Knowle, Bristol
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Knowle is a district and council ward in south east
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, lying on the broad ridge of the Wells Road about 2 mi (3 km) from the city centre. It is bordered by Filwood Park to the west,
Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislingto ...
to the east, Whitchurch and Hengrove to the south and Totterdown to the north. The area's name, recorded as Canole in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, is derived from the Old English ''cnoll'' (a small rounded hill or
hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007
...
), a reflection of the terrain which falls away northwards to the River Avon. Historically the label Knowle embraced several distinct settlements. Lower Knowle grew up around the medieval
demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...
of Lower Knowle Farm on the slopes above Bedminster; Upper Knowle developed later along Wells Road, while the large housing estate around Inns Court and
Filwood Filwood is an Wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of the city of Bristol, England. It lies in the south of the city and covers the suburbs of Filwood Park and Inns Court, and a large part of Knowle West. Filwood is represented by two ...
became popularly known as
Knowle West Knowle West is a neighbourhood in the south of Bristol, England, 2 miles (3 km) from the city centre, and mostly in the Filwood (ward), Filwood ward of Bristol City Council, although a small part of the estate lies within Knowle, Bristol, ...
.


History

Knowle, at the time of its recording in the Domesday Book, was an outlying member of the vast royal manor of Bedminster. Historically, Lower Knowle supplied part of central Bristol’s water: a spring on the hillside fed Redcliff conduit via a lead pipe first laid in the 13th century. Archaeological analysis of Lower Knowle Farm has shown continuous occupation from at least the sixteenth century, and suggests that the now-demolished Lower Knowle Court stood on or near the site of the original high-status medieval house, complete with manorial fishponds. In 1887 the Bristol Corporation approved a £45,000 sewerage scheme for Upper Knowle,
Brislington Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley and St Anne's Wood. Brislingto ...
and Malago Vale, bringing main drainage to many of the hillside cottages. Two years later the Bristol Tramways Company sought parliamentary powers to extend its
horsecar A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is a tram or streetcar pulled by a horse. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public transport, public rail transport, ...
line from Totterdown up to Knowle, signalling the suburb's emergence as a commuter district. Electric trams reached the top of Wells Road in 1904 and remained the routine way into central Bristol until 1941, when the last unit was withdrawn. An industrial home for girls was built off Wells Road in 1891–92, recorded as housing 50 trainees and a laundry intended to give paid work to poorer Knowle women. In 1913 the city opened the Knowle Open Air School for frail children in Upper Knowle, aiming to restore them to health through lessons taken outdoors and a specially subsidised diet. After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Knowle became one of Bristol's principal estates under the 1919 Housing and Town Planning Act. The city's architects laid out garden-suburb streets at Knowle Park, one of four standardised showcase estates alongside Hillfields, Sea Mills and
Shirehampton Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of ...
. Subsidised Wheatley Act housing of the later 1920s increased densities, and in the 1930s slum-clearance families from inner Bristol were rehoused in the southern fields now called Knowle West, formally part of Filwood ward but historically linked to Knowle. The Gaiety Cinema opened 1935 with capacity for around 800 people and featured a
Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
interior complete with wall-paintings of
galleons Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships developed in Spain and Portugal. They were first used as armed cargo carriers by Europeans from the 16th to 18th centuries during the Age of Sail, and they were the principal vessels drafted ...
and an under-floor hot-air heating system said to copy Roman practice. Following World War II, demolition of structures in the area began to make way for new housing. This included Knowle House, an 18th century villa on Talbot Road, which was demolished in 1949 despite protests. Rapid population growth after World War II triggered the construction of new primary schools, branch libraries, and the modernist Broadwalk Shopping Centre which opened in 1974. Built at a cost of £4 million, the shopping centre was hailed by councillor Gladys Sprackling as "a social centre where you meet all your friends". Broadwalk later struggled to compete with larger retail parks in the area and by the 2020s had fewer than half of its units occupied. Plans approved in principle in 2023, marketed as Redcatch Quarter, would replace the complex with mixed-use blocks of up to twelve storeys, 820 flats and a new cinema and library.


Amenities and culture

Knowle's principal open space is Redcatch Park, a 1930s recreation ground with football pitches, a community orchard and croquet lawns. Immediately north stands Jubilee Swimming Pool, one of only two surviving 1930s neighbourhood baths built by Bristol Corporation; rescued from closure in 2022, it is now run by volunteers and records around 100,000 swims a year. Knowle is also home to a large number of churches, which include the Perpendicular-style Roman Catholic Church of St Gerard Majella, built in 1909 and designed by Pugin & Pugin, the octagonal Knowle Methodist Church (1852, Grade II); and the Church of the Holy Nativity (J.C. Neale, 1883), whose tower is also listed. The mid-century Bedminster Quaker Meeting House occupies a landscaped garden on Wedmore Vale.


Infrastructure

The suburb is traversed by the A37, which remains the main bus corridor into central Bristol. Bristol Tramways' horse trams reached the area in 1872 and electric cars climbed the gradient after 1900, although the service was abandoned with the closure of the city tramways in 1941. Bristol's 19th century sanitary engineers laid combined sewers deep beneath Upper Knowle, replacing the earlier open drains described as "ruinous and dangerous" by contemporaries. Bristol Waterworks later erected the Knowle Water Tower in 1905, which is now Grade II listed. Housing development evolved in phases: low-density Addison Act cottages with parlours and gardens at Knowle Park (1920–24); higher-density Wheatley Act semi-detached houses during the late 1920s and post-war infill of timber-framed Cornish Units. Current proposals for Redcatch Quarter envisage district heating, new pedestrian streets and realigned bus stops.


See also

*
Knowle West Knowle West is a neighbourhood in the south of Bristol, England, 2 miles (3 km) from the city centre, and mostly in the Filwood (ward), Filwood ward of Bristol City Council, although a small part of the estate lies within Knowle, Bristol, ...


References


External links

*
Map of Knowle circa 1900
{{Areas of Bristol Areas of Bristol Wards of Bristol Places formerly in Somerset