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Ashley Down
Ashley Down
	Ashley Down Location within Bristol
OS grid reference	ST596756
Unitary authority	Bristol;
Ceremonial county	Bristol;
Region	South West;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BRISTOL
Postcode district	BS7
Dialling code	0117
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Bristol North West;
	List of places UK England Bristol 51°29′N 2°35′W / 51.48°N 2.58°W

Ashley Down is a residential neighbourhood in the north of Bristol, England. It lies on high ground east of Bishopston, north of St Andrews and St Werburghs, west of Muller Road and south of Horfield. The main artery is Ashley Down Road. It is in the Bishopston and Ashley Down electoral ward of Bristol City Council.

Ashley Down was developed in Victorian times. A number of large detached villas were built on Ashley Down Road.^[1] Smaller terraced houses were built in the north of the district.

Muller Homes

In 1845, George Müller entered into a contract for the purchase of 7 acres (28,000 m²) of ground at £120 per acre (£0.03/m²) for the accommodation, feeding, clothing and education of 300 destitute and orphan children. On 18 June 1849 the orphans transferred to the new building, designed by local architect Thomas Foster. By the time he died in 1898, Müller had received £1,500,000 through prayer and had over 10,000 children in his care.

The orphanage continued on the Ashley Down site until 1958. Orphan Houses 2, 4 and 5 are now owned by Bristol City College, while No 3 House (in which Müller lived for the last few years of his life and in which he died), on the other side of Ashley Down Road was converted into private flats in 2007. No 1 House is currently (2010) being redeveloped as flats.

In 1958, the buildings became Bristol College of Science and Technology (more recently changed to City of Bristol College, Brunel Campus). The site has been used as the film set for the BBC television series Casualty. Muller Road, which runs near the site of the orphanage, is named after its founder.

County Cricket Ground

In 1889, W. G. Grace bought some land at Ashley Down, which became and remained the home of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. The ground has a capacity of 8,000.

In July 2009, Gloucestershire C.C.C. announced plans to redevelop the ground into a 20,000 capacity stadium.^[2] The ground will also include a "world class" media centre and conference facilities. In March 2010, Bristol City Council gave the go-ahead for the new ground.^[3]

Once completed, the ground will be one of the biggest cricketing venues in England and, as a result, the club hopes it will become a regular venue for international matches and one of the host grounds of the 2019 Cricket World Cup.^[4]

Ashley Down Old Boys' RFC is a rugby club playing in Gloucestershire League I. They are members of the Bristol Combination.

Transport

The neighbourhood is served by Ashley Down railway station, which opened in September 2024 and is part of the MetroWest rail improvement project with services operated by Great Western Railway.^[5] At the time of the station's opening, an hourly train service between Bristol Temple Meads and Filton Abbey Wood called at the station.^[6] Between 1864 and 1964, Ashley Down was served by Ashley Hill railway station, which was situated at the same location as the present Ashley Down station.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ "Ashley". About Bristol. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
^ "Cricket ground's future unveiled". BBC Bristol Sports. BBC News. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ "Go-ahead to expand cricket club". BBC News. 10 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
^ "GLOUCESTERSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB DEVELOPMENT". gloscricket.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
^ "Bristol's Ashley Down Station to reopen - 60 years after closure". ITV. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
^ Holmes, Jonathan (27 September 2024). "First train in 60 years calls at new station". BBC. Retrieved 29 September 2024.