A brief History of Totterdown

photo courtesy BBC Bristol Online
The earliest map of Totterdown shows an agricultural area. The map dated 1633, is a copy of an earlier map from 1612, and shows the Bath Road, Wells Road and St. John's Lane.

During the early 1700s, turnpikes (tollbooths) were erected at the junction of Wells Road and Bath Road, the location of the present Totterdown Bridge, and at the junction with the Wells Road and St. John's Lane. The toll charges were very unpopular and rioters removed the tollgates illegally in 1749.

Robbers frequently attacked stagecoaches as they slowed down to negotiate the steep slopes of Pylle Hill. A new wider road was built in 1833 and the top of the hill was removed to reduce the gradient.

Until the mid nineteenth century Totterdown was a rural area. Two windmills one on Windmill Hill and another in the School Road area, were probably used to mill cattle feed.

The slopes of Totterdown were built on from the mid-nineteenth century, with a rapid increase in house building during the 1860s and 1870s to accommodate workers from the newly built Temple Meads railway station and for other industries in the central Bristol area.

By the 1890s most of the Greenfield sites were built on. Local churches served the local population; there was a public house or off licence on almost every corner; a wide range of shops developed along the Wells Road; and trams ran regularly between Bristol Bridge and Totterdown.

The proximity of Totterdown to the railway lines and Bristol's main station made it a target for bombers during the Second World War. Many properties, homes, businesses, churches, and other public buildings were damaged and there were some fatalities.

During the 1970s a road scheme was proposed and many houses were demolished. However, the road scheme was never implemented, and later new houses were built on much of the land. An area of land was left next door to the new Bush pub - which was known as Zone A and was designated for community use. TACA is now in the process of trying to get this piece of land landscaped and kept as an open space.

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