The group conducted evening sketching meetings and sketching excursions to scenic locations around Bristol, and works by the group often feature these locations.
Its principal figures were Francis Danby, during the roughly ten years he spent there before moving to London in 1824 where he became well known for his atmospheric landscapes, and James Baker Pyne. Both had pupils and followers notably Samuel Colman who made highly personal contribution to the genre of biblical and landscape fantasy. Another artist associated with the group was the prolific landscapist William James Müller known for his orientalist scenes as well as Avon studies.