Kingswood is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...

district of the ceremonial county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The town is situated east-northeast of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Broadly speaking, Kingswood spans the area from

John Cabot Academy John Cabot Academy (formerly John Cabot CTC) is one of 15 City Technology Colleges that first opened for students in the 1993/1994 academic year. It has since converted to Academy status on 1 September 2007. It is located east of Bristol, Englan ...

in the west to the

A4174 The A4174 is a major ring road in England which runs around the northern and eastern edge of Bristol, mainly in South Gloucestershire, and through the southern suburbs of the city. When it was first conceived it was planned to circle the whole ...

ring road in the east. Some areas which are in close proximity to Kingswood, such as Two Mile Hill and St George East (both located within the City of Bristol) and parts of Hanham and Warmley Hill are often considered to be part of Kingswood by locals. The border between South Gloucestershire and the City of Bristol is situated at the western end of Kingswood's High Street. Although anything beyond this point is technically no longer Kingswood 'proper', locals often consider the shops and residential areas that fringe the road named 'Two Mile Hill' (located within the area of the same name) to be a continuation of Kingswood. In 2011 it had a population of 40,734.

Governance

In 1894 Kingswood became an urban district, on 1 April 1974 the urban district and civil parish of Kingswood was abolished and Kingswood became an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...

in the Kingswood district of Avon. In 1996 Kingswood became part of South Gloucestershire district. On 1 April 2023 Kingswood became a civil parish again.

Royal Forest

In Saxon times, The 'King's Wood' was a royal hunting estate which surrounded

, extending as far as Filwood in South Bristol. "From early days the Constable of Bristol Castle, the king's officer in the area, was also the Chief Ranger of the Kingswood Forest and the first of these recorded is Ella who died in 920. At the edge of the forest, to the north of the River Froom, lay the little hamlet of Stapleton, the name of which is Saxon in origin, being held to mean "The farm, homestead or croft - by or near the Stapol, post or pillar"".

Demography

Up to the 2011 Census, Kingswood was considered by ONS as part of Bristol, being within its urban subdivision. This meant that Kingswood wasn't recognised as an individual settlement either statistically or administratively. However, in the 2021 Census, Kingswood was separated out from the administrative area of Bristol and is now recognised as a settlement in its own right by the Office of National Statistics; this has resulted in Kingswood, when combined with Fishponds, becoming the largest built up area by population in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire. Kingswood is made up of three wards: Woodstock, New Cheltenham and Kingswood Wards. These wards had a combined population of 40,734 in 2011, with a largely white British population. Women in Kingswood had the fourth lowest life expectancy at birth, 74.3 years, of any ward in England and Wales in 2016.

Transport

Kingswood High Street is situated around 3 miles (5 km) south of the M4 and 2.5 miles (4 km) east of

Lawrence Hill railway station Lawrence Hill railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and Cross Country Route, serving the inner-city districts of Easton and Lawrence Hill in Bristol, England. It is from . Its three letter station code is LWH. The station has two plat ...

. Buses connect the town to surrounding areas including the City Centre,

Southmead Hospital Southmead Hospital is a large public National Health Service hospital, situated in the area of Southmead, though in Horfield ward, in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England. It is part of the North Bristol NHS Trust. The 800-bed Brunel Buildi ...

, Keynsham and Cribbs Causeway. Six national rail stations currently exist within South Gloucestershire. However, they are all concentrated around the highly developed North Fringe area which encompasses Filton and

Bradley Stoke Bradley Stoke is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated northeast of Bristol,OS Explorer Map, Bristol and Bath, Keynsham & Marshfield. Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey B4 edition (2013). It is near the Severn Estuary of ...

. However, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees' proposals for a 'Bristol Underground' envisage a line serving the East Fringe of Bristol.

Coal mining

The Kingswood area first came into industrial prominence in the late 17th century, because of coal mining. Typical of these were coal fields in the Easton and Coalpit Heath/Yate areas. The coal mining history still affects the town with gardens occasionally opening up. The local MP has petitioned in Parliament for full surveys of the coal mines under the town.

The Whit Walk

There is an annual procession held on the morning of the Whit Bank Holiday. Its origins are uncertain, but it appears to have taken place at least since 1939. The walk is the subject of an ethnographic study by the English anthropologist Timothy Jenkins.Timothy Jenkins, Religion in English Everyday Life: An Ethnographic Approach, Oxford: Berghan Books, 1999

References

External links

Kingswood Rugby Club - The Official Home of Kingswood RFC

Kingswood and Mangotsfield Archaeological Assessment Report 1997

Photographic Record of Kingswoods Past

Kingswood Ten Sing – Youth performing arts group

{{Authority control Towns in Gloucestershire Areas of Bristol Civil parishes in Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire District