[6] A Bristol chronicle of c.1687 confirms that "Jonathan Blackwell, vintner, new made the stepps on St Michael's Hill, and finished it in 1669, at his own costs, being called by the name of Queen-street".

[7] The claim is repeated in an 18th-century Bristol chronicle: "Jonathan Blackwell Vintner new erected and built Saint Michaels Hill steps at his own costs and called it by the name of Queen Street".

[8] It is unclear from these statements whether the street had steps before 1669 since "new made" and "new erected" can refer to both an entirely new building work and the renovation of an existing one.

[10] This was in honour of a Cavalier officer Colonel Henry Lunsford, who was shot through the heart on Steep Street on 26 July 1643 while taking part in the Storming of Bristol during the English Civil War.

[15] However, by the time of the official town plans of Bristol (1879–88), as well as the first Ordnance Survey maps of the late nineteenth century, the street is described as "Christmas Steps".

[15] The steep-slanted steps were new made in September 1669 and were paid for by wealthy wine merchant, Jonathan Blackwell.