| Westbury-on-Trym | |
Westbury-on-Trym War Memorial |
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Boundaries of the city council ward |
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| Population | 10,348 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | ST570773 |
| Unitary authority | Bristol |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRISTOL |
| Postcode district | BS9/10 |
| Dialling code | 0117 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bristol North West |
| List of places: UK • England • Bristol | |
Westbury-on-Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. Westbury-on-Trym has a village atmosphere. The place is partly named after the River Trym that flows through it.
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The origins of Westbury-on-Trym predate those of Bristol itself. At the end of the 8th century, King Offa of Mercia granted land at Westbury to his minister, Aethelmund. Later there was a monastery at Westbury, probably initially a secular one, with married clergy. This changed towards the end of the 10th century when Oswald of Worcester, in whose diocese the monastery lay, sent a party of 12 monks to follow more stringent rules at the Westbury monastery.[2]
The architect Ednoth constructed a new church and other buildings. The monastery became a college with a dean and canons at the end of the 13th century. It was rebuilt in the mid-15th century to resemble a miniature castle with turrets and a gatehouse. The Royalist Prince Rupert of the Rhine used it as his quarters during the English Civil War. When he left, in 1643, he ordered it to be set on fire so that the Parliamentarians could not make use of it. In the 20th century some of the college buildings were restored. Westbury College Gatehouse passed into the hands of the National Trust and the grounds were adapted for housing elderly people.
The current Church of the Holy Trinity dates from 1194 (although there has been a place of worship on the site since 717), with an early 13th century nave and aisles, and 15th century chancel, chapels and tower. It is a grade I listed building.[3]
The ancient parish of Westbury-on-Trym was a large one. It included Stoke Bishop, Redland, a large exclave comprising Shirehampton and Avonmouth, and several smaller exclaves in the parish of Henbury.[4] When the civil parish was created in 1866, Shirehampton was separated to form its own civil parish, and in 1894 Redland also became a separate civil parish. In 1904 the civil parish was abolished and absorbed into Bristol.[5] Redland remained in the ecclesiastical parish of Westbury until 1942.
Westbury-on-Trym High Street has three Indian, one Thai and one Italian restaurant in the High Street. The latter, Casamia, is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Bristol (as of 2010)[6]. There is also the Villager Restaurant (Modern English) at the end of College Road, eight pubs and several cafés. The village centre is well-served for shoppers, containing banks and independent stores including book shops, craft stores, hardware shops, florists, and a number of charity shops. Two free car parks are available and a medium-sized supermarket, built on the site of the previous Carlton cinema, above which there is a ladies only gym. During 2001, a large Sainsbury's was proposed, but the opposition to the plan was so strong from local villagers that the supermarket construction was eventually scrapped.
Schools within the area include Elmlea Infant School, Elmlea Junior School and Westbury-on-Trym Church of England Academy. Independent schools include the prestigious girls' schools Badminton, which has taught pupils such as Indira Gandhi, Princess Haya of Jordan and the daughter of the Sultan of Brunei; Red Maids', the oldest surviving girls' school in England; and the Oasis School, formerly St Ursula's School, Bristol's only independent Roman Catholic school.
A new doctors' surgery has been constructed for Westbury near to the Holy Trinity Church and the Westbury Hill Car Park. This replaces the previous surgery which was housed in a building on Falcondale Road.
Canford Cemetery opened in 1903, acquiring a crematorium in 1957.
Transport routes include the A4018, which runs from the city centre to Cribbs Causeway; Westbury is served by bus routes 1, 20, 21, 517, 518, 584, 585, 624, N8 and a bus service (X14) also connects Westbury-on-Trym with Chepstow and Newport, South Wales. The nearest railway station is at Sea Mills.
The wealthy Bristol merchant William Canynge was dean of Westbury College from 1469 to 1474.[7]
Bishop John Carpenter (1399–1476) was an English Bishop, Provost and University Chancellor who was baptised and buried in St Peter's Church, now called Holy Trinity Church, Westbury on Trym.[8][9] The Westbury Harriers club have adapted Bishop John Carpenter's arms to use as their "crest."[10]
John Wedgwood, the horticulturist and eldest son of potter Josiah Wedgwood, lived at the old Cote House on the edge of Durdham Down from 1797 to 1806. The house, which had Gothic turrets and battlements, was demolished in 1925 to make way for retirement accommodation.[11]
The poet Robert Southey, who later in his life became one of the Lake poets and the Poet Laureate, lived in the village for a year in 1798–99, during which he wrote his Eclogues and much other poetry. His social circle at the time included the Wedgwoods of Cote House and chemist Humphrey Davy, who was also living in Bristol then. Southey took part in Davy's experiments with laughing gas.[12]
Amelia Edwards the traveller, novelist and Egyptologist lived in Eastfield, at the eastern end of the village, from c. 1864 to 1892.[13]