Brislington House and Attached Chapel

Details

BRISTOL

ST6270 BATH ROAD, Brislington 901-1/49/440 (North side) 21/03/84 Brislington House and attached chapel (Formerly Listed as: BATH ROAD (North side) Brislington House)

GV II

Insane asylum, now nursing home. 1804, refronted and chapel added 1851. For Dr EL Fox. Render over ashlar and rubble, asphalt and slate roof. PLAN: a series of blocks linked by a spine corridor with a cross wing to the left. Long, late Palladian style front, formed by a flat-roofed central block with inner and outer wings each side. EXTERIOR: middle block 3 storeys and basement; 9-window range. Rusticated ground floor with vermiculated quoins; first-floor string, cornice with carved heads and balustrade. Doric porch with pediment and semicircular-arched doorway, tripartite windows to the sides. Ground-floor windows have keys in the rustication; the first-floor windows have alternately segmental and straight pediments on carved consoles and panelled jambs; second-floor windows are smaller, in moulded architraves; all with metal casements. The outer bays are set back slightly. The rear elevation has 2 full-height bay windows, and a semicircular basement extension. The inner flanking wings are lower: 3 storeys; 3-window range. 6/6-pane sashes in a moulded architrave, the first-floor middle windows pedimented like the central block. The outer wings are 6-window ranges, with cornices over the first-floor windows. The 2nd window out from the centre is part of a slightly projecting bay, framed by rusticated pilasters and a pediment. To the right is an attached pavilion, extended forward: 2 storeys and attic; 3-window range. First-floor windows in recessed bays, a pediment and parapet, and hipped roof. A mid C20 passage links a further block of 2 storeys and an attic; 5-window range. 6/6 sashes, 2 right-hand windows in a shallow, full-height bay, and narrow lights in the frieze below the cornice, with dormers above. The final block of 2 storeys; 2-window range. A canted bay on the left, and a doorway with a flat architrave and cornice, around a semicircular doorway, a fine fanlight and a 6-panel door. A central balustrade extends either side of the entrance porch, ending in tall lancet-sectioned piers, carrying the Fox family emblem of a chained hound. The Chapel steps forward from the left-hand end and faces the centre. Greek cross plan. Single storey; 3-window range. Rusticated ground floor, clasping pilasters, cornice and pediment; the doorcase has a heavy segmental pediment with panelled entablature and large consoles; above is a niche within a sunken panel. A bellcote with volute brackets surmounts the pediment. INTERIORS: The 2 stone stairs and cast-iron landings around open, top-lit wells are among the few original details. Chapel has large ornate reredos enclosing family window from Church of St Luke's (qv), Brislington; organ loft; ceiling has plaster panels to the beams and Corinthian modillion corbels. HISTORICAL NOTE: built c1804 by Dr EL Fox to pioneer the humane treatment of the insane, the house consisted of the central 9-window range flanked either side by three 2-storey flat-roofed blocks, which were linked by a covered tunnel at the front. Metal windows, doors, floor joists and blinds were part of the fireproof construction. Men and women were accommodated separately in opposite wings, and the separate blocks reflected the social standing of the occupants. The existing front and the chapel were added in 1851. The end house was built for the Fox family. Swiss Cottage, Ironmould Lane (qv) was built as special accommodation for a peer. (Gomme A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History: Bristol: 1979-: 280; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: North Somerset and Bristol: London: 1958-: 465; Rowe J and Williams D: Bygone Brislington: Bristol: 1986-: 19).

Listing NGR: ST6328770238

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

378915

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol, (1958), 465
Gomme, A H, Jenner, M, Little, B D G, Bristol, An Architectural History, (1979), 280
Rowe, J, Williams, D, Bygone Brislington, (1986), 19

End of official list entry

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