Bedminster and Southville are adjoining suburbs in South Bristol close to the river Avon. I belong to a local history walking group and this year we have been exploring the suburbs of Bristol to try and trace the development of the city. Bedminster has featured on a walk, enticingly called addicted Bristol. We also used the know your place website which combines old maps with modern technology to discover more.

Bedminster may have been established by the Romans sometime between the 1st and 5th century AD making the district older than Bristol itself. There was certainly a small Saxon settlement to the south of Bristol on the banks of the Malago river. Nowadays the Malago is little more than a muddy ditch. The river Avon formed the boundary between Bristol which was in Gloucestershire and Bedminster which was in Somerset.

Today, most of the buildings you see in Bedminster relate to Bedminster’s Victorian industrial past. It was predominately a working-class area with tobacco warehouses, coalmines and small factories. You will find non-conformist chapels and 19th century pubs. There are also rows and rows of small stone terraced houses built to house the workers.

Bedminster is still a lively and friendly community with its own identity separate from Bristol. The factories and coalmines closed years ago and have been converted into offices and parks but the community survives. Its rural past can be seen in pub names such as the Barley Mow and the spotted cow.

Coal Mining

The story of Bedminster in the last 200 years is also the story of the Smyth family. They owned Ashton Court and most of Bedminster. In east Bristol, Kingswood was already a coalmining area and Greville Smyth commissioned a mining survey to see if there was coal under Bedminster too. Happily, for him, there was and the first pit was opened in South Liberty Lane in 1744. By 1830 eighteen pits were in operation.

The largest pit was in Dean Lane. The remains of this pit can still be seen in Dame Emily Park which was named after Greville Smyth’s wife. The covered top of the mine was used as a bandstand.

Beer

If you want to get to know a working class area of England, visiting the local pubs is a good way to start. Bedminster hosts an annual beer trail. You can visit twelve pubs, bars and breweries and enjoy over 100 different beers and lagers.

The Steam Crane

At the end of Dean Lane is a pub called the Steam Crane after the famous steam crane in Bristol harbour. It was formerly known as the Star and has a rather unusual claim to fame. In the 1830’s the landlord purchased a lion from Bristol docks which he displayed in a cage. This drew the crowds and the landlord started sending one of his barmen in the cage with the lion. This worked well until one night when the lion killed and ate the unfortunate man.

The Hen and Chicken

This is a theatre pub and used to be the home of Show of strength theatre company.

Besides mining there were many large and small factories in Bedminster and Southville. Two of the largest employers were Wills tobacco who made cigarettes and Robinsons who made brown paper bags and other packaging materials.

The tobacco factory

Soldiers returning from the Crimean war brought cigarettes back to Britain. At its peak about 13,000 people were directly employed by Wills in Bedminster. They were considered an enlightened employer providing their workers with free cigarettes, a recreational ground, subsidized meals, medical services and annual summer outings.

Eventually Wills moved cigarette production to Hartcliffe.

The Bedminster tobacco factory closed in the 1970’s. The redbrick building of factory number 3 has been turned into a very successful theatre. it is still called the tobacco factory and It is particularly suitable for staging Shakespearean plays. On Sundays they host a very popular weekly market selling street food, local produce and crafts. It also has a very popular bar and cafe.

Factory number 1 has become a large Asda supermarket.

Cameron balloons

Cameroon balloons have taken over the old Robinsons factory. Every Summer Bristol hosts a balloon festival at Ashton Court.

Windmill Hill City farm.

Bristol city council bought land from the Smyth family and created Victoria Park. This is one of the best parks in South Bristol. There was originally a windmill on the site which gives the area its name.

Windmill hill city farm is open seven days a week and has a shop and cafe. It provides practical and therapeutic activities for people with mental and physical challenges.

Hebron Chapel

Hebron chapel was built as a chapel by a breakaway methodist group. It later became a spiritualist church. The overgrown graveyard contains the remains of the exotically named Princess Caribou. In fact, the princess was a poor woman from Devon named Mary Baker who claimed to be a Javanese princess. She fooled the local aristocracy in the early 1800’s. They even paid for her to visit the U.S.A. on a speaking tour.

The statue in Hebron cemetery is another piece of street art. A group of artists have been protesting about the lack of statues to women in Bristol by creating their own.

Modern Bedminster

East is East and West is West
and ne'er the twain shall meet
except in Bedminster where each one is a street

Bristol based Urbis Living are planning a hundred million regeneration project to be called Bedminster Green with up to 800 new houses.Bedminster and Southville like most of inner Bristol are becomming trendy places to live. Many of the old factories have been turned into flats.

It is an exciting time for local historians and archaeologists. By law developers have to commission an archaeological survey of the site before they can build anything. Recent finds have included a corn mill which was featured on Alice Roberts television series “digging for Britain”and the remains of a solder foundry which made the Capper Pass family rich.

East Street, North Street and West Street are home to lots of independent shops and coffee bars. Students come here to search for vintage clothing.

Bristol is world famous for its street art. This is a mixed blessing for Bristolians. I live in East Bristol and sometimes it seems as though every available surface is covered in street art and grafitti.

Every summer Bedminster hosts Upfest one of Europe’s largest street art and graffiti festivals. Upfest attracts the best local and international street artists who paint large murals on shop fronts and houses. It is like an outdoor art gallery to enjoy all year long.

Visitors with more macabre tastes can enjoy a blood and butchery walk from show of strength theatre company and learn about bloody murders and body snatching from the local church yard.

Other dubious claims to fame.

Bedminster has another dubious claim to fame as the home of the butcher poet, Alfred Dawes Collard. He is said to have butchered both poetry and meat and to have been Bristol’s worst poet.

Much of the gold from the Brinks Matt bullion robbery was laundered through a Bedminster building society.

Last Monday our walking group made another visit to Bedminster, so I was able to update this post. I am adding it to Natalie’s weekend coffee share link up. Our coffee stop was the Bedminster loaf opposite Asda. As well as a restaurant, it is an independent bakery which sells cheese, greengrocery and wine.