The Dings is a neighbourhood in the St Philip's district of central

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 ...

. It is part of the

Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes'', inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the A ...

ward, and is located south of Old Market and Newtown. Enclosed by the

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 ...

rail corridor, the Feeder Canal and the industrial estates of

St Philip's Marsh St Philip's Marsh is an industrial inner suburb of Bristol, England. It is bounded by River Avon and Harbour feeder canal making it an almost island area, unlike the other two areas surrounded by water, it was historically part of Gloucestersh ...

, The Dings has historically been distinguished by its tight grid of late-Victorian terraces and by a strong sense of local identity that prompts The Dings Community Association to describe it as "a village in the city”. It is also the site of Bristol's first

home zone A home zone (or play street) is a living street (or group of streets) as implemented in the United Kingdom, which are designed primarily to meet the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, children and residents and where the speeds and dominance of cars ...

, which has been the subject of published case studies.

History

Origins

Historical records show the area named ''Dynges'' (1299) and ''Bengs'' (1610), likely derived from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''ding/deng'' (ground used for

withy A withy or withe (also willow and osier) is a strong flexible willow stem, typically used in thatching, basketmaking, gardening and for constructing woven wattle hurdles.

growing). Until the mid-19th century the area remained

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

on the fringe of St Philip & St Jacob parish. Rapid urbanisation followed construction of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

in 1840 and of riverside industry along the Feeder Canal.

Victorian community

The old Union Road Mission Hall - geograph

By the 1880s the Dings contained

terraced houses A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

arranged in seven parallel streets, with a population of approximately 4000 by 1899. Census material showed that 76% of heads of household were engaged in manual work, notably dock labour,

railway porter A porter is a railway employee. The role of a porter is to assist passengers at railway stations, and to handle the loading, unloading, and distribution of luggage and parcels. In the United States the term was formerly used for employees who atte ...

ing and iron founding. Nonconformity was strong, with Kingsland Road Congregational Chapel (1870) and the St Silas Mission Hall (1893) attracting large Sunday-school enrolments and running popular Bible classes, boys' brigades and temperance clubs.

Home Zone

Prolonged neglect of The Dings and the surrounding area left streets blighted by rat-running traffic, commuter parking and a lack of green space. In 2002–05 the streets were rebuilt as part of one of the UK's first

schemes, funded through the EU CIVITAS-VIVALDI programme and

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol, in South West England. Bristol has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...

. Existing pavements of the roads and sidewalks were replaced by a single shared-surface in coloured permeable block paving as part of a

sustainable drainage system Sustainable drainage systems (also known as SuDS, By 2024, locals continued to praise the scheme's traffic-calmed streets, sculptural gateways, and Safe ’Ouse youth club which now functions as the heart of community life.

Regeneration within Temple Quarter

Since 2010 the Dings has been encircled by major brownfield redevelopment including the Temple Quarter enterprise zone and University of Bristol's Temple Campus. A 2023 framework proposes 10 000 new homes and three new entrances to

. Community benefits have included refurbishment of the youth Safe 'Ouse centre in 2024.

Community

The Dings Community Association was established in 1993 and coordinates

neighbourhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime a ...

, gardening groups and youth clubs and publishes a quarterly newsletter.

Oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

interviews have portrayed strong neighbourly ties, fostered historically by chapel activities and by the Dings Boys' Club Rugby XV at the Shaftesbury Crusade building, whose successors play as

Dings Crusaders RFC Dings Crusaders RFC is an English rugby union team based in the Bristol suburb of Frenchay having previously been based in Lockleaze up until 2018. The club was relegated from National Division Two South, the fourth tier of the English rugby ...

. The current community is composed of working-class and minority ethnic residents.

Infrastructure and amenities

Located 300 m east of

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 ...

, The Dings is also served by

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

Route 3 along the Feeder Canal towpath, providing a traffic-free commuter link into the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

. Following complaints by the local community regarding the lack of provision of a bus service despite nearby development, funding was secured by the Old Market Community Association, The Dings Community Association, and the

West of England Combined Authority The West of England Combined Authority (WECA), branded as the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, is a combined authority within the West of England combined authority area, consisting of the local authority areas of Bristol, South G ...

to establish a trial for the 61 "The Dings Community Bus" service. Community amenities include Dings Park (home to the Safe 'Ouse), the Grade II listed Congregational Chapel on Kingsland Road (now containing small commercial units), and a cluster of cafés and businesses on and around Silverthorne Lane.

Notable people

* Private Alfred Jefferies (1896–1916),

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Som ...

soldier

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for

desertion Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

at the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

and honoured by a

wreath A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a ring shape. In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and C ...

-laying in Dings Park on the centenary of his execution. * Terry Ratcliffe (1930–1999), boxer who won gold for England at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

References

Bibliography

External links

The Dings Community Association

Old Market Community Association
– archived from th
original
on 17 February 2023 at the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

{{Districts of Bristol Areas of Bristol Places formerly in Gloucestershire