Whitehall is a predominantly residential neighbourhood in the east of
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. It is an informally-defined area centred on Whitehall Road and bordering the neighbourhoods of
Crofts End to the north,
Speedwell to the east,
St George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
to the south, and
Easton and
Greenbank to the west.
For administrative purposes, it is divided between the Bristol City Council wards of Easton,
Eastville and St George West.
Parks
The local green space is Whitehall Playing Fields or Packer's Ground as it was known, taking its name from the local chocolate factory - Packers. In 2006 the company, known as
Elizabeth Shaw, announced the closure of the site. In 2014 plans to convert it into flats and housing. The playing field is to be fully redeveloped for sports use for
The City Academy Bristol school.
Housing
In part of the area, adjoining
Easton and
Eastville, there are still many streets and houses from the
Victorian and
Edwardian eras and in the part, adjoining
St George, Bristol is the Gordon Estate with houses that were built in 1936.
This area originally consisted of
market garden
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...
s and the new estate was built on the
rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...
patch and as a result, rhubarb was quite commonplace in many gardens.
Some houses ("villas") overlook the adjoining St. George Park and these have small balconies.
Newer houses have since been built on the former Co-op Bakery and Rose Green High School sites.
[ There is a plaque on the original school wall, which was retained, giving some history, about ]John Wesley
John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...
having preached on this site.
The comedian Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
lived for a time in Whitehall Road in his youth.
Churches
Local Churches include Crofts End Church, established in 1895 by George Brown, as a Christian mission for miner's children it became known as 'The Miner's Mission' or Crofts End Mission. Still part of the local community and very much a family church its current Pastor is Andrew Yelland.
The Parish Church of St Ambrose has undergone some change in latter years, with its vicarage being demolished and replaced by a sheltered housing scheme for older people. The church hall was refurbished as part of this and is now The Beehive Centre with day-care facilities. The Almshouses were retained and are still in use.
Whitehall Chapel has been retained and restored, but no longer for church purposes. It is now in use as offices. The 48th Bristol Scout Group Headquarters adjacent to the site of an old garage was originally sited on the new housing site. When the garage was originally redeveloped and enlarged, the garage company paid for the Scout Group to have a new building built. The Saint Leonard
Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Lenart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559) is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, ...
's Scout Group merged with the 48th Bristol Scout Group and they then became the 32nd Bristol (1st Whitehall) Scout Group. The patron saint of Scouting is Saint George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
also, the name of an adjacent local district.
References
{{Areas of Bristol
Areas of Bristol
Places formerly in Gloucestershire