Sepia-tinted postcard showing a view of the Cabot Tower in Brandon Hill Park, Bristol. Brandon Hill is claimed as the oldest municipally owned public open space in the country, having been assigned to that purpose in 1625. From 1840 it was improved with walls and walks; in the early 20th century, part of it was maintained as a rock garden; since 1980 part of the site has been maintained as a nature reserve. The Cabot Tower, in honour of John Cabot's departure from Bristol in 1497 on his voyage to North America, was commissioned from William Venn Gough in 1897 and opened in 1898