Bowthorpe
Coordinates: 52°38′10″N 1°13′00″E / 52.63624°N 1.216736°E
Bowthorpe is a village located in the west of Norwich, England. It is primarily a residential area, but includes a large Industrial Estate (predominantly occupied by the technology sector) and one small out-of-town shopping centre, containing a supermarket and various smaller retail outlets. A police station and community hall are situated close to Bowthorpe Town Centre. Most of present-day Bowthorpe has been developed from the 1970s onward.
The majority of Bowthorpe is covered by the "NR5 9" prefix Postcodes and has its standard telephone numbers allocated within the (01603) XXXXXX pool, from the Costessey telephone exchange.
Bowthorpe is divided into four distinct areas:
- Clover Hill,
- Chapel Break,
- Three Score,
- Bowthorpe Industrial Estate.
The largest of these areas is Clover Hill, a mix of council development and private housing, making up almost two-thirds of Bowthorpe. Clover Hill, situated to the east of the other three areas was developed in the 1970s and 1980s. Further development of the mainly private housing estates, Chapel Break and Three Score took place in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Bowthorpe differs from the nearby estates of Earlham and Costessey by having a high variability of housing stock, and a centrally planned network of bus and bicycle-only lanes. Large open spaces and parks border the periphery of the Bowthorpe housing estate, with Bowthorpe Park between the north of the estate and Dereham Road, and the Wensum Marshland and Bowthorpe common bordering the south and west of the Estate.
Politically, it falls within the Norwich South constituency (despite being located slightly north) held since 2010 by the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) Simon Wright. It was formerly a very safe Labour Party seat on Norwich City Council but has been won for the past three years by the Conservatives and is represented by councillors Antony Little, Andrew Wiltshire and Niki George.
Education
Bowthorpe possesses three schools; made up of two infant schools and one junior school. One infant school is located in Clover Hill, the other schools are located in Chapel Break.
There was originally a Bowthorpe High School, which was actually located in nearby Earlham. Bowthorpe High School has since been knocked down and replaced with a fire station. The nearest high schools to Bowthorpe are Ormiston Victory Academy (previously Costessey High School) and the City Academy Norwich (previously Earlham High School).
Transport
Bowthorpe is served by a frequent bus service, operated by First Eastern Counties, to the University of East Anglia, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, West Earlham, Norwich City Centre and Sprowston.
Sport
Bowthorpe makes a significant contribution to local sport, providing grounds for Norwich's largest 5-a-side football complex. Also, it has been home to a few sportsmen, including Paul McVeigh. Bowthorpe also was the home of Sunday League team Wendene Wanderers, who folded towards the end of 2010 due to lack of finance. Wendene was mainly a youth club, with many teams ranging from Under-6s to Under-16s.
Famous residents
- Paul McVeigh (former)
- Martin Tyler (former)
- Jordan Carroll
External links
Media related to Bowthorpe at Wikimedia Commons