Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south;

Brentry Brentry is a suburb of north Bristol, England, between Henbury and Southmead which is spread along the southern edge of the Filton to Avonmouth railway line. Description The boundaries of Brentry are not well defined. The settlement grew around ...

to the east and the

Blaise Castle Estate Blaise Castle is a folly built in 1766 near Henbury in Bristol, England. The castle sits within the Blaise Castle Estate, which also includes Blaise Castle House, a Grade II* listed 18th-century mansion house. The folly castle is also Grade I ...

Blaise Hamlet Blaise Hamlet is a group of nine small cottages around a green in Henbury, now a district in the north of Bristol, England. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle the Hamlet is lis ...

and

Lawrence Weston Lawrence Weston is a post-war housing estate in northwest Bristol, England, between Henbury and Shirehampton. The estate is bounded in the east by the Blaise Castle estate and woods. It is at the edge of the Severn flood plain, directly be ...

to the west. To the north lie the South Gloucestershire village of Hallen and the entertainment/retail park Cribbs Causeway. The

Hazel Brook The Hazel Brook, also known as the Hen, is a tributary of the River Trym in Bristol, England. It rises at Cribbs Causeway in South Gloucestershire. From there, its course takes it south, passing the western end of Filton Aerodrome on its left ...

(also known as the Hen), a tributary of the

River Trym A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

, flows through Henbury and crosses Henbury Road in a small ford near The Henbury Arms carvery restaurant. The ford is more than a foot deep relatively often and a small bridge exists as a main route for motor vehicles a few metres away. Henbury is also the name of a

council ward A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

for Bristol City Council that includes both Henbury and Brentry. Henbury Golf Club sits on the south border.

History

Henbury was first mentioned in 692 as ''Heanburg''. The name is from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''hēan byrig'', meaning 'high fortified place'. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Henberie''. By a charter purported to date from the 690s

Æthelred Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to: Anglo-Saxon England * Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...

, king of Mercia, granted land at Henbury to

Oftfor __NOTOC__ Oftfor was a medieval Bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the gove ...

bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, but the authenticity of the charter has been disputed. An 8th century charter grants land at "''Heanburu''" to the church at Worcester, but the reference may be to

Hanbury Hanbury may refer to: People *Harold Greville Hanbury (1898–1993), English law academic and Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford * John Hanbury (disambiguation), a number of men with this name * Robert Hanbury Brown (1916 ...

in Worcestershire. There is more secure evidence that by the 790s Henbury was held by the Bishop of Worcester. Henbury was historically a very large parish and the centre of a hundred of the same name. The parish extended to the River Severn and included

King's Weston Kingsweston was a ward of the city of Bristol. The three districts in the ward wer Coombe Dingle, Lawrence Weston and Sea Mills. The ward takes its name from the old district of Kings Weston (usually spelt in two words), now generally considere ...

, Hallen,

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

, Pilning, Northwick and Aust. When the civil parish was created in 1866, parts of the ancient parish were separated to form the civil parishes of Redwick and Northwick (later Pilning and Severn Beach) and Aust. The parish of

Compton Greenfield Compton Greenfield is a small hamlet of farms and spread out houses to the south west of Easter Compton, in South Gloucestershire. The parish church of All Saints is a Grade II* listed building. It has a Norman arch in its porch, but the church ...

, including the village of

Easter Compton Easter Compton is a village in the civil parish of Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, England. It is situated at the bottom of a hill (known as ''Blackhorse Hill'') near Junction 17 of the M5 Motorway on the B4055 road. The village is only 1.5 ...

, was added to the civil parish of Henbury in 1885. In 1901, part of the civil parish was absorbed into Bristol, and further parts were absorbed into Bristol between then and 1933. In 1935, the civil parish was abolished, when the remaining parts were absorbed into the civil parishes of Pilning and Severn Beach, and Almondsbury. In 1931 the parish had a population of 2823. ''Botany Bay'' is an old name for the area of Henbury centred on the modern Marmion Crescent believed to derive from the nineteenth-century name of a row of cottages. The Great House, Henbury was the home of the Astry family, and of the slave or manservant Scipio Africanus (see below). Nearby Henbury Court was built by Thomas Stock to replace the Great House. Henbury Court was demolished in the 1950s. A large council housing estate was built in the area during the 1950s and 1960s to clear slums in central areas of Bristol such as Easton and St Paul's, that at the time, was extremely overpopulated and were considered as slums. A landmark of the skyline in Henbury is the two high-rise tower blocks that overlook the estate.

Churches

The parish Church of St Mary the Virgin dates from approximately 1096. The tower is from the early 13th century. The north chapel was built, and further restoration work undertaken by Thomas Rickman in 1836, with further restoration by G. E. Street in 1875–7. It is a grade II* listed building. The churchyard contains the grave of

Scipio Africanus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (, , ; 236/235–183 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, most notable as one of the main architects of Rome's victory against Carthage in the Second Punic War. Often regarded as one of the best military com ...

, the west African 18th-century manservant of Charles William Howard, 7th Earl of Suffolk, notable for its brightly painted gravestones. Emmanuel Chapel Henbury is an independent evangelical church located on Satchfield Crescent. St Antony's Church is a Catholic church which was built in the 1950s and is also located on Satchfield Crescent.

Schools

List of schools in Henbury, Bristol: * Henbury Court Primary School * Blaise Primary School *

Blaise High School Blaise High School (formerly Henbury School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Henbury, Bristol, England. It was formerly a community school that was established in 1956 and converted to an academy ...

* Woodstock Special School

Other buildings

Henbury Village Hall Henbury Village Hall was built as a school in the Henbury area of Bristol, England. It was built in 1830 in a Tudor Revival style by Thomas Rickman, on the site of a charity school which had stood on the site since 1601. It has been design ...

is a Grade II listed building. Henbury Leisure Centre is home to a 25-metre swimming pool, fitness suite, full-size all-weather pitch and a variety of fitness programmes and classes. It is located on the site of Henbury Secondary School. The Henbury Lodge Hotel is operated by Best Western. The building itself is believed to have been built around 1600 as two cottages, before being combined into one dwelling in 1712.

Location and transportation links

Henbury is served by buses of First West of England, routes 1, 2, 4 and 76. Henbury provides good access to major trunk roads such as the A4018, M4 and M5 motorways. It is located approximately two miles away from M5 junction 17 and five miles from the M4/M5 interchange. Bristol city centre is approximately five miles south east of Henbury.

Henbury station Henbury Station is a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. In March 2022 Henbury was purchased by Tim Edmunds for A$32 million, including its 3500 cattle. Description It is situated about south of Alice Springs in the Nor ...

on the

Henbury Loop The Henbury Loop Line, also known as the Filton to Avonmouth Line, is a railway line following the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire between the Severn Beach Line at Hallen Marsh Junction, Avonmouth and the Cross Country Rout ...

railway between St Andrews Road and

Filton Junction Filton Abbey Wood railway station serves the town of Filton in South Gloucestershire, England, inside the Bristol conurbation. It is from . There are four platforms but minimal facilities. The station is managed by Great Western Railway that ...

was opened in 1910 and closed in 1964. The station is scheduled to reopen in 2021 as part of MetroWest's Phase Two, with trains calling at

Bristol Temple Meads railway station Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is located away from London Paddington. It is an important transport hub for public transport in the city; there are bus services to many parts of the city ...

References

{{Districts of Bristol Areas of Bristol Wards of Bristol Former civil parishes in Bristol Places formerly in Gloucestershire