Stoke Gifford



Stoke Gifford is a neighbourhood and parish and electoral ward in South Gloucestershire, England. Formerly a separate village, it is now a suburb in the Bristol built-up area, part of the city's North Fringe. The ward had 14,200 residents in 5,788 households at the 2021 Census.

It is served by Bristol Parkway railway station and is home to Stoke Gifford depot, on the London-South Wales railway line. To the south, it is served by the Bristol Ring Road.

Several major employers and office parks are located in Stoke Gifford, including the Bristol offices of Aviva which took over Friends Life in 2015. The Stoke Gifford area is also home to the main campus of the University of the West of England, and offices of Hewlett-Packard and MOD Abbey Wood, although since 2023 parish boundary changes these are now in the Stoke Park and Cheswick parish.

The parish includes the neighbourhoods of Little Stoke and Harry Stoke. It borders Filton, to the south-west, Patchway to the north west, Bradley Stoke to the north, Winterbourne and Hambrook to the east, and Cheswick to the south.

Manor of Giffard
Following the Norman Invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror gave the manor of Stoke Gifford to Osbern Giffard, one of his knights. Giffard himself was a native of Longueville-le-Giffard, Normandy, now known as Longueville-sur-Scie, from which the 'Gifford' suffix derives. The 'Stoke' part of the name may come from the Stoke Brook, or may also be a reference to the Saxon word 'Stoche' meaning 'property of or dependent farmstead'. Bradley Stoke and Stoke Lodge, both 20th-century estates, were also given the name. Extensive histories of Stoke Gifford can be found online.

The manor remained in the Giffard family until 1337, when it was granted to Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347), 2nd son of Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1271–1326). Thus was founded the long and distinguished cadet branch of "Berkeley of Stoke Gifford". In 1553 a new late-Tudor manor house was built by Sir Richard Berkeley (died 1604), 7th in descent from Maurice de Berkeley (died 1347). It became known as Stoke Park, and was rebuilt in 1750 by Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (died 1770), from a neo-classical design by Thomas Wright.

Urban expansion in the 20th and 21st centuries
Like much of the nearby area, Stoke Gifford saw rapid population expansion in the late 20th century. Before the 1980s Stoke Gifford was just a small village, straggling along the main street, North Road. In 1987 it was designated for urban expansion, alongside neighbouring Bradley Stoke, as part of the Avon County Council Structural Plan and Northavon Local Plan.

In 2023, following an increase in housing and population in the south of the parish, it was divided into two, with the southern part becoming a new parish of Stoke Park and Cheswick.

Governance
The area falls in the Stoke Gifford electoral ward. This ward starts in the east at Winterbourne.

Local amenities
The Church of England parish church of St Michael's is a Grade II* listed building.

There is a row of shops on Ratcliffe Drive including a Tesco Express, dentist and medical centre and few more shops on one of the roads off North Road. There is a pub, the Beaufort Arms, and a small coffee shop in the Old School Rooms across The Green from the church. There are several large supermarkets within walking distance.

Local children walk or cycle to nearby St Michael's C of E Primary School & Abbeywood Community School, while the church runs a pre-school nursery in the old vicarage. In 2008, a new pre-school and Nursery opened adjacent to Bristol Parkway because of population increases in the surrounding areas. The Old School Rooms hosts the Explorer Scouts, Scouts, Cub Scouts, Beaver Scouts and Brownies.

The area has two parks, each with children's play equipment, and a pair of tennis courts. South of Stoke Gifford is Bristol's Stoke Park, part of a large green area known as the 'Green Lung'.

Stoke Gifford Parish Council provoked national interest and condemnation in April 2016 when they resolved to charge parkrun runners a fee to use a park, resulting in the closure of the event in June 2016.

Stoke Gifford Cricket Club has won the Bristol & District 30 over cricket league a record three times in 2018, 2021 and 2022.