south bristol originated from the area of redcliffe, once a separate town. in 1373 redcliffe became part of bristol to form the city and county of bristol. in the 19th century south bristol expanded to absorb bedminster and brislington, although it has historically and continues to this day to be smaller than north bristol. in the 20th century new housing estates such as hengrove, hartcliffe and withywood significantly increased the size of south bristol. the new estates were mainly built on former open farmland, similar to the later development of the north fringe, rather than by infilling of already partially built up areas, as happened in north east bristol.