The origins of Bishopston lie in Horfield and can be traced to a period in the early-19th century following the end of the French wars in 1815. Horfield was then a country village on the highway from Bristol to Gloucester, lying two miles north of the medieval city boundary. The first recorded use of the name 'Bishopston' appeared in 1862 describing a new ecclesiastical district, 'The Consolidated Chapelry of St Michael and All Angels Bishopston' carved mostly out of the ancient Gloucestershire manor and parish of Horfield. Within the ‘township’ of Horfield one farmstead identified as ‘Horfield Cottage’ lay almost a mile south of the church. That isolated farmstead and neighbouring fields was sold in 1852 for the development of Berkeley and Egerton Roads.
The new district name entered popular usage gradually, some time between a reference in Matthew's Bristol Directory of 1863 and the name ‘Bishopston’ being printed across the site in the Ordnance Survey of 1903.
The suburban development of Bishopston from the break-up of estate land and the role played by the Freehold Land Society movement in the mid-19th century is explored in a fascinating article by local historian Denis Wright. “The Origins of Bishopston within Horfield Manor and the Development of a Freehold Land Society Estate on Berkeley and Egerton Roads” was originally published in the journal Bristol and Avon Archaeology.
Bishopston
