Eastville, Bristol Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Eastville
Coordinates:51.475°N -2.5574°W
Static Image Name:File:Eastville Park, south-west.jpg
Static Image Caption:Eastville Park
Population:14,865
Population Ref:(ward)[1]
Population Density:4,175.7 per km2 (ward)
Statistic Title:Households
Statistic:6,099 (ward)
Unitary England:Bristol
Lieutenancy England:Bristol
Region:South West England
Constituency Westminster:Bristol North East
Councillor1:Lorraine Francis
Party1:Green
Councillor2:Ed Fraser
Party2:Green
Post Town:BRISTOL
Postcode District:BS5
Postcode Area:BS
Dial Code:0117
Os Grid Reference:ST613752

Eastville is an inner suburban neighbourhood and an electoral ward in Bristol, England, located around 2mile northeast of The Centre. It is roughly centred on Muller Road between its junctions with Stapleton Road and Fishponds Road.

Eastville is known for Eastville Park, a large park with a small lake, just to the east of the M32.[2] [3] The lake at Eastville Park was constructed as an unemployment relief scheme following a campaign by Ernest Bevin.[4]

The River Frome flows roughly south-southwest through the neighbourhood, and has been closely shadowed by the M32 motorway since its construction in the early 1970s. The motorway crosses the neighbourhood on an elevated flyover over its junction with Muller Road, creating community severance.[5]

On the west bank of the Frome is Eastgate shopping centre, home to a large IKEA and Tesco. The site was formerly Eastville Stadium, once home of Bristol Rovers Football Club, as well as being a site for greyhound racing and speedway.

Location and boundaries

As an informally defined neighbourhood, originating as a hamlet within the parish of Stapleton, Eastville long existed without official boundaries, and the area that has been formally defined for the electoral ward includes neighbourhoods in the north and east of the ward that might not traditionally have been thought of as part of Eastville, while omitting the western part of the area that is commonly thought of Eastville.

The M32 motorway is the western boundary of the Eastville electoral ward, meaning that areas to the west that might traditionally have been considered in Eastville, including Glenfrome Road[6] and the Old Eastville Library on Muller Road,[7] are in Lockleaze electoral ward rather than Eastville electoral ward.[8]

History

A large railway viaduct known as 'The Thirteen Arches' for obvious reasons, once ran through the area, roughly parallel to the current Muller Road; it was demolished in 1968.[9] This was part of the Clifton Extension Railway.

The Eastville Workhouse, originally the Barton Regis Union Workhouse,[10] was a former French Prison which was bought from the Government circa 1832.[11] In 1930, the Stapleton Workhouse, originally the Bristol Union Workhouse,[10] became the Stapleton Institution and by the Second World War the site was mainly used for the care of the mentally ill and the elderly; eventually becoming Blackberry Hill Hospital.

Electoral ward

See main article: Bristol City Council elections.

Eastville
Year:1974[12]
Population:14,865[13]
Electorate:10,721[14]
Region:England
County:Bristol
Westminster1:Bristol North East
Councillor1:Lorraine Francis
Party1:Green Party of England and Wales
Councillor2:Ed Fraser
Party2:Green Party of England and Wales

Eastville electoral ward includes Crofts End (also known as Clay Hill), in the east of the ward, and Stapleton, in the north. Notable places within the ward include Bristol Metropolitan Academy and Collegiate School, and the Bristol and Bath Railway Path also passes through the ward.[15]

The ward is represented by two members of Bristol City Council, which are Lorraine Francis and Ed Fraser of the Green Party of England and Wales.

Eastville ward was created in 1974, electing three members to Bristol City Council and one member to Avon County Council.[12] Boundaries were redrawn and the city council size adjusted in 198-, after which Eastville ward elected two members to the city council and one to the county council, until the abolition of the county of Avon in 1996. Boundaries were further adjusted in 1999, when parts of Greenbank that had been in Eastville ward transferred to Easton ward,[16] and again in 2016, when Eastville gained parts of Whitefield Road from Hillfields ward, and lost parts of Broom Hill to Frome Vale ward.[17]

Residents

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eastville Ward (as of 2022) . 2021 Census Area Profiles . nomis . 4 August 2024.
  2. Web site: Factsheet – Eastville Park . Avon Gardens Trust . 19 March 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040610030423/http://www.parkdetectives.org/pdfs/ep-factsheet.pdf . 10 June 2004 . dead . dmy-all .
  3. Web site: Eastville Park, Bristol, England . 1208 . Parks & Gardens UK . 27 July 2007 . 11 October 2017.
  4. News: Eaton . George . Ernest Bevin: The forgotten titan of Labourism . New Statesman . 12 August 2020.
  5. News: Parkes . Pamela . ‘A dagger into the heart of Bristol’ . 5 August 2024 . Bristol 24/7 . 14 December 2015.
  6. Web site: Glenfrome Primary School . Address: Cottisford Road, Eastville, Bristol, BS5 6TY . Gov.UK.
  7. Web site: The Old Library, Eastville.
  8. Web site: Lockleaze Ward (as of 2022) . nomis.
  9. Viaduct Demolished . British Pathe . Motion picture . 26 May 1968 . 3311.14 / UN 4356 C . 4 January 2016.
  10. Web site: Eastville And Stapleton Workhouses . Bristol Radical History Group . 10 February 2015 . 25 June 2015.
  11. Web site: Bristol, Gloucestershire. The Workhouse. 11 October 2015.
  12. The County of Avon (District Wards) Order 1973
  13. Web site: 2021 Census Area Profile: Bristol . Office for National Statistics.
  14. Web site: Local councillors election 2024 . Bristol City Council . en-gb.
  15. Web site: Eastville ward map . Bristol City Council . 4 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160803130314/https://www.bristol.gov.uk/documents/20182/34844/Eastville+Ward.pdf . 3 August 2016 . dead .
  16. Web site: Bristol electoral review 1997-1998 . Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
  17. Web site: Bristol . Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
  18. Web site: Jack used to say his pigeons were his life. 26 November 2011. Exeter Express and Echo. 22 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150923004559/http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Jack-used-say-pigeons-life/story-13961665-detail/story.html. 23 September 2015. dead.