Montpelier, Bristol

Montpelier is an informally defined neighbourhood, and modern usage can overlap with the neighbouring areas of St Paul's to the south, St Werburgh's to the east, St Andrew's to the north, and Cotham to the west. Historically, Montpelier was defined by the parish of St Andrew, created in 1845.^[4] For planning purposes, Bristol City Council define a Montpelier Conservation Area, which is roughly bounded by Ashley Road in the south, Ashley Hill in the east, the Severn Beach Line railway in the north, and Cheltenham Road to the west, corresponding loosely to the southern part of the old St Andrew's parish.^[1] For statistical purposes, the council uses slightly different boundaries, defining two Office for National Statistics output areas as Lower Montpelier (to the southeast) and Upper Montpelier (to the northeast).^[5]

The area now occupied by Montpelier was part of the Ashley estate from the early 12th century, and remained rural until the 18th century. Thomas Rennison built a fashionable lido here in the middle of the 18th century,^[6] and in 1786 Ashley Road was improved as a turnpike, with housing soon following alongside. Piecemeal building of individual villas and terraces of housing continued over the following decades, until its density increased rapidly with lower-middle class housing during the surge in Bristol's population in 1860s-70s.^[2]

Thomas Carr, an engineer of Montpelier, invented the Carr's disintegrator in 1859. It was the best-known disintegrator of its era.^[7][8][9]

Many of Montpelier's streets are named after famous generals or have military connotations, such as Wellington, York and Banner Roads, reflecting the popular patriotism of the age when they were laid out, in the wake of the Battle of Waterloo.^[2] Picton Street and Picton Lodge were named for Sir Thomas Picton, who was killed in the battle. As Captain Picton in 1783, he faced the rebellious 75th Regiment on College Green, averting a military mutiny. As governor of Trinidad, Picton profited from slavery and oversaw a regime which used torture and capital punishment, and there is some local discontent with his continued commemoration.^[10]

The area suffered from property blight during the 1960s, when it was threatened by proposals for a major ring road system, which would intersect with the M32 motorway at junction 3. Part of this plan was realised in Easton to the southeast, in the form of Easton Way, but public backlash led to a change in policy and it was not continued west of the motorway.^[1]