| Bishopston | |
Boundaries of the Council Ward, shown within Bristol. |
|
| Population | 11,996 (Census 2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | ST586755 |
| Unitary authority | Bristol |
| Ceremonial county | Bristol |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode district | BS7 |
| Dialling code | 0117 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bristol West |
| List of places: UK • England • 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 part of Horfield. It is twinned with KV Kuppam in Tamilnadu, India.
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Bishopston is in the Bristol West parliamentary constituency and elects two City Councillors. Its MP is Stephen Williams and its councillors are Beverly Knott and Dr David Willingham. All three are Liberal Democrats.
Named after the bishop of the local diocese who controversially sold off the church's land to private developers in the early 19th century. The sale was even raised as an issue in the House of Commons. The parish of Bishopston was then created in July 1862 with a population of 1300 and expanding to 9140 in the Census 1901. In the Census 2001 Bishopston registered a resident population of 11,996. The district is part of the Bristol built-up area, having been swallowed by the growing city, running directly into the surrounding districts of Redland, Ashley Down, Horfield and Henleaze.
The area has a relatively large student population, with 21% of the over 16 population in education compared to 8.4% in Bristol and 5.1% in England and Wales. Some of the location filming for the cult BBC sitcom The Young Ones was done in Codrington Road and elsewhere. The external shots for the famous "bank-robbing" scene in the last episode were filmed outside the now closed Bristol North Swimming Baths on Gloucester Road.
Bishopston was the home of two Nobel Prize winning physicists. In 1933 Paul Dirac, who attended the Bishop Road Primary School just a few hundred metres from where he lived on Monk Road, won the prize after his contributions to quantum mechanics. In 1950 Cecil Frank Powell won the prestigious award for contributions to Physics (specifically, for his development of the photographic method of studying nuclear processes and his discoveries regarding mesons made with this method.) Bishopston was home to television presenter Adam Hart-Davis and psychologist Susan Blackmore for many years.
Although the famous film star Cary Grant (real name Archibald Alexander Leach), spent his childhood in neighbouring Horfield, he attended Bishop Road School.
The main artery, Gloucester Road is well known for its pubs and restaurants, and is known as one of the last remaining local high streets in the country[1] and is well used by local residents. In addition to the independently run shops such as Scoopaway, La Ruca, Gardener's Patch and Harvest, recent years has seen several supermarket chains opening stores in the area. This, and the range of fairly traded and local goods available, has made it popular with ecologically-minded shoppers.
Bishopston is home to Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, located off Nevil Road. The ground's capacity has been increased to hold international cricket matches.
The David Thomas Memorial church was erected 1879 - 1881 but demolished in 1987 destroying most of a Gothic fantasy by Stuart Coleman. The building still retains a thin octagonal spire and west front but the massive halls, apse and rib vaults have now gone in favour of flats by Stride Treglown.
The area of Ashley Down is divided between the Bishopston and Ashley wards of the city of Bristol. The Brunel campus of City of Bristol College lies within the Bishopston ward as does the Brunel Field site of Ashley Down Junior School, which opened in 2011.[2]
A section of Horfield also lies within the boundaries of the Bishopston ward. Part of Horfield Common, and well as the Memorial Stadium, home of Bristol Rovers and Bristol Rugby, lies within the ward.