place

Blaise Castle Estate

1766 establishments in EnglandCountry houses in BristolFolly castles in EnglandGardens by Humphry ReptonGeorgian architecture in Bristol
Grade II* listed buildings in BristolGrade II* listed parks and gardens in BristolHenburyHistoric house museums in BristolParks and open spaces in BristolScheduled monuments in BristolUse British English from February 2017
Blasiecastle
Blasiecastle

Blaise Castle is a folly built in 1766 near Henbury in Bristol, England. The castle sits within the Blaise Castle Estate, which also includes Blaise Castle House, a Grade II* listed 18th-century mansion house. The folly castle is also Grade II* listed and ancillary buildings including the orangery and dairy also have listings. Along with Blaise Hamlet, a group of nine small cottages around a green built in 1811 for retired employees, and various subsidiary buildings, the parkland is listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. The site has signs of occupation during the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries the site was sold. In 1766 Thomas Farr commissioned Robert Mylne to build the sham castle in Gothic Revival style. After Farr's bankruptcy, the estate was sold several times until purchased by John Scandrett Harford, who demolished the previous dwelling in 1789 and built the Neoclassical Blaise Castle House. His son, also named John Scandrett Harford, continued with the development of the buildings and estate, which his family occupied until 1926, when it was bought by Bristol City Council. The park was laid out by Humphry Repton in the early 19th century. The estate is now owned by Bristol City Council. The house is run as a museum by the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery and holds a variety of collections. The Picture Room, added in the 1830s, is hung with paintings, mostly of the 19th century. There are selections on display from Bristol Museum's 10,000 items of historic costume, and of toys from the 18th century to the 1980s.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Blaise Castle Estate (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Blaise Castle Estate
Main Drive, Bristol

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Blaise Castle EstateContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.504 ° E -2.632 °
placeShow on map

Address

Main Drive

Main Drive
BS10 7QS Bristol
England, United Kingdom
mapOpen on Google Maps

Blasiecastle
Blasiecastle
Share experience

Nearby Places

Blaise Hamlet
Blaise Hamlet

Blaise Hamlet is a group of nine small cottages around a green in Henbury, now a district in the north of Bristol, England. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle the Hamlet is listed, Grade II*, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. Nikolaus Pevsner described Blaise Hamlet as "the ne plus ultra of picturesque layout and design".Blaise Hamlet was built around 1811 for retired employees of Quaker banker and philanthropist John Scandrett Harford, who owned Blaise Castle House.The hamlet was designed by John Nash, master of the Picturesque style. He had worked for Harford on other buildings. The hamlet is the first fully realised exemplar of the garden suburb and laid out the road map for virtually all garden suburbs that followed. The cottages are all unique and include brick chimneys and dormer windows with some having thatched roofs. They are examples of the Picturesque style, an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin. An oval path links the cottages and encircles the village green with its sundial. The cottage gardens are planted in a Victorian cottage garden style.Since 1943 the cottages have been owned by the National Trust. They are still occupied and not open to the public, but the ensemble may be viewed from the green. Rose Cottage is let by the National Trust as a holiday cottage.