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Stoke Bishop

Coordinates: 51°29′N 2°38′W / 51.48°N 2.63°W / 51.48; -2.63
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Stoke Bishop
Traditional small shops on tree lined road
Druid Hill shops
Stoke Bishop is located in Bristol
Stoke Bishop
Stoke Bishop
Location within Bristol
OS grid referenceST563759
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRISTOL
Postcode districtBS9
Dialling code0117
PoliceAvon and Somerset
FireAvon
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bristol
51°29′N 2°38′W / 51.48°N 2.63°W / 51.48; -2.63

Stoke Bishop is an outer suburban neighbourhood and an electoral ward in the north-west of Bristol, England. Bordered by The Downs and the River Trym, it is located between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park and Sea Mills. Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has significantly increased in recent years due to the infilling of former school and company playing fields.[1] Moreover, the population of Stoke Bishop varies throughout the year because of the influx of students during term time to the large campus of Bristol University halls of residence situated on the edge of The Downs.

Within Stoke Bishop there is a parish church, St Mary Magdalene (CofE); a primary school, Stoke Bishop C of E Primary, sometimes called Cedar Park, because of its location; and a village hall, which is used for a variety of activities from dog training to karate. Next to the primary school is Bristol Croquet Club, which has had many influential international members. Stoke Bishop Cricket Club play at Coombe Dingle Sports Complex. The cricket club has two senior men's XIs and a junior section composed of U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17 teams.

History

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There was a Roman harbour, Portus Abonae (port on the Avon), at the then deeper and much more extensive tidal mouth of the River Trym. Its origin was military, but by the early second century a civilian town had been established on the Stoke Bishop side of the river. Important enough to feature simply as Abona in the 3rd-century Antonine Itinerary, which documents towns and distances in the Roman empire, it was connected with Bath by a road that crossed The Downs and ran down to the harbour along what is still a right of way known as Mariners' Path. Archaeological excavations have found evidence of the street pattern and shops within the town, also cemeteries outside it in what were then the grounds of Nazareth House.[2] The fenced-off foundations of a small building have been preserved at the Portway entrance of Roman Way. No evidence of settlement later than the Roman period has been found.[3][4]

The land of Stoke Bishop was granted to the Bishop of Worcester by King Offa of Mercia in the 790s and remained a Worcester ecclesiastical estate until the Reformation. Confiscated by Henry VIII, it then passed into private hands. What is now Sneyd Park was sold as a separate Sneed Park estate in the mid-17th century. Apart from the two estate mansions and small adjoining parks, the area remained agricultural until the 19th century.

Stoke House

Stoke House, the Stoke Bishop manor house, was built in 1669 for Sir Robert Cann, Member of Parliament, Mayor of Bristol and Merchant Venturer. A Grade II* listed building,[5] it is currently a theological college known as Trinity College, Bristol.[6]

Sneed Park House was the mansion and estate of Sir George White. Later renamed Nazareth House when it was sold by his heirs of, it became a Roman Catholic Orphanage in the 1920s and was demolished in 1972.[7] Bombs fell on Roman Way during the Second World War, destroying one house completely.

Residential development

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In the course of the 19th century land on both Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park estates was increasingly sold off to wealthy Bristolians to construct large villas in substantial grounds. A separate parish of Stoke Bishop was created, including Sneyd Park, with the present parish church consecrated in 1860; a grand church (now village) hall was completed in 1885.

Previously in Gloucestershire, the area was absorbed into the City of Bristol in 1904. In the inter-war period the remaining farmland was sold off, streets of detached and semi-detached houses were built, and parades of shops were constructed on Shirehampton Road (Trymwood Parade) and at the bottom of Druid Hill.[8][9][10][11]

Stoke Lodge

Significant buildings constructed during this residential expansion include Stoke Lodge, a Grade II listed building built in 1836,[12] which has been owned by Bristol City Council and held as educational land since 1947. The Holmes in Stoke Park Road is a large 'Arts and Crafts' style house, built in 1879. It was used as a base for US Army generals during the planning of the 1944 Normandy landings.[13] Since 2005 it has been home to the University of Bristol Botanic Garden.

An association with Druids arose from a megalithic monument, apparently the remains of a burial chamber, discovered in 1811 off what is now Druid Hill.[14] Druid Stoke House, a Grade II listed building west of Druid Hill, dates from the turn of the 19th century.[15][16][17] The Druid Stoke area was developed in the grounds of Druid Stoke House in the 1930s.[14]

In the 1930s Jared and Jethro Stride built "one-off luxury homes on plots they had bought" in Sneyd Park and Stoke Bishop. The tradition was carried on by Jared's sons Arthur and Frederick, and later into the 1960s by their sons Leslie and Raymond.[18] The 'Stride brothers' specialised in constructing individual style homes with the emphasis on location, finish and design. Each house was built to a unique design - no two are the same - and well fitted out with oak floors, wood-panelled rooms and central heating.[19] These "high quality dwellings" [20] are still marketed today as classic 'Stride houses'.

21st century

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In 2011, the Stoke Lodge playing fields were leased long-term to Cotham School. These fields are the subject of a protracted legal dispute. In 2018 the High Court quashed a 2016 decision of the Bristol City Council Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee to register the playing fields as a Town or Village Green (TGV).[21] Following this, Cotham School erected new signage and a high fence around the site,[22][23] despite Ofsted confirming that it did not require perimeter fencing, as repeatedly insisted by the school.[24] New applications were made to register the playing fields as a TVG in September 2018 and June 2019, and on 28 June 2023 the Public Rights of Way and Greens Committee again voted to register the land as a TVG. Registration as a TVG would mean that the fence had to be removed, since it is illegal to enclose a village green.[25] [26] Cotham School has also courted controversy by installing CCTV cameras on the playing fields.[27] In January 2023 the Information Commissioner's Office declared these to be unlawful.[28]

Electoral ward

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Main article: Bristol City Council elections
Stoke Bishop
ward
Bristol City Council.
Ward boundaries since 2016.
CountyBristol
Population13,067[29]
Electorate8,316[30]
Current ward
Created1980[31] (1980[31])
CouncillorJohn Goulandris (Conservative)
CouncillorHenry Michallat (Conservative)
UK Parliament constituencyBristol North West

Stoke Bishop electoral ward, which includes Sneyd Park, much of The Downs and the Avon Gorge, and since 2015 most of Sea Mills.[32] The ward is represented by two members on Bristol City Council, which as of 2024 are John Goulandris and Henry Michallat, both Conservatives.

Notable people

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stoke Bishop (ward).
  1. ^ "Know Your Place - Bristol". Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  2. ^ Higgins, David H (2004). "The Roman town of Abona and the Anglo-Saxon charters of Stoke Bishop of AD969 and 984" (PDF). Bristol and Avon Archaeology. 19-v3: 75–86. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Abona". Historic England Search Records. Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Sea Mills (Abona) Roman Building". Roman Sites in Britain. Roman Britain. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Stoke House, Clifton Theological College, and Attached Rear Kitchen (Grade II*) (1208857)". National Heritage List for England.
  6. ^ Tyte, Gavin (2004). "Trinity's site and history". Trinity College Bristol. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012.
  7. ^ Sneyd Park. The Sneyd Park Residents' Association. 2001. pp. 54–5.
  8. ^ Sneyd Park. The Sneyd Park Residents' Association. 2001. pp. 3–6.
  9. ^ Penny Jetzer; et al. (1998). A Pictorial History of Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park. Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park Local History Group. pp. 5–6.
  10. ^ Sheather, Keith (Spring 2010). "The birth of Stoke Bishop parish church". St Mary's Messenger Parish Magazine: 9–10.
  11. ^ "Stoke Bishop Village Hall". Historic England Archive. Historic England. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  12. ^ Historic England. "Stoke Lodge (Grade II) (1202564)". National Heritage List for England.
  13. ^ "Holmes". University of Bristol. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b Grinsell, L.V. (1979). "The Druid Stoke Megalithic Monument" (PDF). Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 97: 119–121. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  15. ^ Historic England. "Druid Stoke House (Grade II) (1282301)". National Heritage List for England.
  16. ^ Images of England website
  17. ^ Penny Jetzer; et al. (1998). A Pictorial History of Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park. Stoke Bishop and Sneyd Park Local History Group. p. 6.
  18. ^ 'A Family Business' Bristol Times May 19, 2008 p.24
  19. ^ 'Stride Houses' Bristol Evening Post 19 May 2008 p.25
  20. ^ Coates.C 'Shirehampton Sketches' Bristol Books 2021 p.239
  21. ^ Williams, Wyn. "High Court Judgement May 2018" (PDF).
  22. ^ Wilson, Kate (20 December 2018). "School signs repeatedly vandalised amid row over playing fields". bristolpost. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  23. ^ "'Berlin wall' school fence in Bristol to be completed". BBC News. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Ofsted says Cotham School's plan to erect fences at Stoke Lodge playing fields 'not required'". Bristol247. 18 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  25. ^ "School must share Stoke Lodge playing field with community". BBC News. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  26. ^ "Controversial fence around school playing fields could be taken down". ITV News. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  27. ^ "School admits carrying out covert CCTV surveillance of public". Bristol247. 6 October 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  28. ^ "Stoke Lodge row: Cotham School's 'covert' CCTV cameras deemed 'unlawful'". Bristol Post. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  29. ^ "2021 Census Area Profile: Stoke Bishop". Office for National Statistics.
  30. ^ "Stoke Bishop Ward 2024". Bristol City Council.
  31. ^ "The City of Bristol (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1980". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  32. ^ Bristol City Council. "Stoke Bishop Ward - Current Arrangements". Retrieved 9 April 2024.
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