass was incorporated into the M5 motorway, and the motorway junction transformed the area. In 1976 Carrefour was granted planning permission to build a hypermarket near the junction. Development of retail parks followed, and in 1998 the Mall was opened.The road has been said to owe its name to Tom Cribb, a bare-knuckle boxer from the Bristol area. However, this was proven wrong in the 1960s with the discovery of a map showing the current name, published in 1777: four years before the boxer was born. The book's author goes on to speculate that the true origin of the name may be from Crybe's dwelling, or from crib – a manger or hovel. But all that we can truly glean from this is that the causeway — the Roman road — was named for a family with the surname Cribb. This local family was probably also commemorated in the smallholding called Crybescroft which existed in Henbury in 1281.
Shopping and leisure
Cribbs
Cribbs comprises 130 shops on two levels, although some of the large stores occupy more levels. Major stores include anchor-tenants John Lewis and Partners and Marks & Spencer, plus Boots, H&M, Next, River Island. During 2013, the centre housed the Gromit Unleashed Exhibition and Store and also hosted the charity auction that took place after the arts trial had concluded. Global corporations can also be found in Cribbs and include retailers such as Apple and Polestar. The food court is located on the upper level and is home to various chain outlets such as: Burger King, Chopstix, Pizza Hut, Nando's, Krispy Kreme and others.At its centre point, Cribbs has a large fountain with a water display. Money thrown into the fountain is donated to local charities, the company reports it raises in excess of £10,000 a year for local charities. The fountain has many copper pipes that pump water out in repeated patterns and either into the middle, or towards the middle, where another pipe shoots water high into the air every 5–10 minutes at approximately. The height of the water jet is adjustable to prevent any object, hanging from above, from getting wet; additionally there are also a few other decorative fountains outside the main entrance.
To celebrate The Mall's tenth anniversary, the company announced a five million pound refurbishment of the food court, completed in two stages with completion in May 2009.
As of 2018, Cribbs is owned by M&G Real Estate.
The primary access routes are the M5 Junction 17, Hayes Way to the A38 and A4018. The Mall is one of the major shopping centres in the Bristol area, the others being Broadmead and Cabot Circus.
Stores
- M&S
- H&M
- Boots
- TGJones
- John Lewis and Partners
- New Look
- The White Company
- Joules
- Next
- Apple
- Gromit Unleashed
Retail parks
Other stores
Other large stores include the United Kingdom's first Asda Walmart Supercentre, which was originally built by the French hypermarket chain Carrefour in the late 1970s. Then when Carrefour pulled out of the UK it sold all of its stores, including the Bristol hypermarket, to the Dee Corporation which owned the Gateway store chain. Then Gateway sold all of its large format stores to Asda in 1989, and it became an Asda hypermarket. Then after the sale of Asda by its management to Walmart in July 1999, it became the first Asda Wal*Mart Supercentre in July 2000. The store has since had yet another major refurbishment and has been rebranded as an Asda Supercentre and the Walmart branding has been removed. This is also the location of the first Morrisons supermarket in the south west of England which opened in September 2003. There is also a B&Q DIY store which also houses a Furniture Village, DFS, Makro and Wickes.On Hollywood Lane, which passes under the M5 motorway, is the Cribbs Business Centre. Lysander House is located on Lysander Road on the site of the former Harry Ramsden's restaurant. A Bang & Olufsen store is located on Cribbs Causeway. Topps Tiles and Porcelanosa are located on Lysander Road. Miller & Carter Steakhouse, is also located on Cribbs Causeway. Redwood Farm, a Farmhouse Inns pub, is located on Catbrain Lane, next to Lysander House. IN'n'OUT Autocentre is situated behind Morrisons.
Cribbs Venue
Cribbs Venue is an entertainment complex featuring an ice-rink, a 12 screen Vue cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley, an Anytime Fitness gym, and eateries including Bella Italia, Burger King, Chiquitos, Nandos, Frankie & Benny's, KFC, Las Iguanas, PizzaExpress and T.G.I. Friday's.Ice-rink
An international standard permanent indoor ice-rink opened at Cribbs Causeway in October 2021, in a purpose-built facility with a capacity for 1,300 spectators. Run by Planet Ice, and branded as Planet Ice Bristol, it is the first permanent ice-rink in the area since the former Bristol Ice Rink closed in 2012. Planet Ice Bristol is the new home of the Bristol Pitbulls ice hockey team.Prior to the opening of Planet Ice Bristol, Cribbs Causeway has hosted pop-up outdoor ice-rinks in winter seasons.