Sea Mills, Bristol
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Sea Mills is a suburb of the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
port city 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 ...
. It is situated north-west of the city centre, towards the seaward end of the
Avon Gorge The Avon Gorge () is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5 km) from the mouth of the r ...
, lying between the former villages of
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 it ...
to the west and
Westbury-on-Trym Westbury on Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. With a village atmosphere, the place is partly ...
and
Stoke Bishop Stoke Bishop is a medium-sized outer city suburb in the north-west of Bristol, located in between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park, and Sea Mills. Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has increased due to substantial infilling on the ...
to the east, at the mouth 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 ...
where it joins the River Avon. Sea Mills previously was part of the city ward of
Kingsweston 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 ...
. Following a Local Government Boundary Commission review in 2015 ward boundaries were redrawn and Sea Mills is now split between the Stoke Bishop ward and the Avonmouth and Lawrence Weston ward.


History


Pre 20th century

Sea Mills was the site of a
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement, known as Portus Abonae. Its origin may have been as a military settlement but by the early second century, a civilian town had been established. It was important enough to feature in the 3rd-century
Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary ( la, Itinerarium Antonini Augusti,  "The Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is a famous ''itinerarium'', a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly ...
which documents towns and distances in the Roman empire, and was connected to
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
by a road. Archaeological excavations have found evidence of the street pattern, shops within the town and cemeteries outside it. The Roman settlement seems to have been abandoned by the 4th century, and there is no evidence of
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
settlement. By the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Bristol had become a major port, with all traffic between the port and the sea having to pass through the Avon Gorge and past Sea Mills. In 1712,
Joshua Franklyn Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
, a Bristol merchant, built a
wet dock Wet may refer to: * Moisture, the condition of containing liquid or being covered or saturated in liquid * Wetting (or wetness), a measure of how well a liquid sticks to a solid rather than forming a sphere on the surface Wet or WET may also refe ...
at Sea Mills, to eliminate the need for large sailing ships to navigate the dangerous River Avon any further upstream. This was located where 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 ...
enters the River Avon. However, poor transport links doomed the enterprise and the harbour facilities fell into disrepair by the end of the 18th century. Some remains of the dock still exist and are used as a harbour by pleasure craft.


Sea Mills Garden Suburb

After
WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
Sea Mills was one of several areas in Bristol to be developed as municipal housing by the
Bristol Corporation Bristol City Council, formerly known as The Bristol Corporation (and colloquially as "The Corporation"), is the local government authority governing the city of Bristol, England. Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, successive royal c ...
under the 1919 housing legislation known as the
Addison Act The Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 (c 35) was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was also known as the Addison Act after Secretary of State for Health, Minister of Health, Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount ...
. The Act was designed to address the shortage of quality housing for working people and provide homes for the thousands of troops returning from WW1. Houses built under the Addison Act are often referred to as "homes for heroes". On 4 July 1919 Dr Christopher Addison visited the building sites at Hillfields and Sea Mills. At Sea Mills he gave a short speech and the Lady Mayoress, Emily Twiggs planted an Oak sapling. The tree, known as Addison's Oak still stands today and in 2019 was a runner up in the
Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...
tree of the year competition. The land on which Sea Mills is built was purchased by Bristol Corporation from
Philip Napier Miles Philip Napier Miles JP DLitt ''h.c.'' (Bristol) (21 January 1865 – 19 July 1935) was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Bristol, UK, who left his mark on the city, especially on what are now its western suburbs, through his musical and organis ...
of Kingsweston House and developed on garden city principles, including building at no more than 12 houses per acre. Building began in 1919 and by October 1920 sixteen houses were already occupied. The early houses were built to the standards specified by the
Tudor Walters report The Tudor Walters Report on housing was produced by the Tudor Walters Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament in November 1918. Its recommendation set the standards for council house design and location for the next 90 years. The committee Tudor ...
, including a parlour downstairs, and three bedrooms upstairs. The suburb includes two small shopping areas, one at Westbury Lane and another on Shirehampton Road featuring a symmetrical arrangement of shops around a green bisected by roads. This is known as Sea Mills Square and is now home to the Cafe on the Square and the Sea Mills mini-museum. The Square was also once the site of one of the 13 Trench style police boxes which were erected in Bristol in 1932 to serve the suburbs in lieu of new police stations. After
WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
a small estate of prefabricated bungalows were built adjacent to the Portway and also in nearby
Coombe Dingle Coombe Dingle is a suburb of Bristol, England, centred near where the Hazel Brook tributary of the River Trym emerges from a limestone gorge bisecting the Blaise Castle Estate to join the main course of the Trym. Historically this area formed ...
. These have since been demolished.


Centenary celebrations

In 2019 th
Sea Mills 100
project, funded by the
National Lottery Heritage Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and
Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 wards ...
celebrated the centenary of the 'homes for heroes' municipal housing. Events included a 100 birthday celebration for Addison's Oak and a weekend long heritage trail around the estate. Its lasting legacy is a mini-museum situated in a K6 phone box which was renovated by local volunteers as part of the project. The project also published a book called 'How Lucky I Was' written by people who grew up in the area between the 1930s - 1950s, including novelist Derek Robinson.


Sport and recreation

Sea Mills has a football team Sea Mills Park FC, formed in 1925. The 1st team play in the Bristol Premier Combination. They historically played their games at the Rec, opposite Sea Mills Square, but play all home games at Kingsweston Sports & Social, Napier Miles. They were Bristol & District Senior League Champions 2012/13. October 2006 saw the opening of The Portway Rugby Development Centre. The facilities there are two outdoor 3G Crumb pitches, suitable for rugby and football, outdoor grass rugby pitches, and grass training grids. There are two meeting rooms. Local football clubs use this facility including Wanderers FC. Bristol's rugby clubs use the facilities also, from St Brendans RFC to Clifton RFC.


Transport

In 1865, the Bristol Port and Pier Railway opened from
Hotwells Hotwells is a district of the English port city of Bristol. It is located to the south of and below the high ground of Clifton, and directly to the north of the Floating Harbour. The southern entrance to the Avon Gorge, which connects the docks ...
to a deep water pier on the
Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
at
Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...
.
Sea Mills railway station Sea Mills railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Sea Mills and nearby Westbury on Trym in Bristol, England. It is from , situated at the confluence of the River Avon and River Trym and near the A4 Bristol ...
was one of the original stations on the line. The station still exists, although the line is now part of the
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
network, and the line has been extended to run from
Bristol Temple Meads 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 ...
to
Severn Beach Severn Beach is a village on the Severn Estuary in South Gloucestershire, England. The eastern portal of the Severn Tunnel is on the outskirts of the village. The Severn footpathon the sea wallis part of the Severn Way that leads from Gloucester, ...
. In 2021 a
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
created b
Graft
which features the flora and fauna of the area and was created at the station in consultation with local people. The A4 Portway trunk road passes along the south-west edge of Sea Mills and links central Bristol with its port at Avonmouth. Running parallel to the River Avon, the Portway was the most expensive road in Britain when it was opened in 1926. Both the Portway and the railway line have bridges over the harbour outfall into the Avon. Ocean-going ships used to sail past Sea Mills, going to and from Bristol Docks. Nowadays most of the shipping is in the form of pleasure craft, Bristol's main docks now being at Avonmouth and
Portbury Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Gord ...
. There are frequent bus services to the city centre, Westbury and Cribbs Causeway.


Notable people

*
Robin Cousins Robin Cousins, MBE (born 17 August 1957) is a British former competitive figure skater who was BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1980. He was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–19 ...
, former Olympic champion figure skater *Roger Hallett, artist * The Cougars, band * Derek Robinson, novelist * Simon King, broadcaster


References


External links


Sea Mills history
*
Sea Mills 100
heritage project *Higgins, Davi
"The History of the Bristol Region in the Roman Period"
(PDF) ''Bristol Branch of the Historical Association.'' Retrieved 30 Dec 2021 {{Authority control Areas of Bristol