Restaurant
Thoughtful food
Church Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS9 3EQ
The Villager Restaurant
June 2013 30 year anniversary
20th June 1983 saw The Villager Westbury-on-Trym open its doors for business and was the combined idea of Paul Manning and Terri Harris who had met in
1979 when Paul worked for a Japanese Photographic Company and Terri was a Chef.
The Villager in Church Road, Westbury-on-Trym is two converted c1820 cottages and comprises on the ground floor of what is now a bar and two individual dining
rooms plus a kitchen.
It started life as a plot of ground owned by a local man who left it to his daughter and her husband to build their home on in the early 1800’s
In 1861 the property was being used by Sophia Edwards as a bakery and a “Beer House” called The Adelaide.
Beer Houses were usually private dwellings with one or two rooms converted to sell Beer and Cider and became popular after the controversial 1830 Duke of
Wellington Beerhouse Act was passed which aimed to stop the ever rising gin consumption in the country. The Act allowed any householder or ratepayer to sell
beer and cider from their home for a fee of two guineas to the Excise.
By late 1800 / early 1900 a small extension, ( now the Villager bar ) was added to the property with a shop front and became a local grocery shop.
The business use of the property varied over the early years of the 20th Century but is still remembered by some as a prosperous café until it was taken over by
Eric Hancock ( of Radio 4,s “Its Classic” programme fame ), and Jeremy Monks in 1973 and renamed The Gramophone Record selling a vast range of specialist
classical records and sheet music.
In 1983 Eric and Jeremy decided to move their business to a shop in Westbury Hill and The Villager was born.
The original Villager concept back in 1983 was a herb, spices and wholefood retail area in the now bar, glass and china sales in the now first dining room, and
traditional Tea Room in the second dining room.
As time went on the Tea Room became very popular and started offering light lunches alongside morning coffee, afternoon Tea and also offering outside catering,
the biggest contract being for the Lloyds Bank Festival of the Sea Event in 1998.
Because of the success of the Tea Room, in 1986 Paul and Terri decided to turn the whole property into a fully licensed restaurant which it remains to-day,
probably the longest independently owned restaurant in Bristol!.
Over the years The Villager has attracted customers from not just Bristol but from all over the World including The heroic 9/11 New York Firemen on their visit to Bristol
in April 2002.
The food concept has remained the same, good produce, cooked to order.
Now after twenty eight years, The Villager, is still a small intimate restaurant which has become a popular choice for those who enjoy good food and wine
( you can now bring your own wine or Champagne for a small corkage fee ) in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.