8
Places of Interest
1
Ashton Gate Tollhouse
Once home to Dame Elizabeth Smyth of the Ashton Court
family. The house was demolished in 1922.
9
The Tollhouse was built in the 1820s after
protesting Somerset farmers burnt down
the wooden gates across the toll road to
Congresbury, now the A370. Tolls in Bristol
were abolished in 1867.
2
Ashton Avenue Bridge
The bridge was opened in 1906, a double-decker design
carrying trains below and road above. The road was replaced
by the Cumberland Basin flyover in 1965, and rail traffic
ceased in 1987.
3
Vauxhall Bridge
Opened in 1900, the bridge originally had a swing-opening
mechanism to allow shipping to pass underneath.
4
Gaol Ferry Bridge
Built in 1935, the bridge replaced a ferry which carried
passengers across the Avon New Cut. The sloping ramp down
to the ferry can be seen on both sides of the water at low tide.
5
C Bond Warehouse (Clift House Road)
10
88 West Street: Site of the First Co-operative
Society Shop in Bristol
The Bedminster Co-operative was opened by local miners in
1882. The Co-op shop paid a dividend to members based on
the shop’s profit and the amount of money each family had
spent. It eventually merged with the bigger Bristol Co-op.
11
Old Police & Fire Station, Bedminster Parade
Opened in 1882, this was the headquarters of Bristol Police
B Division. It was designed by George Oatley, who also
designed the Wills Tower at the top of Park Street, and the
Homeopathic Hospital in Cotham.
12
Imperial Tobacco Head Office, Lombard
Street and East Street
When Wills and other tobacco
companies merged to form Imperial
Tobacco, their HQ was built next to the
Wills factories, extending from East St
along Lombard St.
The Old Gaol
Camden Bridge
A new pedestrian and cycle bridge will be built here in 2015.
7
Plaza Cinema, North Street (now Ocean
Estate Agents)
The Plaza Cinema was the first of five
Bedminster cinemas. The films changed
up to three times a week, and the pianist
followed the pictures around.
13
WD & HO Wills No. 1 and No. 2 Factories,
East Street
WD and HO Wills opened the first of two new factories on
East St in 1886, on the site of a medieval resting place for
travellers and pilgrims, St Catherine’s Hospital. The factories
closed in the mid-1970s when the firm moved to Hartcliffe.
The red-brick façade remains of No 1, and No 2 factory was
replaced by the ASDA store.
Bedminster History Map
Bedminster has a long and surprising history, going back to Roman times.
In the 19th century the population grew rapidly from 3,000 to nearly
100,000. Most of the terraced housing dates from those years. The Malago
provided water to power industry and mines as the area developed into an
important industrial suburb.
Bedminster had lead smelting works, tanneries, paper mills, engineering
workshops and many other industries. There were 15 coal mines including
one in what is now Dame Emily Park. Thousands of women and men
worked in the tobacco factories along East Street and Raleigh Road.
West Street, East Street and North Street were thriving and busy shopping
centres. Many of Bedminster’s old pubs are still open today and their
names hint at both our agricultural and industrial past. Many churches,
chapels and schools served the community.
The Bedminster History Map will guide you to some of the buildings
and places which still hold traces of our history. Take this map and walk
around. Get to know Bedminster’s story and discover some of its past
secrets.
For a printable pdf of this map go to www.letswalkbedminster.co.uk, and
add your own walk to the on-line pedometer.
This project would not have been possible without financial support from
the Greater Bedminster Community Partnership and the Bristol Green
Capital Fund, and in association with Let’s Walk Bedminster.
39
Dean Lane Baths
Opened in the
1930s, and
now a Grade 2
listed building,
Bristol South
Baths includes
original art deco ‘slipper baths’, providing private cubicles for
local people who did not have a bath at home.
This is the last surviving farm on the Northern Slopes. Two others
were demolished in the early 1930s to make way for new housing.
17
In 1914 Bristol held an ambitious exhibition, with a concert
hall, grand pavilions and formal gardens. The White City
drew large crowds, but was wound up in July 1914. During
the First World War the site was a training camp for “Bristol’s
Own”.
18
Tobacco firm Franklin
Davey moved here from
Welsh Back in 1906,
and Wills opened their
No 3 and No 4 Factories
further along Raleigh
Road in 1902. After the
move to Hartcliffe in
1984 the factories stood empty until demolition in the 1990s.
19
A former tea-packing factory on Cumberland Road is now
home to a contemporary art gallery, café and artists’ studios.
The land between the Floating Harbour and Southville
Luckwell School
Luckwell Primary School was built in 1900 to serve the rapidly
increasing population as Bedminster spread towards Ashton.
Worship
e s of
West Street Baptist Chapel (now the South
Bristol Christian Centre)
Built in the 1790s, on land donated by the local coal-owner, it
served the local community until 1993. The current building
replaces one destroyed in 1940.
44
ES and A Robinson Building
General Hospital
First opened in 1832, the main building was built in 1858.
P u bs
22
23
The Luckwell Pub
The Jolly Colliers
The pub’s name is a reminder that Bedminster was an
25
important part of the North Somerset Coalfield, with two
mines adjacent to West Street, and several others nearby.
The Steam Crane
The pub is Victorian, but it was
built on the site of an 18th century
coaching inn known as The Bull,
and later The Star.
St. John the Baptist Church, Bedminster
The first church here was built around 1003, but was
burnt down during the Civil War in 1645. It was re-built in
1663, and again in 1855, was bombed in 1940, and finally
demolished in 1967. All that is left it the base of the medieval
stone church cross.
46
26
The Hen and Chicken
In the 1700s the pub stood on the site of the nearby supermarket.
Hebron Methodist Church & Burial Ground
Hebron Road
This imposing church, built in 1854,
could accommodate over 800 worshippers.
Damaged during the Bristol Blitz, the
chapel closed in the 1980s and was
converted into flats in 2002.
In 1865 the notorious imposter Mary
Baker, known as Princess Caribou, was
buried here. The burial ground was bought
by Bristol City Council in 2003 and a group of local people
are turning it into a community garden.
47
53
Holy Cross Church, Dean Lane
This imposing red brick building, designed by Frank W Wills,
was built in 1922. Previously there was a Roman Catholic
Church in East Street where the Grant Bradley Gallery now
stands.
Thomas Ware Tannery
The business is the only full-scale tannery still operating in the
UK. The doors of two small dwellings can still be seen in the
red stone wall; one was occupied by the tannery foreman.
30
Collards Butchers, 57 North Street
The Collard family started a butchers business in Bristol in the
late 18th century and the family ran the shop until the 1980s.
You can still see the rail where the Christmas turkeys and game
were hung outside.
31
Poet’s Corner, 14 North Street
The gargoyle, dated 1882, is said to have been erected by
butcher and poet Alfred Collard, depicting the poet Robert
Southey, whose grandfather lived nearby. The premises were
once used as a meeting place for miners.
32
H.W.Carter, Ashton Gate
The blackcurrant drink Ribena was developed at the Long
Ashton Research Institute in 1936 to provide supplementary
vitamin C for children. Ribena was made here at the former
Brewery until after the war.
St Paul’s Church, Coronation Road Southville
The Jamia Mosque, Totterdown
Coal Mines
Mining in Bedminster goes back at least to 1670. Working
conditions were dark, dirty and dangerous: During the 1800s
there were 15 working pits: the last one, South Liberty Lane,
closed in 1925.
The Salvation Army Citadel, Dean Lane
2
3
4
5
51 St Michael’s & All Angels, Windmill Hill
Local industrialist Alfred Capper Pass, who owned lead
smelting works on Whitehouse Lane, donated the land for
29
esses
n
i
s
and Bu
This is the first and largest
Mosque in Bristol, established
in the former St Katherine’s
Church which was built in
1889 but closed in 1968. The
now familiar dome and minaret
were added in 1980 to complete
the building’s transformation
1
The Salvation Army worked in the most
deprived areas of Bedminster. In 1914 the
Salvation Army Citadel was opened in
Dean Lane. Its imposing red brick reflects
the style of contemporary local factories.
The Spotted Cow
The Spotted Cow has been an inn since the late 1800s. The
stonework shows the name of the firm which built and owned
the pub, Georges & Co Ltd, whose brewery still stands at the
end of North Street.
The wealthy industrialist John Acraman sold some of his
garden for a chapel here which was built in 1831. Its opening
coincided with riots in Queen Square, and the Bishop was
besieged by the mob. St Paul’s was damaged by bombs in 1941
and not rebuilt until 1958.
Zion Chapel, near Bedminster Bridge
St John’s Burial Ground, Windmill Hill
During the 1850’s urban churches were forbidden to accept
new burials in their churchyards. St John’s developed a new
burial ground on the edge of Windmill Hill. This site was
abandoned in the 1930s and is now a community orchard.
52
48 St Francis Church, North Street
The first church on this site in 1878 was a second-hand iron
building previously used in Montpelier. A permanent church
was built in 1891 but was completely destroyed in the Blitz.
The current building opened in 1953.
50
28
St Michael’s and All Angels church which was built in 1886.
A serious fire (possibly arson) almost destroyed the church in
1926 and the rebuilding was funded by a descendent of Alfred
Capper Pass.
In 1827 John Hare fulfilled his promise to build a church here
if he made his fortune in Bristol. It became known as the
Church of the Vow. It closed in 1983 and is now offices.
49
There has been an inn here for around 400
years. The original building stood on what
is now the end of British Road. When the
road was widened, the pub was rebuilt in its
present location. In spite of its name, this
was never a coaching inn.
Shops
The name possibly derives from St Luke’s Well, but popular
myth gives its origin from Cromwellian soldiers exclaiming
“What a lucky well”.
25
The London Inn
6
Dean Lane
7
Ashton Vale
Argus
8
Marsh Pit
Malago
9
New Deep Pit
Goldstones
10
Fryer’s
Sidney
33 49-51 North Street
Number 49, built in the 1600s, is one of the oldest buildings
in the street. The pub was known as the New Inn, the
Artichoke and then the Full Moon. In Victorian times the Full
Moon moved next door to number 51, now The Hare.
Schools
34
The Avon Packet
Spike Island Art Space
41 Parson Street Primary School
Parson Street Primary school celebrated their centenary in
2008; their most recent building boasts an external clock, a
rare feature in the 21st century.
43
21
It was rebuilt here in 1904, bombed in the War and later
restored. A single family ran the business for around 200 years.
27
Built in the 1880s,
and extended in
1897, this was home
to Robinson’s paper
manufacturer. The
factory closed in the
1980s and now houses Cameron Balloons and flats.
24
The Tobacco Factory, Raleigh Road
St Mary Redcliffe Primary School
Plac
20
The building has been a pub since 1843, named after a
passenger steamer on the Avon New Cut.
White City
40 Victoria Park Open Air School
The bandstand in Victoria Park became an Open Air School
from 1920-1939. Children who were in poor health attended
in all weathers; fresh air, nourishing food and medical
attention were provided as well as education.
42
became an island when the Avon New Cut was opened in
1809. Until the 1970s it was home mainly to shipyards, wharfs
and warehouses.
16 Clancy’s Farm, Off Berrow Walk, St John’s
Lane.
Originally Windmill Hill Board School built in the1880s, this
is a listed building.
45
Designed by Emily Ketteringham for Bedminster History Co-operative.
Printed by Doveton Press
Bedminster Old Library (now the Grant
Bradley Gallery)
The library was opened in 1913, built on the site of a previous
Free Library and Temperance Hall.
15
C Bond was the last tobacco bond to
be built in Bristol, in 1919. Now in
commercial use. Nearby B Bond (1908)
houses the Create Centre and Record
Office, while A Bond (1905) is empty.
Used from 1820 to 1883, only the stone gateway remains.
Sarah Thomas, aged 18, was the last woman to be publicly
hanged in Britain, here, in 1849.
6
14
Clift House
South Liberty
South Street School (now Compass Point)
Opened in February 1895, and soon had over 500 children in
the infants section alone.
35
Bedminster National School, East Street
Built in 1837 at the junction of East Street and West Street.
It was known as St John’s National School in the early 20th
century. The site has been a car park for more than 30 years.
36
Old Grammar School, Boot Lane/ Willway
Street
Built in the 1870s as the Bedminster Bridge Board School, for
pupils from 5-10 years old. After 1919 it provided a technical
education for older pupils until it closed in 1967. Now offices.
37
Merrywood Board School, Beauley Road
Built in 1897 to
accommodate the
increasing number of
pupils in the Southville
area of Bedminster, it later
it became Merrywood
Grammar School. It was
partially demolished in the
1980s and the remaining buildings now house Southville
Centre.
38
Southville Primary School, Merrywood Road
This Grade 2 listed building, designed in the Bristol Board
School Style with Queen Anne-style details, cost £7,205 to
build in 1908.
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Places of Interest
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23
Luckwell Road
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Shops & Businesses
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Schools
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Places of Worship
Site of Old Coal Pit
41
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The Malago
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Parson Street
10
39
Bedminster
34
8
Alotments
City Farm
20
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9
Windmill Hill
South
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46
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North
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