Southmead is a northern suburb and council ward of Bristol, in the southwest of England. The town of Filton (in South Gloucestershire), and the Bristol suburbs of Monks Park, Horfield, Henleaze and Westbury on Trym lie on its boundaries.

The River Trym rises in Southmead and flows southwest through Badock's Wood, a Local Nature Reserve. There is a round barrow near the northern end of the wood.

History

Southmead was a manor of the parish of Westbury on Trym. The manor house, mentioned in a document of 1319, was near the south end of what is now Southmead Road. Most of the estate of 313 acres was sold in the late 19th century. By 1888 Southmead was a small hamlet on Southmead Road. Southmead Hospital, formerly the Barton Regis Workhouse, was opened there in 1924.

Large-scale development of the area started in 1931, when the Bristol Corporation built 1,500 houses to the north of Southmead Road, partly to house families cleared from the slums of central Bristol, and partly to address the housing shortage at the time. A further 1,100 houses were built after World War II. Since then, reference has often been made to the "pre-war estate" of Southmead and the "post-war estate".

Southmead today

The centre of Southmead is along Greystoke Avenue, a wide road with grassy areas some distance to the north of Southmead Road. The area to the south, around the old manor house, is now in Westbury on Trym ward, and the parts of Southmead to the southeast of Southmead Road, including the hospital, are in Horfield ward.

Social issues

Efforts have been made to improve the area's social problems and implement environmental improvements, many of which have been successful. However heroin and other drugs are still an issue. Many of the youth are socially deprived and are much less likely to go to university or college than their counterparts in other areas of the city. Gangs who steal cars are also a problem.

Panorama report

On October 19th 2009, a BBC Panorama report, investigating the extent of racism in modern Britain, featured two undercover journalists who posed as Muslims on the Southmead estate. The journalists were subject to 50 incidents of racist abuse from local residents in two months. The couple were verbally and physically attacked during their time in the area of Southmead Bristol where they were residing, being told to go back to Iraq. The word "Jew" was also used as an insult against the man and a brick was thrown. The day after the programme was broadcast,a 22 year-old man and an 11 year-old boy were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated assault.

References

1. Friends of Badock's Wood website
2. The Henleaze Book, p.14
3. Old Maps website
4. http://environment.uwe.ac.uk/commsafe/southmeadfacts.asp http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/300-000-cannabis-factory-shut-Southmead/article-227686-detail/article.html
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/feb/03/university-access-social-exclusion
6. BBC Panorama website
7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nfr2h/Panorama_Undercover_Hate_on_the_Doorstep
8. [1]