St Werburghs

St Werburghs
St Werburghs Location within Bristol
OS grid reference	ST596742
Unitary authority	Bristol
Ceremonial county	Bristol
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRISTOL
Postcode district	BS2
Dialling code	0117
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Bristol Central
List of places UK England Bristol 51°28′12″N 2°34′34″W / 51.470°N 2.576°W / 51.470; -2.576

St Werburghs is an inner suburban neighbourhood in Bristol, England. It is in the Ashley electoral ward and Bristol Central parliamentary constituency, 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) northeast of The Centre.

St Werburghs does not have formal boundaries, but in typical usage encompasses an area roughly bounded by the Filton Bank railway to the northeast, M32 motorway to the southeast, Ashley Hill to the west, and the Ashley Vale escarpment to the north.^[1] It borders the neighbourhoods of Eastville to the northeast, Easton to the southeast, St Pauls to the south, Montpelier and St Andrews to the west, and Ashley Down to the northwest.

Whilst it has more of a cultural mix than Bristol,^{[clarification needed]} it is not as diverse as other inner city areas.^{[2][failed verification]} It also has more family housing which has increased house prices.^{[citation needed]} The area has less crime than the other inner city Bristol areas.^{[3][failed verification]}

Mina Road is St Werburghs' 'high street', whose shops each have an imaginative figurehead protruding from their frontages indicating the type of trade on offer.^{[citation needed]} The park opposite the shops contains an original example of a cast iron Victorian public lavatory.^{[citation needed]}

St Werburghs has a city farm and has been the scene of several environmental campaigns including the development of a self-build housing community and the establishing of Narroways Hill as a Millennium Green and wildlife area.^{[citation needed]}

The solid geology of St Werburghs comprises Triassic Redcliffe Sandstone to the south-east of Glenfrome Road, and Triassic mudstone and halite-stone of the Mercia Mudstone Group to the north. The solid geology in the Mina Road Park area and in the valleys of the River Frome and Horfield Brook is overlain by superficial deposits of Quaternary alluvium.^[4]

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Before 1879 the northern part of the area now known as St Werburghs was referred to as Ashley Vale, and the southern part Baptist Mills. The area became known as St Werburghs in 1879 when St Werburgh's Church was relocated (with substantial rebuilding) to Mina Road in this district from Corn Street, Bristol. The church is now a climbing centre run by The Climbing Academy.

The area was historically prone to serious flooding from the River Frome, notably in 1882 and 1889. There are still four Victorian flood marker posts. It was also a source of water supply for the city of Bristol through the Quay Pipe and The Boiling Wells.

The BBC Television series Only Fools and Horses, which was filmed in and around Bristol, used the allotments for the episode 'Mother Nature's Son', and BBC wildlife and gardening programmes and Casualty have been filmed in the area.

St Werburghs was served by the number 5 bus route and its replacement, 47 Bristol–Yate. The route is was withdrawn in April 2023 leaving the area without a bus service.^[5][6]

• St Werburgh