Britain's Most Historic Towns

This episode reveals the secrets of the Georgian era through the story of Alice's home town, Bristol. Donning a frock and silk stockings, Alice goes on a horse-drawn carriage tour of the architectural gems of Clifton, while aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson provides a bird's-eye view of how 18th-century wealth transformed the city. With the industrial revolution on the horizon, Alice uncovers the stories of ingenuity that produced, among other things, the world's first chocolate factory, and samples the backstreet gin that flourished in Bristol and threatened to destabilise Georgian society. Darker still is the origin of much of the Georgian wealth and Bristol's status as the country's busiest slave port. Delving into the archives, Alice looks at some of the historical records that illustrate the horror of the slave trade.