Southmead is a northern suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 and council ward

Wards of the United Kingdom

A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

 of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, in the southwest of England. The town of Filton

Filton

Filton is a town in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Bristol, about from the city centre. Filton lies in Bristol postcode areas BS7 and BS34. The town centres upon Filton Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is a grade II listed building...

 (in South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

), and the Bristol suburbs of Monks Park

Monks Park

Monks Park is a northern suburb of the city of Bristol, England and is the highest point within the city. Monks Park stretches westward, towards Southmead, from the A38 trunk road. Filton Park lies directly north, on the South Gloucestershire side of the city boundary...

, Horfield

Horfield

Horfield is a suburb of the city of Bristol, in southwest England. It lies on Bristol's northern edge, its border with Filton marking part of the boundary between Bristol and South Gloucestershire. Bishopston lies directly to the south. Monks Park and Golden Hill are to the west. Lockleaze and...

, Henleaze

Henleaze

Henleaze is a northern suburb of the city of Bristol in South West England.It is an almost entirely residential inter-war development, with Edwardian streets on its southern fringes. Its main neighbours are Westbury on Trym, Horfield, Bishopston and Redland...

 and Westbury on Trym

Westbury on Trym

Westbury-on-Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. Westbury-on-Trym has a village atmosphere. The place is partly named after the River Trym that flows...

 lie on its boundaries.

The River Trym

River Trym

The River Trym is a short river, some in length, which rises in Filton, South Gloucestershire, England. The upper reaches are culverted, some underground, through mostly urban landscapes, but once it emerges into the open it flows through a nature reserve and city parks before joining the tidal...

 rises in Southmead and flows southwest through Badock's Wood, a Local Nature Reserve

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

. There is a round barrow

Round barrow

Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....

 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 (1.3 km²) was sold in the late 19th century. By 1888 Southmead was a small hamlet on Southmead Road. Southmead Hospital

Southmead Hospital

Southmead Hospital is a large hospital, situated in the northern suburbs of Bristol, England, part of the North Bristol NHS Trust.The hospital opened in 1902 as a 64 bed workhouse for poor sick people. By 1911 there were 520 beds....

, 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 slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

s 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".

Following the 1980 St. Pauls riot, Southmead experienced two nights of rioting.

Southmead today

The centre of Southmead is along Greystoke Avenue, a wide road with grassy areas some distance to the north of the original hamlet on 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 not as likely to go to university as others in the country which is reflective of the national socio-economic imbalances within the UK's education system.
As of 2009/10, average lifespan is 76 years, three years below the city average of 79.

Panorama report

On October 19, 2009, a BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Panorama

Panorama (TV series)

Panorama is a BBC Television current affairs documentary programme, which was first broadcast in 1953, and is the longest-running public affairs television programme in the world. Panorama has been presented by many well known BBC presenters, including Richard Dimbleby, Robin Day, David Dimbleby...

report, investigating the extent of racism in modern Britain, featured two undercover journalists who posed as Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s 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.