Eastville, Bristol
| Eastville | |
|---|---|
 Boundaries of the city council ward. | |
| Population | 14,865 [1] |
| • Density | 4,175.7 per km2 |
| Households | 6,099 |
| OS grid reference | ST613752 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS5 |
| Dialling code | 0117 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Councillors |
|
Eastville is a suburb and electoral ward in Bristol, England. As an informally defined neighbourhood, Eastville long existed without official boundaries, and the area that has been formally defined for the electoral ward includes neighbourhoods that might not traditionally have been thought of as part of Eastville, while omitting part of the area that is commonly thought of Eastville.
The electoral ward includes Crofts End (also known as Clay Hill) and Stapleton. Notable places within the ward include Bristol Metropolitan Academy and Collegiate School, and the Bristol and Bath Railway Path also passes through the ward.[2]
The council ward is situated between the Easton and Frome Vale wards in the north-east of the city. The north-western boundary is the M32 motorway, which roughly follows the River Frome, beyond which is Lockleaze ward.
Eastville
[edit]
Eastville is an inner-suburb of the English city of Bristol, roughly centred on Muller Road between its junctions with Stapleton Road and Fishponds Road. It is known for Eastville Park, a large park with a small lake, just to the east of the M32.[3][4] The lake at Eastville Park was constructed as an unemployment relief scheme following a campaign by Ernest Bevin.[5]
The River Frome flows roughly south-southwest through the neighbourhood, and has been closely shadowed by the M32 motorway since its construction in the early 1970s. The motorway crosses the neighbourhood on an elevated flyover over its junction with Muller Road, creating community severance.[6]
The motorway is the western boundary of the Eastville electoral ward, meaning that areas to the west that might traditionally have been considered in Eastville, including Glenfrome Road[7] and the Old Eastville Library on Muller Road,[8] are in Lockleaze electoral ward rather than Eastville electoral ward.[9]
On the west bank of the Frome is Eastgate shopping centre, home to a large IKEA and Tesco. The site was formerly Eastville Stadium, once home of Bristol Rovers Football Club, as well as being a site for greyhound racing and speedway.
A large railway viaduct known as 'The Thirteen Arches' for obvious reasons, once ran through the area, roughly parallel to the current Muller Road; it was demolished in 1968.[10] This was part of the Clifton Extension Railway.
The Eastville Workhouse, originally the Barton Regis Union Workhouse,[11] was a former French Prison which was bought from the Government circa 1832.[12] In 1930, the Stapleton Workhouse, originally the Bristol Union Workhouse,[11] became the Stapleton Institution and by the Second World War the site was mainly used for the care of the mentally ill and the elderly; eventually becoming Blackberry Hill Hospital.
Crofts End
[edit]Crofts End (also known as Clay Hill) is a suburb of Bristol. It is an industrialised area, with many small Victorian houses, built when this area was a coal mining community.
Churches
[edit]Crofts End Church was established in 1895 by George Brown, as a Christian work for miner's children in The Freestone Rank, Whitehall Road, it became known as The Miner's Mission.[13] It is now part of the local and much wider community but still very much a family church. The pastor is Andrew Yelland.[14]
The church was built on a site bounded by market gardens, a brick works and Deep Pit Colliery. When The Beaufort Arms, then known as The Beatem and Wackem and now called The Wackum Inn was the place where most miners spent their hard earned wages! Hence the need for a children's work in that community.
Another local church was Clay Hill Chapel which was demolished when the industrial estates were built.
Industry
[edit]In the 1920s the area consisted primarily of market gardens and a brick and tile works with a clay pit.[15] Over many years, the Market Gardens became housing, White's Brick Works became Somers Wood Yard (now an industrial pallet site) – and Deep Pit Colliery became industrial estates. When Deep Pit closed, men were having to walk underground as far as Frenchay to reach the coal face.
Housing
[edit]Crofts End House, located at the junction of Plummer's Hill and Whitehall Avenue, still exists, but no longer as a single dwelling. It has been refurbished and is now part of a housing association development.
The area is undergoing more change as the majority of 'prefabs' (built by American Service-men as post war housing) in the locality have been demolished. Planning applications will replace these with mixed style housing.
The old, redundant Civil Defence building on the junction of Crofts End Road and Brook Road was demolished and housing association flats were built on the site, now named "Craftes Court".
Stapleton
[edit]Stapleton is a suburb of Bristol which lies in the east of the city.
Residents
[edit]- Andrew Beer (1862-1954), artist and racing pigeon expert[16]
- Paul Potts, tenor, councillor for the ward from 1996 until 2003
References
[edit]
- ^ "Eastville Ward (as of 2022)". 2021 Census Area Profiles. nomis. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
- ^ Bristol City Council. "Eastville ward map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 August 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- ^ "Factsheet – Eastville Park" (PDF). Avon Gardens Trust. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2004. Retrieved 19 March 2009.
- ^ "Eastville Park, Bristol, England". Parks & Gardens UK. 27 July 2007. 1208. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
- ^ Eaton, George (12 August 2020). "Ernest Bevin: The forgotten titan of Labourism". New Statesman.
- ^ Parkes, Pamela (14 December 2015). "'A dagger into the heart of Bristol'". Bristol 24/7. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "Glenfrome Primary School". Gov.UK.
Address: Cottisford Road, Eastville, Bristol, BS5 6TY
- ^ "The Old Library, Eastville".
- ^ "Lockleaze Ward (as of 2022)". nomis.
- ^ Viaduct Demolished (Motion picture). British Pathe. 26 May 1968. 3311.14 / UN 4356 C. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Eastville And Stapleton Workhouses". Bristol Radical History Group. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ "Bristol, Gloucestershire". The Workhouse. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ "Miner-turned-preacher George dug deep for city". Western Daily Press. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Crofts End Church". Retrieved 25 October 2006.
- ^ "Photograph: Clay Hill/Crofts End Brick and Tile Works. Greenbank Cemetery in top left. c. 1920s-1930s". Bristol Archives. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ^ "Jack used to say his pigeons were his life". Exeter Express and Echo. 26 November 2011. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.