Bower Ashton

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Coordinates: 51°26′30″N 2°37′48″W / 51.44166°N 2.62988°W / 51.44166; -2.62988
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Bower Ashton
Avon and Somerset
FireAvon
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Bristol
51°26′30″N 2°37′48″W / 51.44166°N 2.62988°W / 51.44166; -2.62988
Greville Smyth park

Bower Ashton is a village in south west

River Avon
to the east.

The area is now mainly residential but also includes the

Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education (formerly the School of Creative Arts) of the University of the West of England, Ashton Park School, which is a specialist Sports College, as well as about 180 allotments in 5 different areas. Clifton Bridge and Ashton Gate railway stations are both now closed, but there is some pressure to reopen the latter as part of a rapid transit link from Portishead.[1]

History

Bower Ashton was historically a hamlet in the parish of

Sir John Henry Greville Smyth rebuilt Ashton Court Mansion along with a now demolished Dower house on the present site of the School of Creative Arts. Maps of that era show a ropewalk, Frayne's Colliery and Ashton Vale Iron works, adjacent to the Portishead railway line.[3] An Iron Foundry was in operation in the area until the 1900s.[4]

From ancient times the Rownham Ferry linked Bower Ashton with Hotwells. It medieval times it was owned by the monks of St Augustine's Abbey and brought them considerable income.[5] There was also a ford downstream but due to the great tidal range[6] this was dangerous.[5] The ferry remained in operation until it closed in the 1930s, after the opening of the Ashton Swing Bridge at Ashton Gate.[7] Legend has it that King Charles II crossed the Avon from Hotwells via the ferry on his way to Leigh Court in 1651.[8][9]

In 1914, it was the location of the Bristol International Exhibition.

In 1951, the area was transferred from Long Ashton parish to Bristol.[10]

Attractions

Bower Ashton is also the location of the playing grounds of Bedminster Cricket Club (founded in 1847, for whom

Leigh Woods in North Somerset and Clifton
in Bristol.

Across the River Avon are the lock gate entrances to Bristol Docks and the '

Bristol City FC
).

Notes

  1. ^ "Portishead Railway Group – campaign to reopen the railway". portisheadrailwaygroup.org. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  2. ^ Vision of Britain: Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)
  3. ^ "Victorian Map of Bower Ashton". Ordnance Survey. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  4. ^ Poole, Ruth. "Long Ashton". Bristol & Avon Family History Society. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Full text of "The Somerset coast"". archive.org. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  6. ^ "Natural Britain, The River Avon, Bristol". information-britain.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  7. ^ "Rownham Ferry". bower-ashton.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  8. ^ "GENUKI: The National Gazetteer (1868) – Abbots Leigh". genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  9. ^ "SK Knowledge Base – The Escape of Charles Stuart After Worcester". thesealedknot.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
  10. ^ Vision of Britain: Long Ashton CP/AP
  11. ^ "River Avon Trail". riveravontrail.org.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
  12. ^ "Bristol City Council: Parks and open spaces: Greville Smyth Park". bristol.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
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