15 things you didn’t know about Bedminster

1. You might get the squits if you took a dip in it now, but the Malago river was an early Christian place for baptisms. The ancient British word for baptism, ‘beydd’, may be the origin of Bedminster’s name, which has nothing to do with beds. The river runs through Bedminster and used to join Bristol harbour here beside the Ostrich pub, before the New Cut cut it off. ‘Malago’ means ‘Mill Place’ in Brittonic (British Celtic), so called because there were tidal mills all along here. 

2. The houses opposite are still called Trin Mills. ‘Trin’ used to be ‘Treen’, which means wooden. Trin is also a tiny village in Switzerland, but that’s not important right now.

3. A railway line linking Temple Meads to the ss Great Britain once ran through this tunnel, which goes all the way underneath St Mary Redcliffe churchyard. It was part of Brunel’s grand dream to link London trains to his giant ships to America.

4. Now a harem for playboy swans, Bathurst Basin used to be a duck pond. The ducks were for eating. Like the Basin, the Bathurst Hotel (now the Louisiana) was named after local MP Lord Bathurst, who, as Chairman of Bristol Docks Corporation was very much in favour of slavery. What a sh*t.

5.  Before 1800 this river wasn’t here, just rolling fields all the way to the small medieval market town of Bedminster, which pre-dates Bristol. Bristol isn’t mentioned in the Domesday book, but Bedminster is – it had 25 villagers, 22 smallholders, 3 slaves, 1 priest and 11 cannabis factories. (We made that last bit up).

6. In the early 1800s a young man called John Hare arrived in Bristol, scrumped apples from and slept in an orchard here, then vowed that he’d build a church on the site if he ever became rich. You know, just a small gesture to say sorry for nicking the apples. He did become rich, pioneering an early form of linoleum, which funded this Zion chapel, known as ‘the church of the vow’. Its floor is not covered with lino.

7. Bish bash! Local legend has it that the unrest leading to the 1831 Bristol riots was exacerbated when the Bishop of Bath and Wells opened St Paul’s Church with a speech telling locals they didn’t deserve the right to vote. They ended up trashing the gaol and Queen Square. Excellent work, your Excellency.

8. This old building near Asda Bedminster looks like a Legoland castle, but was built in 1882 as a fortified police station – perhaps they were still a bit nervous after the riots.

9. Wolves roam free in the streets of Bedminster.

10. Bedminster used to be even more squalid than it is now. It grew suddenly because of the coal seam that runs beneath it – from 5,000 people in 1801 to 80,000 in 1881 – but still lacked sewers, piped water and street cleaning. The level of the roads rose by 3ft because of compacted rubbish, which came up to ground floor windows. Squelchy.

11. In the late Victorian era, boys were paid to collect dog poo from the streets of Bedminster. The fresh turds were smeared on cowhide as part of the tanning process. Wouldn’t they do well today?

12. This is the moist underside of one of Brunel’s lesser known bridges, carrying the main railway line that runs from Bristol to Exeter. That bricked up doorway used to lead into the station.

13. When the Catholic school in Dean Lane was bombed in WWII, this C of E primary let them share their building. But the children were kept completely segregated, Catholic on one side, C of E on the other. Even the playground was fenced down the middle. It’s what God would’ve wanted.

14. In the 1100s the Lord of the Manor of Bedminster, Sir Robert de Berkeley, built a conduit to carry fresh water from Knowle to St Mary Redcliffe. It runs under Windmill Hill park, and every year church members still do a ceremonial ‘pipe walk’ from Knowle back to Redcliffe, crossing several private gardens en route. A bit like Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

The labyrinth pictured below was built in 1984, allegedly to commemorate the last discharge of raw sewage into the Avon. It’s supposed to have spring water running around it, from Sir Bob’s aforementioned conduit. Its pattern is a copy of one of the 2,000+ different bosses on the ceiling of St Mary Redcliffe. (It’s in the North Aisle, near the chaotic pendulum, if you want to go and look.) 

15. Splash! This is where Bedminster’s bathing fans used to dive into their own lido, which opened in 1905. The dastardly Luftwaffe trashed the pool in WWII and it closed soon after. Bring back Bedminster Lido!

To find out more fascinating stuff about Bedminster (and many other bits of Bristol), join one of the M Shed’s excellent free guided walks.