Horfield
Encyclopedia
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, in southwest England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton
Filton
Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...
marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...
. Bishopston
Bishopston, Bristol
Bishopston the name of both a council ward of the city of Bristol, England, and a suburb of the city that falls within that ward. Bishopston is situated around the Gloucester Road , the main northern arterial road in the city. The ward includes St Bonaventures and Ashley Down parishes, as well as...
lies directly to the south. Monks Park
Monks Park
Monks Park is a northern suburb of the city of Bristol, England and is the highest point within the city. Monks Park stretches westward, towards Southmead, from the A38 trunk road. Filton Park lies directly north, on the South Gloucestershire side of the city boundary...
and Golden Hill
Golden Hill, Bristol
Golden Hill is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, lying east of Horfield Common and north-east of Bishopston. Redland and Henleaze are nearby...
are to the west. Lockleaze and Ashley Down
Ashley Down
Ashley is one of thirty-five council wards in the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom. The ward contains the areas of Ashley Down, Baptist Mills, Montpelier, St Andrew's, St Paul's and St Werburghs.-Politics:...
are on the eastern fringe. The Gloucester Road
Gloucester Road, Bristol
Gloucester Road, is a part of the A38 in north Bristol that runs through the suburbs of St. Andrews, Bishopston and Horfield. It was originally called Horfield Road....
(A38
A38 road
The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
) runs north/south through the suburb.
Horfield is also the name of a ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
for Bristol City Council. The ward includes Monks Park and Southmead Hospital
Southmead Hospital
Southmead Hospital is a large hospital, situated in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England, part of the North Bristol NHS Trust.The hospital opened in 1902 as a 64 bed workhouse for poor sick people. By 1911 there were 520 beds....
, but does not include the southern part of Horfield, including Horfield Common and Horfield Prison, which is in Bishopston ward.
History
The name 'Horfield' is Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
in origin, meaning 'Filthy open land' (Old English 'horu' and 'feld').
Horfield was a parish in the hundred of Berkeley
Berkeley (hundred)
The hundred of Berkeley was one of the ancient hundreds of Gloucestershire, England. It was divided into two separate parts, the Lower Division and the Upper Division.The Lower Division consisted of several detached parts, including the ancient parishes of...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, which included Bishopston, Golden Hill, Lockleaze and part of Ashley Down.
Historically, the area had a reputation as a lawless place because Horfield Wood was the haunt of thieves and vagrants. The area remained rural until the early 19th century.
Horfield Prison was built in 1847 to replace the Bristol Gaol burnt down in the 1831 Bristol Riots
Bristol Riots
The Bristol riots refer to a number of significant riots in the city of Bristol in England.- Bristol Bridge riot, 1793 :The Bristol Bridge Riot of 30 September 1793 began as a protest at renewal of an act levying of tolls on Bristol Bridge, which included the proposal to demolish several houses...
. There was also a large British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
barracks in Horfield from 1845, which was for a time headquarters of the South Gloucestershire Regiment. By the 1940s the buildings were too old to be used and the depot was closed, and most of the buildings apart from the chapel were demolished in 1966. There are several war graves in churches in Horfield. A Territorial Army building remains, but most of the site was converted to a General Post Office (later British Telecom) engineering works, which in turn was redeveloped as housing since 2000.
Horfield was mostly developed from the mid 19th century onwards. In 1859, Bishopston became a separate parish. In 1894 Horfield Urban District was formed, but in 1904 it was absorbed into Bristol.
In 1908 Horfield Common was acquired by the Bristol City Council, and remains a public open space.
Much 1920s (originally local authority) housing in Upper Horfield is currently in the process of being redeveloped due to structural problems caused by concrete cancer
Concrete cancer
Concrete cancer is a colloquial name for the deterioration of concrete caused by the presence of contaminants or the action of weather combined with atmospheric properties. While often used in the context of the rusting of concrete reinforcement bar , the term can equally be applied to any number...
. The new development is of higher density than the original housing.
Amenities
Horfield is home to the Memorial StadiumMemorial Stadium (Bristol)
The Memorial Stadium, also commonly known by its previous name of The Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in Bristol, England, dedicated to the memory of the rugby union players of the city killed during World War I...
: a sports stadium built in 1921 for Bristol Rugby Club
Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...
in memory of the rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
players of the city who died in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and rededicated to also commemorate the dead of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1996, the ground also became home to Bristol Rovers Football Club
Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
who now own it.
Near the Stadium is The Wellington, CAMRA Bristol & District joint winner of Pub of the Year for 2005. The 2006 Pub of the Year is also in Horfield, The Inn on the Green (on the Gloucester Road)
Horfield has a leisure centre that was updated to have a 25 metre swimming pool in 2005.
Transport
Horfield is served by bus services on Gloucester Road (First BristolFirst Bristol
First Bristol is a bus operator based in Bristol, England. It is part of FirstGroup, and is the dominant public transport company in the city.-History:...
routes 73, 75, and 76 and Wessex Connect
Wessex Connect
Wessex Connect was founded in Bristol by Rotala, through its subsidiary company Flights Hallmark, to provide Bristol City Council and South Gloucestershire Council with an alternative to the near monopoly currently held in the city by FirstGroup....
routes 71, 72, U1 and U2), and Muller Road (Wessex Connect routes 586 and 587) and Wessex Connect route U5.
Between 1927 and 1964, the northeast part of the district was served by Horfield railway station
Horfield railway station
Horfield railway station was a railway station serving the northern part of Horfield and Lockleaze in the north of Bristol, England. It was located on the main line from Bristol to South Wales. It was served by stopping trains to Severn Beach , Avonmouth and Swindon .-History:The station was...
.
Notable residents
Famous sons of Horfield include HollywoodHollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
actor Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, who was born at 15 Hughenden Road, in 1904, and composer Ray Steadman-Allen
Ray Steadman-Allen
Lieutenant Colonel Ray Steadman-Allen is a composer of choral and brass band music for the Salvation Army and for band competition....
was born at 64 Muller Road, in 1922.
Politics
The parish of Horfield includes Horfield ward to the north, part of the Bristol North WestBristol North West
Bristol North West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the northern and north-western parts of the city of Bristol, in the South West of England....
parliamentary constituency, of which the incumbent Member of Parliament is the Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, Charlotte Leslie
Charlotte Leslie
Charlotte Ann Leslie is a British Conservative Party politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Bristol North West constituency on 6 May 2010.She attended Badminton School and Millfield....
. On Bristol City Council, Horfield ward sends two councillors. Currently, these are Cllr Pete Levy and Cllr Cheryl Ann, both Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
.
The southern part of the parish is in Bishopston
Bishopston, Bristol
Bishopston the name of both a council ward of the city of Bristol, England, and a suburb of the city that falls within that ward. Bishopston is situated around the Gloucester Road , the main northern arterial road in the city. The ward includes St Bonaventures and Ashley Down parishes, as well as...
ward, in Bristol West
Bristol West
Bristol West is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It covers the central and western parts of Bristol.-Boundaries:...
parliamentary constituency. The sitting Member of Parliament is Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (politician)
Stephen Roy Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Bristol West in the 2005 general election, being re-elected with an increased majority in May 2010...
, Liberal Democrat. The current councillors are Cllr David Willingham and Cllr Bev Knott, both Liberal Democrats.
Churches
There are a number of interesting churches in Horfield.
Church of the Holy Trinity with St Edmund
Church of the Holy Trinity with St Edmund
The Church of the Holy Trinity with St Edmund is a church on Wellington Hill, Horfield in Bristol, England.The west tower dates from the 15th century. The nave and aisles by William Butterfield date from 1847, and the chancel and crossing tower are dated 1893...
- the parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
was possibly founded as early as 603 but the earliest remnant is an old pillar and the circular churchyard. The tower is late 15th century or early 16th century with the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
s added to by William Butterfield
William Butterfield
William Butterfield was a Gothic Revival architect and associated with the Oxford Movement . He is noted for his use of polychromy-Biography:...
in 1847. The central tower was erected in 1893 by local firm Crisp & Oately and the transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
s later in 1913 and 1929. It is a grade II* listed building.
St. Edmunds Church - erected in the lancet style in 1860 by ST Welch erected as a school and then given a tower and side asiles in 1930 by Hartland Thomas. A building with a roof (similar to Horfield Parish), anglo catholic interior, and a high church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
tradition. The church closed in 1979 and was a printers but was demolished in 2006 - the local planning authority did not request obligatory photos.
Horfield Barracks chapel - erected 1859 (not 1847 as in Buildings of England). A fine lancet styled chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
with some good handling of dressings and very good bellcote. Closed in the 1920s and has been converted to offices. It is grade II listed.
Methodist Chapel - 1899 by La Trobe - very good essay in late Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
Arts and Crafts
Arts and Crafts movement
Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
with a fine wooden interior.
The former Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
chapel - in Ashley Down Road.
Horfield Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Chapel - a twin towered perpendicular chapel by Milverton Drake with an organ by Hele.
The Roman Catholic Chapel of St Maximillian Kolbe with St Edith Stein and the Holocaust Martyrs - in Alfoxton Road.
Quaker meeting house of 1906 - domestic red brick.
Whitefield Tabernacle Muller Road - Contains the 18th century pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
removed from Penn Street Tabernacle when that was demolished to make way for the city centre. It also contains the superb 1815 wooden organ case.
