Kings Weston House
Encyclopedia
Kings Weston House is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston
, Bristol
, England
.
It was built between 1710 and 1725 was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh
for Edward Southwell on the site of an earlier Tudor
house, and remodelled 1763 by Robert Mylne
. A significant architectural feature is the grouping of all the chimneys into a massive arcade. The house passed through several generations of the Southwell family until the estate was sold in 1833 to Mr Philip John Miles for £210,000, and became the family seat until 1935 when, on the death of Philip Napier Miles
, it was auctioned and bought by Bristol Municipal Charities and leased to the education authority for use as a school and later to become Bath University School of Architecture. In 1970 Bristol Corporation obtained a 50% grant from the Home Office
and purchased the House for £305,000 to set up a Police Training Centre for Avon and Somerset Constabulary
and was used as such until 1995. It was then abandoned for five years and since 2000 has been renovated as a Business and Conference Centre.
During the World War I
and World War II
the House was converted into a hospital.
It has been designated by English Heritage
as a grade I listed building.
The grounds include a Loggia, Brewhouse and Echo which are all grade I listed in their own right.
The house is surrounded by grassland and an area of woodland bordering the suburbs of Shirehampton
and Lawrence Weston. An iron bridge across Kings Weston Lane connects the estate to that of Blaise Castle
.
purchased the Kings Weston estate from Humphrey Hooke, a Bristol merchant, in 1679. In 1712 a birds-eye view of the estate by Johannes Kip was published in Robert Atkyns
' The Ancient and Present State of Glocestershire. It showed what appears to be a late Tudor house, with a layout similar to that of the current building, having a three-sided entrance court. Vanbrugh later used part of the old foundations in his rebuilding, as well as retaining some of the old walls and a staircase in one of the turrets that were in the angles of the entrance court, though the staircase was later removed. The park surrounding the house was extensive. An avenue extended to the southwest, and there were formal parterres to the southeast. The Kip illustration also shows a banqueting house
, which survived as a ruin until 1966, when it was destroyed by vandals. An architectural drawing dated 1707 describes it as being 'after the Modell of the Duke of Ormond
s at Richmond', and it consisted of two floors, the lower one a workspace and the upper serving as the dining area. Because the building was on a steep slope. both floors were accessible from ground level, and the south facade consisted of a single storey. This south facade was constructed of red rubbing bricks laid in Flemish bond with exceptionally fine jointing, consisting of a little less than 1/16 inch of slaked lime putty.
, who remodelled the interior in the 1760s. The stone, which was quarried on the site, was originally ochre in colour but has weathered to an orange-pink.
The arcade formed by linking the chimneys, which rises above the roof, is a notable external feature of the building, reminiscent of the belvederes of Blenheim Palace
and producing a 'castle air'. It is square in shape and open on the northeast. The current structure is the result of a rebuilding in 1968, using Bath Stone
.
The entrance front, on the southwest, has a centre containing six Corinthian pilasters, with those at each side paired to produce three bays, each of which contains a round arched window. The pediment has a central lunette
, and each side consists of two bays in which the windows have wide flat surrounds. There are four parapet vases. The steps originally had low flank walls perpendicular to the facade, which were removed in the later remodelling.
On the southeast facade, the centre has a Doric temple front with open pediment, which surrounds the doorway. The centre has an attic as its upper storey, topped by a blocking course with scrolled supports at each end. A design with a pediment was prepared for this front, but is thought never to have been built. Though the only decoration is the rustication on the Doric temple's pilasters, a remarkably rich effect is achieved.
The northeast and northwest facades of Vanbrugh's original design were entirely undecorated, and a consequent lack of popular appeal may be the reason why they were largely destroyed in later remodelling.
Vanbrugh's northwest facade consisted of a single flat surface, in which a Venetian window on each floor filled the central space between two shallow projections. Perhaps to improve the view down to Avonmouth, the centre was remodelled by Mylne with a bay window, at odds with the tautness of Vanbrugh's overall design of the house, in which all planes were parallel or perpendicular to the walls. On the northeast the wall was moved forward during nineteenth-century remodelling, destroying an aesthetically significant alignment between wall projections and the break in the roof arcade, which had been present in Vanbrugh's design.
Visitors to the house as it stood after the completion of Vanbrugh's design would have first encountered a huge entrance saloon, two stories high. Beyond this was a stair hall of three storeys in height, with arched openings to the entrance saloon at first-floor height, so that the upper part of the entrance saloon could be seen from within it. These arches were filled in as part of Mylne's remodelling, which though it increased the comfort and charm, reduced the spacial drama. The additional wall space in the entrance saloon was required to hang Southwell's recently acquired collection of ancestral portraits, and the plasterer Thomas Stocking was employed to execute a scheme of plaster framing for these, to Mylne's design. A black and white chequered marble floor and a chimneypiece by John Devall were also added to the entrance saloon in this remodelling.
Kingsweston
Kingsweston is a ward of the city of Bristol. The three districts in the ward are Coombe Dingle, Lawrence Weston and Sea Mills. The ward takes its name from the old district of Kings Weston , now generally considered part of Lawrence Weston.-Coombe Dingle:Coombe Dingle is a suburb of Bristol,...
, Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It was built between 1710 and 1725 was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
for Edward Southwell on the site of an earlier Tudor
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
house, and remodelled 1763 by Robert Mylne
Robert Mylne
Robert Mylne was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, particularly remembered for his design for Blackfriars Bridge in London. Born and raised in Edinburgh, he travelled to Europe as a young man, studying architecture in Rome under Piranesi...
. A significant architectural feature is the grouping of all the chimneys into a massive arcade. The house passed through several generations of the Southwell family until the estate was sold in 1833 to Mr Philip John Miles for £210,000, and became the family seat until 1935 when, on the death of Philip Napier Miles
Philip Napier Miles
Philip Napier Miles JP DLitt h.c. was a prominent and wealthy citizen of Bristol, UK, who left his mark on the city, especially on what are now its western suburbs, through his musical and organizational abilities and through good works of various kinds...
, it was auctioned and bought by Bristol Municipal Charities and leased to the education authority for use as a school and later to become Bath University School of Architecture. In 1970 Bristol Corporation obtained a 50% grant from the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
and purchased the House for £305,000 to set up a Police Training Centre for Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Avon & Somerset Constabulary is the territorial police force in England responsible for policing the non-metropolitan county of Somerset, the city & county of Bristol and the unitary authorities of South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset; before 1996 these districts...
and was used as such until 1995. It was then abandoned for five years and since 2000 has been renovated as a Business and Conference Centre.
During the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the House was converted into a hospital.
It has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a grade I listed building.
The grounds include a Loggia, Brewhouse and Echo which are all grade I listed in their own right.
The house is surrounded by grassland and an area of woodland bordering the suburbs of Shirehampton
Shirehampton
Shirehampton, near Avonmouth, at the north-western edge of the city of Bristol, England, is a district of Bristol which originated as a separate village. It retains something of its village feel, having a short identifiable High Street with the parish church situated among shops, and is still...
and Lawrence Weston. An iron bridge across Kings Weston Lane connects the estate to that of Blaise Castle
Blaise Castle
Blaise Castle is an 18th century mansion house and estate near Henbury in Bristol , England. Blaise Castle was immortalised by being described as "the finest place in England" in Jane Austen's novel Northanger Abbey....
.
Before Vanburgh
Sir Robert SouthwellRobert Southwell (diplomat)
Sir Robert Southwell was an English diplomat. He was Secretary of State for Ireland and President of the Royal Society from 1690.-Background and education:...
purchased the Kings Weston estate from Humphrey Hooke, a Bristol merchant, in 1679. In 1712 a birds-eye view of the estate by Johannes Kip was published in Robert Atkyns
Robert Atkyns (topographer)
Sir Robert Atkyns was a topographer, antiquary, and Member of Parliament. He is best known for his county history, the Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire.-Life:...
' The Ancient and Present State of Glocestershire. It showed what appears to be a late Tudor house, with a layout similar to that of the current building, having a three-sided entrance court. Vanbrugh later used part of the old foundations in his rebuilding, as well as retaining some of the old walls and a staircase in one of the turrets that were in the angles of the entrance court, though the staircase was later removed. The park surrounding the house was extensive. An avenue extended to the southwest, and there were formal parterres to the southeast. The Kip illustration also shows a banqueting house
Banqueting House
In Tudor and Early Stuart English architecture a banqueting house is a separate building reached through pleasure gardens from the main residence, whose use is purely for entertaining. It may be raised for additional air or a vista, and it may be richly decorated, but it contains no bedrooms or...
, which survived as a ruin until 1966, when it was destroyed by vandals. An architectural drawing dated 1707 describes it as being 'after the Modell of the Duke of Ormond
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
s at Richmond', and it consisted of two floors, the lower one a workspace and the upper serving as the dining area. Because the building was on a steep slope. both floors were accessible from ground level, and the south facade consisted of a single storey. This south facade was constructed of red rubbing bricks laid in Flemish bond with exceptionally fine jointing, consisting of a little less than 1/16 inch of slaked lime putty.
Current buildings
In 1710, or possibly one or two years earlier, work began on a new house by John Vanbrugh. His client, Edward Southwell, was not sufficiently wealthy to afford a house on a monumental scale, and may not have wished for one. The result was one of Vanbrugh's smallest houses, smaller than his own country house in Greenwich. It is also his severest in style, obtaining high architectural drama by the well judged disposition of elements that are few in number, and simple in their nature. The exterior of the house would have been at the point of completion in 1717, the date on the contract for one of the parapet vases. The interior would have been virtually complete by 1719, when the design for inlay on the stair landings was drawn up. Two of the facades have since been remodelled, probably by Robert MilneRobert Milne
Robert Milne may refer to:*Robert Lyon , Scottish-born humanitarian, born Robert Milne*Robert Milne , Scottish-born footballer who played for Ireland...
, who remodelled the interior in the 1760s. The stone, which was quarried on the site, was originally ochre in colour but has weathered to an orange-pink.
The arcade formed by linking the chimneys, which rises above the roof, is a notable external feature of the building, reminiscent of the belvederes of Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
and producing a 'castle air'. It is square in shape and open on the northeast. The current structure is the result of a rebuilding in 1968, using Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
.
The entrance front, on the southwest, has a centre containing six Corinthian pilasters, with those at each side paired to produce three bays, each of which contains a round arched window. The pediment has a central lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...
, and each side consists of two bays in which the windows have wide flat surrounds. There are four parapet vases. The steps originally had low flank walls perpendicular to the facade, which were removed in the later remodelling.
On the southeast facade, the centre has a Doric temple front with open pediment, which surrounds the doorway. The centre has an attic as its upper storey, topped by a blocking course with scrolled supports at each end. A design with a pediment was prepared for this front, but is thought never to have been built. Though the only decoration is the rustication on the Doric temple's pilasters, a remarkably rich effect is achieved.
The northeast and northwest facades of Vanbrugh's original design were entirely undecorated, and a consequent lack of popular appeal may be the reason why they were largely destroyed in later remodelling.
Vanbrugh's northwest facade consisted of a single flat surface, in which a Venetian window on each floor filled the central space between two shallow projections. Perhaps to improve the view down to Avonmouth, the centre was remodelled by Mylne with a bay window, at odds with the tautness of Vanbrugh's overall design of the house, in which all planes were parallel or perpendicular to the walls. On the northeast the wall was moved forward during nineteenth-century remodelling, destroying an aesthetically significant alignment between wall projections and the break in the roof arcade, which had been present in Vanbrugh's design.
Visitors to the house as it stood after the completion of Vanbrugh's design would have first encountered a huge entrance saloon, two stories high. Beyond this was a stair hall of three storeys in height, with arched openings to the entrance saloon at first-floor height, so that the upper part of the entrance saloon could be seen from within it. These arches were filled in as part of Mylne's remodelling, which though it increased the comfort and charm, reduced the spacial drama. The additional wall space in the entrance saloon was required to hang Southwell's recently acquired collection of ancestral portraits, and the plasterer Thomas Stocking was employed to execute a scheme of plaster framing for these, to Mylne's design. A black and white chequered marble floor and a chimneypiece by John Devall were also added to the entrance saloon in this remodelling.