Gerry Brooke takes a look inside a new book about a little documented Bristol suburb – St Andrew’s

Not much has been written about St Andrew’s, perhaps because a lot of Bristolians aren’t quite sure exactly where it is.

As historian and long time resident Michael Manson points out in a new little publication about the area, it’s not without good reason.

St Andrew’s, he informs us, is bounded by the Gloucester Road to the west and Ashley Hill to the east.

But the north and south boundaries are, he points out, less clear.

“The northern boundary wiggles around following Sefton Park Road, Derby Road and Sommerville Road” says Mike.

“This means that the Muller Orphanage (buildings) and the Gloucestershire County Cricket Ground are excluded.

“Yet the sheer bulk of the old orphanage imposes itself on the landscape; while the cheer of the crowd from the cricket ground makes it feel like a friendly neighbour.

“So, in my view, both are part of the St Andrew’s landscape – mentally, if not physically.”

The area is bounded by the Severn Beach railway line, so Montpelier station – and the health centre – are also in St Andrew’s.

But the people living in Montpelier would no doubt beg to differ.

“Many people will be surprised that the official southern boundary.. extends down to Coburg Road and York Road in Montpelier,” says Mike.

In fact Ordnance Survey maps label the whole area Montpelier.

And to make things even more confusing the long demolished St Andrew’s church, which gave the area its name, is in Montpelier too.

St Andrew’s is very much a Victorian suburb.

Developed over a relatively short period – from the 1870s until the 1900s – it consists mostly of large Victorian villas.

Stuart Colman, about whom little is known, was the man responsible for their construction.

The first of the new houses were built on land belonging to a Mr Derham, who owned a large shoe and boot factory in Bristol.

“The most interesting” says Mike, “is a row of brick cottages built in the subdued Bristol Byzantine style in North Road.”

These houses have patterned brickwork and unusual recessed double front doors.

“Stuart Colman went to design an equally alarming row of houses in Belmont Road, the next road up the hill” writes Mike.

“ With their awkward Arts and Crafts influences they are some of the most unusual houses in Bristol.”

His most successful building, says Mike, was the David Thomas Memorial Church, of which only the spire now remains.

By the 1880s Colman, it’s thought, had moveD on and the housing in St Andrew’s became more conventional.

The more expensive houses around the park were faced with Bath stone, others with cheaper pennant sandstone.

They cost the grand sum of £350.00 plus a ground rent of £5.00 per annum.

“By 1900” says Mike, “ the Victorian urbanisation of the landscape was almost complete.

“It is difficult to imagine how quickly the landscape had changed.

The builders had made this patch of land north of Bristol their own.

“They had levelled the ground, scrubbed out the hedges and demolished farm buildings.

“Any evidence of its previous agricultural life had been erased.”

This predominately middle class community would soon have its own post office, police station (in Sommerville Road) and fire engine.

But out of four churches which once served the community only one, St Bartholomew’s, overlooking the park, remains.

Other facilities, such as swimming and banking, could be found on the Gloucester Road.

The area’s very own cinema, The Scala, opened at the bottom of Cromwell Road in 1910 and was well known to Horfield boy Cary Grant.

By then something of a “flea pit” The Scala was demolished in 1974.

St Andrew’s would later see some inter-war housing and then rebuilding following the ravages of the Bristol Blitzes.

By the 1960s many of the area’s large houses were being converted into flats and bed sitters – but these are now being converted back into family homes, complete with period features.

St Andrew’s park, which lies at the heart of the community, was laid out in 1895 and today features a popular children’s play area and well used paddling pool.

The park also hosts seasonal events such as a summer music festival and Christmas carols.

But you want to know about the area’s early history, the big, older houses, the Muller Homes, or even about the Wellington bomber which came down in the park in 1941, then you will have to get yourself a copy of Mike Manson’s fascinating little book.

All will be revealed.

The Hidden History of St Andrew’s, Bristol, by Mike Manson, is published by Past and Present Press and costs £9.95