THE GREAT HALL

All notes are subject to revision and we welcome further referenced information.

The original building was primary to the Saxon & early medieval house. The existing building has been dated to the 1400s but Bantock makes a claim (origin unknown) that it has the same dimensions as the Saxon hall here. Others say it could not have been that wide.

The very first Saxon Hall may have been largely timber built but the region is damp, stone is plentiful and far more appropriate for lasting construction in a high status house, at ground level at least.

THE HEARTH

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

The hearth in the original building would have been central and open to the roof; the current chimney piece, dated 1777 by Bantock, is served by an external stack built against the east wall so probably post-dates the wall.

THE PORCH (LEADING INTO THE GREAT HALL)

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

The 16th century porch tower, probably contemporary with the ‘Tudor’ upper floor, has a decorative plaster ceiling.

THE MOSAIC

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

At its threshold with the 1800s [?] tiled floor, a small mosaic has been inserted - reportedly found in another building location on the estate. Experts say it's not Roman.

THE WINDOWS

Image: FAM volunteer

Windows of the hall & grand staircase date from the early 1800s & part of a Regency Gothic revival here. They are variations of the large Perpendicular window now in the Inner Hall and coloured glass was removed in the 1970s.

THE WALLS

Image: Mb6061 ©Bristol Culture

Walls: Like the cross wings, wall widths and even orientation vary around the Great Hall today, suggesting a number of rebuilds and alterations. Internally there is a shiny finish to a hard plaster surface dating to the 1970s. Photographs from the 1930s - 1970s show 2 phases of oak dado panelling, earlier finishes may have included colourful painted plaster and tapestries.

THE BLOCKED DOORWAYS

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

Three small blocked stone doorways and a 4th stone recess, can be seen at or beyond 3 corners of the hall. They date to times when floor levels were lower. The doorway to the de Lyon Hall is oversailed by the rear wall, the Tudor style archway to the Inner Hall & the narrow doorway to an earlier stair [?] were all previously hidden behind dado panelling & predate the Smyths - unless they were imported for sake of a late 1700s fashion for ‘historicism’.

BLOCKED DOORWAY LEADING TO THE DE LYONS WING

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

TUDOR STYLE ARCHWAY TO THE INNER HALL

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

NARROW DOORWAY TO AN EARLIER STAIR

Image: FAM volunteer (2021)

EARLY HISTORY

Early History - After the Norman invasion, the Bishop of Coutances controlled Bristol Castle and took for himself this Saxon fortified Manor House, one of 3 Ashton manors called Estune - place by the ash tree - in the Domesday Survey of 1086 which some say refers to it as a ‘wealthy estate with Manor House, Great Hall and courtyards entered through gatehouses’.

In earlier centuries all life happened in the hall, not least the cooking, eating, drinking and sleeping for the whole household, servants, dogs and visitors. But there was enough wealth here for a second living space from early on.

OWNERS

Owners: Between 1066 & 1545 there were 27 owners of Ashton Court. But from 1166 to 1303 it was in the hands of the de Alneto (Dando) family, 1303 to 1454 – the de Lyons & 1454 to 1506, the Choke Family.

The de Lyons family made extensive works to the Manor but the current Hall is attributed to the Chokes. Judge Sir Richard Choke, bought Ashton Court in 1454 and is thought responsible for rebuilding and fortifying parts of the Manor including the Great Hall. He was wealthy and powerful at Court. An elaborate monument to him and his wife can be seen in Long Ashton parish church; Sir John Choke carried out building works in the late 1500s.

John Smyth – Merchant and twice Mayor of Bristol bought the Manor in 1545 and the family continued to rebuild & extend the Manor for the next 400 years, beginning with the 2nd floor over the Great Hall.

John Hugh - historian and friend of Collinson, inherited the Smyth family line from his mother. He began work on the Mansion years before his father died, including the exceptional NW wing. He is probably responsible for the fireplace in the Great Hall, dated 1777 by Bantock & possibly the floor tiles and mosaic found at the threshold. He hired Humphrey Repton in 1802.

Hugh Smyth inherited the Mansion from his uncle John Hugh in 1802, and went against Repton’s advice to make the east side of the Mansion the main approach. Hugh made the Great Hall the main entrance and, in a Regency Gothic make-over, added another porch and replaced all the late 1500s windows of the main buildings overlooking the west courtyard. Until the late 1700s this courtyard had been enclosed with a fortified medieval gatehouse.