THE SOUTH FRONT

The 300ft /91m South Front can be divided visually and historically into three sections.

Each represents a second or third-generation (at least) of building on the same site.

''At present much of the evidence in the fabric has been rendered over, destroyed without analysis during past works or lies covered under existing finishes.'"It has been found already that some of the popularised dates & facts have been misinterpreted over the years.'~ Gilmore Hankey & Kirke for Bristol City Council 1987

ASHTON COURT BEFORE DEMOLITION OF THE OLD STABLES & DOMESTIC WING

Image: Ma3805©Bristol Culture. Engraving by T. Bonnor for The Rev J. Collinson's 'History & Antiquities of the County of Somerset', 1791.

The South Outside Trail: Image

1. THE SOUTH WEST WING

The long SW Wing today was largely created by Thomas* and Florence Smyth in the 1630s but it was only one phase of change. It’s thought to be an adaptation of an earlier Jacobean long Gallery possibly built for Thomas’s father in early 1600s. It was refaced in Inigo Jones’ new Palladian style, which also could be seen locally at Hinton House, home of the 15 year old bride of Thomas.

The window spacing lacks symmetry because of the earlier structure and the roof has a more complicated history with gabled attic windows until late 1600s at least. The new Palladian style, triangular and ‘segmental’ stone pediments over the ground floor windows were inspired by the classical buildings of Catholic Europe. They created a strong lintel that didn’t need a central supporting mullion but these were not removed until decades later.

*Thomas Smyth was married at 17 and an MP at 18. He later fought in the English civil war for the Royalists and died at only 33. The Saxon church and whole Royal Manor of Bedminster was burnt down by retreating Royalists & never fully recovered. Nationally, there was a 29% increase in burials between 1643 - 64 from combat, homelessness and disease.

2. THE SOUTH GATEHOUSE

There has been a gatehouse here at least since Sir Richard Choke’s arrival in 1454*. The ground floor and turrets recorded by Collinson in 1792, remained largely unchanged until 1810. In 1885, it was refaced in Pennant sandstone and enlarged to the current Gothic extravagance for Greville Smyth’s new wife Emily.

Originally, the turreted gatehouse of the fortified manor provided control over access to the inner courtyard and a wide view across miles of Somerset. The historic approach from Bedminster went via Parklands Road right up to the South Gatehouse until Hugh Smyth moved the main entrance to the West Front and the roads & fields around the manor were closed to the public.

*Sir Richard Choke gained great wealth & had much to protect at Ashton Court. Rising to ‘Justice at the Court of Common Pleas’ in London, he survived the twists & turns of the Wars of the Roses between 1455 & 1485. A painted carved effigy of him with his wife Margaret lies in Long Ashton parish church.

Until the 19th century there were no police to enforce laws and security. The rural medieval Manor house held ‘wealth’ including peasant dues and was often fortified against robbers. Some were moated with a drawbridge.

3. THE SOUTH EAST WING

The stables and offices from 1600s, around the South Court were demolished and a bigger SE stable wing was built c1810 by Hugh Smyth, but according to family records, his brother John built them. Like most 19th century buildings here, it was built of ashlar limestone, not rendered rubble.

It added to an impressive frontage. The roof and window levels probably always aligned with the SW Wing. Seen at close quarters it is shorter, the walling materials and parapet are different. The windows were enlarged and the whole made ‘collegiate’ in style when Greville Smyth converted the stables to a museum for his world collections* and then a Music Room in 1885.

The 1st upper floors were for staff and servants with only small 'ox-eye' attic windows in both wings.

*In 1894 Sir Greville Smyth and his son-in-law, Gilbert Irby were butterfly collecting in Ceylon

In 1895 a statue was erected in Bristol to honour Colston’s philanthropy, funded from slave trading in the 1680s.

In the 1890s alone, 11 men lost their lives in local coal mines. Within yards of Ashton Court Estate, coal mines, coking plants, brick & iron works brought wealth to the Smyths who owned the mineral rights.