Charlton House is a historic building in Wraxall

Wraxall, Somerset

Wraxall is a village in North Somerset in England. The parish of the same name also included Nailsea and Flax Bourton until 1811. It is now within the parish of Wraxall and Failand.-History:...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

The original building dates from the late mediaeval period, however it was altered in the early to mid 17th century and further extended between 1877 and 1884.

Since 1927 it has housed The Downs School, a preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 founded in 1894 in a house overlooking Clifton Down

Clifton Down

Clifton Down is an area of public open space in Bristol, England, north of the village of Clifton. With its neighbour Durdham Down to the northeast, it constitutes the large area known as The Downs, much used for leisure including walking and team sports...

, across the Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. Brunel's colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds...

. The current headmaster of the Downs School is Marcus Gunn.

The house was part of the Tyntesfield

Tyntesfield

Tyntesfield is a Victorian Gothic Revival estate near Wraxall, North Somerset, England, near Nailsea, seven miles from Bristol.The house was acquired by the National Trust in June 2002 after a fund raising campaign to prevent it being sold to private interests and ensure it be opened to the public...

 estate and the associated Charlton Farm is now a residential centre of Children's Hospice South West

Children's hospice south west

Children's Hospice South West is a registered charity that provides palliative, respite, end-of-life and bereavement care for life limited children and their families from the South West England region...

.