Staple Hill | |
---|---|
A view of Page Park in Staple Hill | |
Location within Gloucestershire | |
Population | 6,823 (census 2001) |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRISTOL |
Postcode district | BS16 |
Dialling code | 0117 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Avon |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Staple Hill is a suburb of Bristol, England, lying outside the city boundary in South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. It is directly east of Fishponds, south of Downend, west of Mangotsfield and north of Soundwell.
Staple is a rendering of the Anglo-Saxon/Old English word stapol or staypole which meant a post in the sense of an old boundary marker. [1] [2]
The settlement of Staple Hill developed in the 19th century. [3] It was a hamlet in the ancient parish of Mangotsfield. [4] Staple Hill was once within the ancient forest of Kingswood. This prevented by law of royal privilege anyone settling within the Royal Forest of Kingswood. [5]
The modern settlement of Staple Hill originated in the 18th century by when forest law had become largely anachronistic and the wild boar and wolves which once made the forest dangerous were long since extinct (see Royal Forest). Expansion of the settlement was facilitated after 1888 when the Midland Railway opened Staple Hill railway station, giving direct access to Bristol and Gloucester, and also to Bath by the Mangotsfield and Bath branch line. The Bath line of the Midland Railway involved the construction of a beautifully engineered tunnel deep under the hill at Staple Hill. After this investment, Staple Hill grew beyond a small hamlet and gained tram and bus links with Bristol that allowed it to become a residence for commuters to Bristol or Bath. The station closed in 1966.
Staple Hill briefly became a centre for engineering, with Wilson and Sons Engineering designing and assembling Quasar (motorcycle)s. This was a recumbent motorcycle built in small numbers which is today widely recognised as the first modern feet-forward motorcycle design.
Staple Hill has a wide-ranging high street and the architecture is largely Victorian with ornate roof ridges and eaves, attractive decorative brickwork and architectural features in stonemasonry. The High Street is broad as trams originally ran along its length.
Page Park, which has been improved by volunteers from the community in recent years and celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2010. [6]
An event known as "Christmas on the Hill" takes place on the first Saturday in December during which entertainments along the main street take place with music, stall holders, treasure hunts and performances. [7]
The railway line and the station site has been converted to the Bristol & Bath Railway cycle route, one of the Sustrans National Cycle routes. For a minor section in the central part of the ward, the path runs through Staple Hill tunnel as the land rises in this section, allowing for the hill above. [8]
Between 1927 and 1974 Staple Hill was part of Mangotsfield Urban District. [9] Between 1974 and 1996 it was part of Kingswood Borough in the county of Avon when it became part of South Gloucestershire, between 1974 and 2023 it was in Mangotsfield unparished area, on 1 April 2023 it became part of Staple Hill and Mangotsfield civil parish. [10]
The area forms the Staple Hill ward of South Gloucestershire. The elections on 7 May 2015 returned two Labour Party Councillors, Shirley Potts and Ian Boulton. [11]
Gloucestershire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire to the east, Wiltshire to the south, Bristol and Somerset to the south-west, and the Welsh county of Monmouthshire to the west. The city of Gloucester is the largest settlement and the county town.
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern part of its area falls within the Greater Bristol urban area surrounding the city of Bristol.
Avon was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England that existed between 1974 and 1996. The county was named after the River Avon, which flows through the area. It was formed from the county boroughs of Bristol and Bath, together with parts of the administrative counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Kingswood is a town and civil parish in the South Gloucestershire district of the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. The town is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) east-northeast of Bristol.
Kingswood was, from 1974 to 1996, a non-metropolitan district of the County of Avon, England.
Mangotsfield is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, to the north-east of Bristol.
The Avon Valley Railway (AVR) is a standard gauge heritage railway in South Gloucestershire, England, operated by a local group, the Avon Valley Railway Company Ltd. The 3-mile heritage line runs from Oldland Common to Avon Riverside. It follows the Avon Valley southeast from Oldland Common to Bitton and then it runs along side the River Avon from Bitton towards Saltford.
Kingswood is a constituency in South Gloucestershire which is currently vacant. It was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Chris Skidmore from 2010 until his resignation in January 2024.
Oldland Common is a village in the far south region of South Gloucestershire, England, on the outskirts of Bristol. It is in the civil parish of Bitton, approximately 8 miles between the centres of cities Bristol and Bath.
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was a railway company opened in 1844 to run services between Bristol and Gloucester. It was built on the 7 ftBrunel gauge, but it was acquired in 1845 by the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge Midland Railway, which also acquired the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at the same time.
Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England.
The Bristol and Bath Railway Path is a 15-mile (24 km) off-road cycleway, part of National Cycle Network National Cycle Route 4. It has a 3-metre (9.8 ft) wide tarmacked surface, and was used for 2.4 million trips in 2007, increasing by 10% per year.
Mangotsfield railway station was a railway station on the Midland Railway route between Bristol and Birmingham, 5.1 miles (8.2 km) north-east of Bristol Temple Meads and 82 miles (132 km) from Birmingham New Street, serving what is now the Bristol suburb of Mangotsfield. The station was opened in 1845 by the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, but had very little in the way of passenger amenities. The station was resited in 1869 to serve the new Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line, and became an important junction station with extensive facilities and six platforms. Passenger footfall however failed to match the station's size, though at its peak eight staff were employed. The station closed in 1966 when services to Bath ended as part of the Beeching cuts, and the line through the station closed in 1969. The railway became a cycle path in the 1980s, and is a popular resting point on the route as several of the station's walls and platforms are still in situ.
Fishponds railway station was a station in Fishponds, Bristol, England, which was closed by Dr Beeching's cuts in the 1960s.
The Mangotsfield and Bath branch line was a railway line opened by the Midland Railway Company in 1869 to connect Bath to its network at Mangotsfield, on its line between Bristol and Birmingham. It was usually referred to as "the Bath branch" of the Midland Railway.
The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties.
Staple Hill railway station was on the Midland Railway line between Bristol and Gloucester on the outskirts of Bristol. The station was on the Bristol and Gloucester Railway line, but opened in 1888, 44 years after the line had been opened through the site. It served the Victorian suburban developments in the area to the south of Mangotsfield.
Ram Hill is a hamlet in the civil parish of Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath, in the South Gloucestershire district, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It is located between Coalpit Heath and Westerleigh and adjoins the hamlet of Henfield immediately to the south. In the Mudge Map 1815, Ram Hill was known as Nutridge Hill, and was linked to Westerleigh by Broad Lane and to Mays Hill by Frog Lane.
The Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway was an early mineral railway, opened in two stages in 1832 and 1834, which connected collieries near Coalpit Heath with Bristol, at the river Avon. Horse traction was used. It was later taken over by the Bristol and Gloucester Railway, and much of the route became part of the main line between Birmingham and Bristol, though that was later by-passed and closed. Part of it now forms the Bristol and Bath Railway Path.
The Avon and Gloucestershire Railway also known as The Dramway was an early mineral railway, built to bring coal from pits in the Coalpit Heath area, north-east of Bristol, to the River Avon opposite Keynsham. It was dependent on another line for access to the majority of the pits, and after early success, bad relations and falling traffic potential dogged most of its existence.