St Pauls, Bristol

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St Pauls Church

St Pauls is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, situated just north east of the city centre and west of the M32. In the early 18th century it was laid out as one of Bristol's first suburbs.

1 History
2 Problems
3 Community
4 Architecture
5 Politics
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Its turbulent history has been marked by rapid growth. The area was damaged during World War II followed with large immigration shortly afterwards. Sadly neglect, crime and drugs became common in the area and persist today.

[edit] Problems

The race riots following a police raid on the Black and White café on 2nd April 1980 formed a low point of the area's history. The St Pauls riot started when the police entered the Black and White café, suspecting that the premises were being used for drug dealing. A customer had his trousers ripped and demanded compensation, which the police refused. A crowd outside then refused to allow the police to leave, and when back up was called a riot started.^[1] The riots were quickly blamed on race, but both white and black youths fought against the police and the problems are thought to have been linked instead to poverty and perceived social injustices, predominantly the Sus law. The Black and White cafe was closed in March 2005, and has been demolished to make way for houses after a compulsory purchase order was pushed through by the council. Now the area is experiencing a positive urban renewal with the St. Pauls Unlimited scheme. Along with Easton, Bristol the area has gained a reputation as a place to obtain heroin and more predominantly crack cocaine.

[edit] Community

St Pauls has a large Afro-Caribbean population. The poverty of the area has created a strong community spirit shown in the yearly St Pauls carnival held on the first Saturday in July. This is a vibrant parade with most of the children from the local primary schools joining in.

[edit] Architecture

Many of the buildings in St Pauls are Georgian with Portland Square, and St Pauls Church as particularly fine examples of Georgian architecture in the area. Both were designed by Daniel Hague although the original St Pauls Church was to be designed by James Allen in a Greek style. Work was started on the church in 1789 and completed in 1794.^[2] Edward William Godwin, a famous Victorian architect, lived at Portland Square. In 2005 the church was converted into its present form as the home of 'Circomedia' ^[3], a circus school.

[edit] Politics

Politically it forms part of the Ashley ward, along with St. Agnes, Montpelier and St Werburghs. In the local council elections of 2005 it elected two Liberal Democrats, Dr Jon Charles Rogers and Shirley Marshall.