In 1909 part of the woodland was donated to the National Trust by George Alfred Wills, to prevent development of the city beside the gorge following the building of the Leigh Woods suburb.

Bristol rockcress (Arabis scabra) which is unique to the Avon Gorge can be seen flowering in April; various species of orchids and western spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata) are common in June and July.

The woods, which cover an area of 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi), are on a ridge which mainly consists of limestone, with some sandstone which runs from Clifton to Clevedon, 10 miles (16 km) away on the Bristol Channel coast.

[1] Its area slopes from the highest point nearly opposite the north gate of Ashton Court to the River Avon beside the western buttress of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Stokeleigh might have been connected with the Wansdyke, a series of defensive linear earthworks, consisting of a ditch and an embankment running at least from Maes Knoll in Somerset, to the Savernake Forest near Marlborough in Wiltshire; however, there is little evidence for this.

Some of the first plantings of the giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and the Weymouth pine (Pinus strobus), among other "exotics" imported to the UK, were made here by Sir William Miles in the 1860s.

It is situated at the western end of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which opened in 1864, making the development of Leigh Woods as an upmarket residential area practicable.

[14] In 1857 the mutilated body of a murdered woman was found in Nightingale Valley; the following year, John Beale was hanged at Taunton for the crime in January 1858.

[21] The Great Western Railway built a small station with the aim of attracting tourists to the area; Nightingale Valley Halt was not very successful and was only in use for less than five years, from 9 July 1928 until 12 September 1932.

[22] The line was reopened for freight traffic as far as Royal Portbury Dock on 21 December 2001[23] and local councils are proposing to reintroduce a passenger service to Portishead as part of their MetroWest plans, although this would not happen before 2019.

The pilot, Flying officer John Greenwood, was killed after he flew under the deck of the suspension bridge while performing a victory roll.