CW: Attempted Suicide

Opened in 1864, the Clifton Suspension Bridge spans the Avon Gorge, linking the city of Bristol to the boundary of Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Plastered across tourist ephemera and official letterheads, the symbol of the bridge towering across the skyline is as beloved to Bristolians as blue glass, old boats and the phrase ‘gert lush’, which I still don’t really understand…

Built on an existing design by British engineering giant, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this symbol of man’s ingenuity was the source of local and national celebration upon its eventual public opening. During the building of the suspension bridge, two workmen died, but their identities and the circumstances surrounding these deaths are unclear. It was only in 1867 – three years after the completion of the bridge – that William Barlow, a contracting engineer, reported to the Institution of Civil Engineers that two men had died, but provided no further details. Sadly, while these deaths were presumably accidental, many more souls have – and continue to – deliberately lose their lives atop the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

However, swerving more recent tragic tales of desperation, one of the bridge’s most famous victims, was not a victim at all.

In 1885, Sarah Ann Henley was 22 years old and working as a barmaid at the Rising Sun pub in Ashton. She lived an ordinary, unremarkable life, until life took an extreme turn. After receiving a fateful letter from her boyfriend, breaking off their engagement, (or after she was ‘jilted’ by her boyfriend, depending on the wording of the source), she travelled in desperation from St Philips to Clifton and made her way onto the new bridge. According to Thomas Stevens, the bridge inspector, before anyone could stop her, Sarah had climbed over the railings and thrown herself off.

According to an article from the Bristol Magpie:

“The rash act was the result of a lovers quarrel. A young man, a porter on the Great Western Railway, determined to break off the engagement, wrote a letter to the young woman announcing his intention. This preyed on the girl’s mind, and she, in a state of despair, rushed to end her life by the fearful leap from the Suspension Bridge.”

Tumbling down the 75 metre gap, Sarah found herself in a uniquely Victorian position. Owing to the fashions of layered petticoats and voluminous skirts, reports cited that her clothes created a slight parachute effect, slowing the rate of her fall. Instead of falling into the river below, winds changed the trajectory of her fall, throwing her towards the muddy banks of the Avon. Whether this happened as magically as it has been reported is a detail up for discussion, as the unlikely survival story has entered Bristol legend. However, one thing is absolutely true – Sarah survived.

While she landed, stunned and winded in the mud, two witnesses rushed to her aid. John Williams and George Drew were staggered to find the woman alive and helped her to safety, taking her to the refreshment rooms at the nearby train station (the Clifton Rocks Railway, now defunct). There, she was assessed by a Doctor and a policeman who had also witnessed her unexpected flight – and while conscious, Dr Griffiths insisted that she needed urgent medical attention and shouted for a cab to rush her to Bristol Infirmary.

Rather horribly – yet something I’m sure we’d be unsurprised to hear today – the cab driver refused to take Sarah to the hospital, complaining that she was covered in mud, and taking her anywhere would ruin his cab and prevent him from doing any business for a substantial amount of time while he had it cleaned. Despite desperate pleas and promises of cash, the cab driver refused, responding to warnings of her imminent death with ‘I don’t care – let her die.’

He would later defend his actions to the Bristol Times & Mirror, stating that his cab was newly cleaned and he had only just been able to return to work. He also proposed that a fund be established for cab men facing such circumstances, and that ambulances should have been readily available for this very reason.

Panicked, but resourceful, the police officers brought a stretcher to the stunned woman and carried her for over an hour until they reached the infirmary. There, she was treated for shock and internal injuries (or ‘light bruising’, depending on which report you read) and spent time receiving medical care. During this period, news of her miraculous survival began to spread through the press, and she was soon a local celebrity, receiving marriage proposals through the post.

According to The Western Daily Press on 9 May 1885 ‘Yesterday at a little past mid-day Sarah Ann Henley of 48 Twinnell Road, St. Phillips, leaped from the Suspension Bridge, and, singular to state, when picked up in the mud below was conscious, and very soon after was able to state her name and address. The person that had such a marvellous escape is a young woman, 22 years of age, living with her father, a respectable working man, at the above address. She had been for some time keeping company with a young man, but recently had a disagreement with him, and a “few words” between them a night or two ago were followed by a parting and a letter in which he gave up the companionship. The letter was received on Thursday and was taken much to heart by Henley, who was noticed by the neighbours to be looking depressed in spirit. She was seen in Twinnell Street yesterday morning at about 11 o’clock, and this depression was noticed then. At a quarter past twelve she leapt from the bridge. The woman fell as if she was going into the river which was running down. The tide was extremely low. The soft mud banks were accordingly not completely covered by water. A rather high wind was blowing and the woman’s dress offered a good deal of resistance to it, not only materially checked the rapidity of her descent, but instead of falling vertically she was carried onto the Gloucester bank, where she fell on the mud in almost a sitting posture. The mud yielded freely, and the woman, straightened out to full length, sank some distance into it. An alarm was given, and John Williams, of Ashton Gate and George Drew proceeded to get her out of the mud into the roadway. Brandy was sent for, and, failing to secure the use of a passing cab, a messenger was despatched to the Clifton Police Station for the stretcher. She was conveyed on the stretcher by several constables to the institution, where after being seen by the surgeons in the casualty room, she was placed in one of the wards. She was not considered to be in any immediate danger.’

Having her life and identity upended and exposed to the whole of Bristol, Sarah never returned to her former life and lover and felt uneasy in her new identity as a marked woman and local novelty. However, years later in 1900, she met and married wagon worker, Edward Lane and lived a long life in the city. She eventually changed her mind about her celebrity status and became a little more at peace with her story. Reportedly, she also kept souvenir photographs of two children who had also survived the fall from the bridge in 1896, having been thrown from the structure by their father.

Despite her ordeal, Sarah lived a long life, dying aged 84/85 on 31st March 1948. She was then laid to rest at Avonview Cemetery, far from the banks of the river that accidentally made her famous.

***

Liked this post? Then why not join the Patreon clubhouse? From as little as £1 a month, you’ll get access to tonnes of exclusive content and a huge archive of articles, videos and podcasts! 

Pop on over, support my work, have a chat and let me show you my skulls…www.patreon.com/burialsandbeyond

Liked this and want to buy me a coffee? 

To tip me £3 and help me out with hosting, click the link below! 

https://ko-fi.com/burialsandbeyond

***

Further Reading/Resources:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110809091859/http://www.cliftonbridge.org.uk/faqs

https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/clifton-suspension-bridge/

http://www.henly.org.uk/henly/sarahhenley.html

http://deathonmydoorstep.com/index.php/2018/03/04/bristol/