Whitchurch is a village in north

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England and an adjoining suburb of southern

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 ...

, bounded by

Hartcliffe Hartcliffe is an outer suburb of the city of Bristol, England, on the southern edge of the city at the foot of Dundry Hill. It is a post-World War II development consisting largely of council houses. It is one of the poorer areas of Bristol, wi ...

to the west and

Hengrove Hengrove is a suburb and council ward of Bristol, England, situated between Whitchurch, Knowle and Bishopsworth, running along both dual carriageways, Wells Road ( A37) and Airport Road ( A4174). The area of Knowle it adjoins is known as Kn ...

and Knowle to the north. The suburb was initially developed during the 1930s. The

A37 road The A37 is a major road in south west England. Route It runs north from the A35 road, A35 at Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester in Dorset into Somerset through Yeovil and Shepton Mallet before terminating at the Three Lamps junction with the A4 ro ...

, which passes through Whitchurch, links Bristol with Dorchester. Within Bristol the A37 is known as Wells Road, and was one of the first dual carriageways to be built in Bristol.

History

The name means "the white church", and was first recorded in 1230. (Another source dated about 1500 may be a copy of a record dated to 1065). The village in its present location dates from about the 12th century, when the centre of population of an older village named Filton, Filwood or Felton, west of the present village, moved to the present site. The parish was still sometimes known as Felton as late as the 19th century. The parish of Whitchurch was part of the

Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located on the outskirts of the city of Bristol on the A4 that links the cities of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. It had a population of 19,603 at the 2021 Census. It was listed i ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

in Somerset. The area became a civil parish in 1866. The northern parts of the civil parish were transferred to Bristol in the 1930s and 1951. From then, Whitchurch was divided between a suburb of Bristol and a village outside the city in Somerset.

The suburb of Bristol

The suburb now lies in the council wards of

Whitchurch Park Whitchurch Park is a council ward located in the south of the city of Bristol in England. It includes the eastern part of Hartcliffe and the western part of Whitchurch. The ward has a population of 11,061 people. Religion 7,683 people, or ...

and Hengrove. The suburb is one of only two parts of Bristol not to use the 0117 dialling code. Along with Stockwood, Whitchurch numbers use the 01275 code of north Somerset instead. Facilities close by include the

Leisure Park which has various restaurants and food retailers (KFC, McDonald's). Adjacent to the leisure park is Hawkfield Business Park, a significant source of commerce and employment for the suburb. The suburb is home to the Whitchurch Sports Centre, and used to be an occasional venue for pro-

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

bouts. It has a dilapidated Whitchurch athletics stadium. The sports centre is also earmarked for demolition, once the new sports centre and Olympic-size swimming pool are finished, as part of the expanded Hengrove Leisure Park redevelopment. In October 2006, Whitchurch Sports Centre was taken over by Action Sport UK, a South African company. Some of Whitchurch Sports Centre's activities are now based at Withywood Sports Centre and Ashton Park School Sports Centre. The suburb is also home to rugby union club Bristol Barbarians who reside in Norton lane. The club currently play in Somerset 1 and are coached by Steve Penfold. Whitchurch is also the birthplace of famous snooker player and world champion

Judd Trump Judd Trump (born 20 August 1989) is an English professional snooker player who is a former List of World Snooker Championship winners, world champion and the current List of world number one snooker players, world number one. He is currently in ...

. On 2 August 2005 the beginnings of a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

(a funnel) floated in the skies above South Bristol. As it did not touch it cannot be classed as a tornado but nevertheless it provided an unusual yet impressive sight for the residents of Whitchurch and surrounding parts of Bristol, such as Stockwood.

The village

The village of Whitchurch is a

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in Somerset, South West England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. ...

. In the 2001 census the civil parish had a population of 1,354. Between 1925 and 1959 the village was served by Whitchurch Halt, a station on the

Bristol and North Somerset Railway The Bristol and North Somerset Railway was a railway line in the West of England that connected Bristol with Radstock, through Pensford and further into northern Somerset, to allow access to the Somerset Coalfield. The line ran almost due so ...

Church

The

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

includes both the civil parish in Somerset and the suburb in Bristol. The parish church is in the village in Somerset, and is dedicated to

St Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

. St. Augustine's Church on Whitchurch Lane was opened in 1972 but closed in 2007.

Airport

Whitchurch Airport Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and the surrounding area. Duri ...

was on the land which is now home to the Hengrove Leisure Park. The airport was used before World War II by domestic scheduled flights. During the war it was the base for various types of military aircraft (which flew from there on various missions) and civilian aircraft (which were moved there to avoid their destruction at more vulnerable airports such as Croydon). Whitchurch Airport and

Liverpool Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled Domestic market, domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern s ...

were the only civil airports in England to remain in use during World War II.

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

(later BOAC) flew to Lisbon in neutral Portugal: at one time in 1941 there were 1200 people waiting for a flight to Lisbon.Bristol Record Office accession 44394: Doris Ogilvie diary There were also a large number of espionage flights to France and elsewhere in occupied Europe. After the war, Bristol needed a larger airport. Farmland in Lulsgate was purchased and Lulsgate Airport (later to be

Bristol Airport Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is an international airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built ...

) was opened. For a short time from 1959, the old airport was used as a motor racing circuit called Whitchurch Circuit, for

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

and

Formula Three Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

races.

References

External links

Whitchurch Village Council
* Map of Whitchurch circa 1900

– Somerset County Council, via Internet Archive {{Areas of Bristol Areas of Bristol Civil parishes in Somerset Villages in Bath and North East Somerset