There’s a quirky part of Bristol that is known for its weird and wonderful architecture, its city farm, and being a bustling route for commuters to travel through the city.
But the people who live and work in St Werburghs know and love it for being a proper community-centred neighbourhood. It’s described by them as being a quiet unassuming place that actually holds a lot of heart, is filled with community spaces and events, and has retained its own personality.
Over recent years, it has seen a number of incredible food and drink spots opening here – from delicious dim sum, to sumptuous seafood. And, in addition, those that already called it home have only expanded to cater to more people.
With so much to offer, some may overlook it. But on a recent visit to St Werburghs, BristolLive found that it is very much a destination that should be explored by all.
We met Oscar who lived in Cheltenham and down in Falmouth prior to moving to Bristol. He works front of house and as a barista at local cafe Napolita, which seems to regularly be filled with people.
He told BristolLive: “St Werburghs is its own community, but it doesn’t feel insular. It’s very open. Everyone I’ve met here has been just lovely. They’re always happy to be here, and you’ll always see people walking around, it’s got it’s own pulse.
There’s always something happening and it’s always community focused. That’s probably because of the school, and so lots of young families live around here, and lots of people come here with their kids and grandkids. There are always events on in the park, too – just a couple of weeks ago there was a little summer fair on and we were really busy because of that, so that helps us out as well.”
Napolita has been here since around 2009 and keeps expanding in size to cater to its ever growing customer based. Its owner even opened the nearby Fiske and Frites fish and chip restaurant further along on Mina Road, to expand the local food offering.
Oscar adds: St Werburghs is just such a wonderful place to be, with almost anything you could ever want. I know people who come in here instead of working from home. I expect most people don’t even leave the district most days because they’ve got everything they need on their doorstep here.
“It has a variety that you couldn’t have in the City Centre. The City Centre is so built up. But we have a park here, the eco village which has some of the coolest architecture I think in the whole city and, all the way down the other end you have the city farm which is great for the kids (and The Farm pub next door is great for the parents as well).
“Everything you could want out of a day out, you have here. You have a beautiful nature walk through the Narroways next to the train line, and you’re well connected to anywhere in the city you want to get to.
“You can get to St Pauls, the City Centre, Gloucester Road, all the way over to Easton across the M32. It’s just got so much going for it.”
When asked why so many food places seem to be choosing to open up here, Oscar said: “I think it is that unassuming nature of St Werburghs. Even when it’s busy it’s not overwhelming. And people can just come down here and take a minute, I think.
“So many cool food places have opened. Clouds, the dim sum place just around the corner, has been so popular and they’ve done so well for themselves. And you’ve got lots of open space – people can sit in restaurants and eat in, or they can take away. We get so much takeaway business in here, people go and eat in the park and find natural spaces. It’s got real heart. It really does.”
Oscar also believes that the area has ‘been on the up for a long while’, growing in popularity, but adds that he’d love St Werburghs’ community to build on what it already has to offer.
He said: “I’d like to see more artwork around here. There are a couple of really great murals, and there’s graffiti in the tunnels up towards the farm in what is a bit of a free graffiti area. That’s been really positive.
‘A close knit community is a really hard thing to find these days’
“It’s always very colourful. But I’d love more community art drives. We just had the art trail, so I think more ways to bring that side of it out to people would be really nice.
“I would even maybe say some sort of music venue, but could impinge on the quietness of the area, so that would be for the community to decide on themselves. But I know the community would decide, and that’s the thing about St Werburghs – I don’t think anything happens here unless the people who live here really want it to happen.
“And nowadays that’s a really hard thing to find. It’s a really close knit community.”
Sahin Jahan from the team at Liyas Cafe, just over the road from Napolita, agrees with these points around the community in St Werburghs. She said: “St Werburghs is a nice place to work. I’m the head chef of Liyas Cafe and we started our business just two months ago. People come from different areas to visit us at lunchtime.
“The restaurants and businesses around us are really really friendly. We can say they’re competitive but they’re all really helpful. Our neighbours have helped us a lot, and our customers are really nice.
“Our cafe is in the centre of St Werburghs. We can see a mosque in front of us, a park to the left, a school behind us and more shops and businesses to the left. So to us, it feels like we are our own Bristol City Centre.”
Meanwhile, further up the road, past the local butchers and laundrette, and next to the ever busy Wiper and True venue, Anita is one of the owners of Clouds – the dim sum restaurant that opened here back in late 2024.
Having lived here since 2018, she knows firsthand how close the community is, especially towards local business owners. She tells BristolLive: “I live and work in the area, and it is an amazing community. It’s awesome that you can just walk to all the amenities. It’s a great area to live in. I love living here and the community have been so welcoming since we opened Clouds.
“We had a bit of a story opening because we couldn’t open for about a year and a half because of planning permission. And the community were just really supportive during that time. I think it makes a difference living here too, when you have a business here.”
When asked why people choose to come to St Werburghs rather than places like the City Centre for their shopping needs, Anita said: “It’s brilliant. There are lots of things happening here. It’s a very cute, vibrant place. I think the rent is just so high in the City Centre, insanely so.
“It’s a hard time for businesses and Wiper and True, next door to us, have created such a destination in St Werburghs, and it’s usually packed. It’s taken a few years to build, but they’ve done such a good job.
“And on the whole there are some really great pubs in the area. So it is like a vibrant, up and coming area and I guess it’s quite a young area, as well. And it’s in a good place where lots of people commute and can stop on their way through for food.”
As with everyone we spoke to during our visit to this part of the city, there wasn’t much that Anita felt needed changing about St Werburghs. However, as we’ve seen throughout much of Bristol, this quirky, close-nit neighbourhood is not immune to crime – and being on such a busy route towards the motorway, Anita says she is often visited by police for copies of her CCTV footage to help in certain cases.
“I feel incredibly safe living here,” Anita adds. “But, increasing safety in the city and locally might be something for the future.”
Despite this, she and her neighbours all say the same thing – the community is always on hand to help out and support each other whenever it’s needed.
