Another painting recently came to auction that’s of Kings Weston interest; it’s a watercolour of the house and park from Penpole Point. It’s a view that’s already familiar to us through one of the most widely published and most attractive prints of the park in the early 19th Century. The artist was the impressively named Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1855) who visited Kings Weston in 1816. It’s not clear whether it was intentionally painted as part of a larger project, but reproduced it found its way into a Series of Picturesque Views of Noblemen’s and Gentlemen’s Seats seven years later.
the original watercolour showing the view of Kings Weston house from Penpole Point. 1816, Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding (1787-1855). One version of the print copied from the original painting.
This month the news has been filled with a number of serious storms that have brought winds and flooding to several parts of Britain, but 164 years ago Kings Weston also experienced a shocking gale.
Two historic photographs (or perhaps four depending how you’d like to count) have come to us recently that mark a significant event in the history of the estate. The photos are extremely early, now thought to be the earliest photos of Kings Weston know, and are designed for use in a stereoscopic viewer; each of the two photos is taken using separate lenses set the same distance apart as the human eye; when seen through a viewer the eye sees a 3D impression of the view. Whilst the two photos on each card look the same at first glance, they are taken from fractionally different perspectives to create the effect.
One of the elms blown over on Penpole Lane on 1/11/1859. the location looks east from the current location of the Oasis Academy school.
The views focus on large a number of massive fallen trees pulled out by the roots and thrown over. On the reverse of each the location is identified as Kings Weston and dated as being from November 1859. They were taken following a violent storm that severely damaged Shirehampton and the Kings Weston estate on the first of that month. We’ve known of this event before, from newspaper articles that described the devastation, but these photos add incredible insight into the aftermath. The UK was subjected to a number of heavy storms around the same time in 1859, the most famous being the “Royal Charter” storm the week before Kings Weston’s. The Royal Charter sank off Anglesey on October the 25th with more than 400 fatalities and the loss of a substantial cargo of gold being brought from Australia. The sinking occupied journalists for days as details of the story became known, but Kings Weston would shortly join it in the national newspapers.
Three elms in a row are seen wrenched out of the ground. These trees may be on the avenue from the Circle into Penpole Wood, and the dark conifer in the distance may be either the Cedar tree at the east end, or the Wellingtonia at the west; both trees would have been young at this time.
Newspapers at the time describe the winds as arriving before dawn, sudden and ferocious, there’s even the suggestion that it was a tornado, considering the relatively localised trail of damage from Lamplighter’s, through Shirehampton, and into Kings Weston park it’s certainly a possibility. Reports suggest that in just seven minutes upwards of 300 trees brought down. They describe 20-30 trees lying on top of each other and thrown down some northwards but also eastwards. The lawns of the house were scattered with branches and timber and the whole scene became an unlikely public attraction the following day. Particular attention was made of the loss of many great old elms that lined Penpole Lane: it’s these trees that are shown in the recently discovered photos.
Philip William Skinner Miles, then owner of the estate, must have been faced with a huge challenge in cleaning up, and he appears to have quickly set to replanting many of the lost trees with new. A slightly later photo of Penpole Lane, from the 1860s, shows the replacement trees protected by paling fences and are already becoming well established. Opposite Penpole Lodge in this view can be seen one of the elms that survived the carnage, the branches of which are sufficiently distinctive to be recognised in the background of one of the storm photographs seen from the other side; a helpful landmark in locating the photographer’s position in 1859.
the scene on Penpole lane in around 1867, looking towards Penpole Lodge. Young trees replacing those fallen stand guarded by fences.
Thankfully, for the modern visitor, Skinner Miles chose lime trees instead of elm, or the estate would again have lost them all from Dutch Elm disease in the 1970s and 80s. Many of these lime trees can still be seen lining Penpole Lane and the avenue into Penpole Wood from the Circle.
One of the news reports detailing the course of the storm and its impact.
KWAG volunteer Jim Ellis receiving the certificate from Lord Mayor Steve Pearce.
A couple of KWAG’s regular volunteers recently attended a ceremony at the Ardagh on Horfield Common, to receive awards from the RHS Britain in Bloom It’s Your Neighbourhood scheme. These are held every year to celebrate local community action in greenspaces across the South West.
Earlier this year we toured one of the awards judges around the estate highlighting a lot of the volunteer action taken on the parkland as well as the establishment of the Penpole meadow, last year’s bulb planting, and our continued efforts to celebrate the historic Kings Weston estate. We were delighted that KWAG has had its efforts recognised by the RHS scheme with a Level-5 award for outstanding work. We’d like to share thanks to everyone who has come out to help over the last 12 months, and pass on that your efforts are being noticed, welcomed, and now recognised in these awards. Thank you!
The declining condition of the lilypond, lodges and walled gardens on Napier Miles road has long been a concern to us. The structures were already on the national Heritage at Risk Register when KWAG formed in 2011, and the condition over the last three years has declined alarmingly. The pond is now clogged with reeds and self-seeded trees whose roots are damaging the lining, probably the cause of the water having been lost. The lodges are gradually disintegrating and without any future plan for restoration. The walled gardens on the opposite side of the road, behind the old stables, are also in a parlous state. This month’s working party marks a refocus on this important part of the parkland.
The east lodge and pond seen today, overgrown and unloved.A similar angle on the same scene ten years ago
The lilypond gardens and west lodge in its prime in 1897
For years we’ve been looking at the possibility of working with Kingsweston Special School to put together a project to rescue the site, but it’s recently come to our attention that the pond and lodges have been declared surplus to the needs of the Council’s education team, and returned to the city’s property team. Having enquired, there is no current maintenance happening, or plan for what to do with the difficult site. KWAG has contacted the Council with the offer of taking on these important historic elements of the park. This is at a very early stage, but we’re glad that the Council have even been responsive to our approach. We hope to explore how we can seek grant funding to restore the lodges for some productive future use that might support the restoration and opening up of the pond to the public. We are also keen to discuss whether areas of the grounds on the opposite side of the road can be brought into the mix, to enable greater flexibility in what could happen across the whole of the walled garden area. But, like we said, this is a first step into what might become a major project for us. What we would like, from everyone who reads these newsletters, from neighbours of the site, from parks visitors and local residents, is some ideas as to what people would find most valuable to them here. KWAG have previously looked at projects that might:
Provide respite accommodation in one of the lodges to support Kings Weston Special School
A small affordable housing unit in one of the lodges
A small lettable office or self-catering cottage in one of the lodges
Growing space around the former stables to support local growers.
A nature garden in the former “View Garden”
Improved visitor facilities
Past ideas for the pond and surrounding areas from a grant bid in 2014. But what do you want to see today?
We also want to hear from anyone who wants to get involved in shaping this project. We need volunteers to come forward to help in the short term to clear the areas that we might end up with, help maintain them, take care of the gardens around the edge of the pond, and anyone with interest or experience in helping set the project up with partners.
As the project develops we’ll be going out to more formal consultation, making sure everyone is on board with anything we might do. But, as we said, this is all at an extremely early stage right now, and the most important thing is to gauge interest, and establish whether a project of this scale could be supported. Any messages or offers of support you can offer will help us determine whether we are in a strong enough position to take on what would be our biggest challenge to date, so please do let us know any thoughts you have on what should happen here.
The depressing state of the Grade II-Star Listed 1763 pond and lodges seen from the road.
We’re grateful to Shirehampton resident and long-time supporter of KWAG, David Pickering, for his donation of a small set of photos to add to our permanent collection.
The photos are a record of the House in the Garden, and the Georgian walled gardens in which it sits. The original walled gardens were begun in around 1762, but when the last private owner of Kings Weston house, Philip Napier Miles, died in 1935 it became redundant for its original purpose. Here, in 1937, the widowed Sybil Napier Miles decided to build a smaller house for herself where she lived until her death in 1948.
The House in the Garden was built in 1938 for Sybil Napier Miles after the death of her husband.
She was a keen gardener and turned the flower and produce gardens within the historic walls over to a private garden for her new home, removing many greenhouses but retaining certain elements she thought useful or attractive. The gardens were already established by 1940, when they were opened to the public to raise funds for the Queen’s Institute for District Nursing.
the view of Kings Weston House across the walled gardens from an upstairs window in the House in the Garden .
the view from the walled gardens across the lilypond towards the old stables on Napier Miles Road.
The exact date and circumstances of these photos taken by an official Western Daily Press and Bristol Observer isn’t known. The house and grounds were purchased in 1948 by the City Council to form a new primary school before new premises in Lawrence Weston were complete. They do not appear in the sales literature of that time, and there appear to be school sports court markings painted on the front drive, narrowing it down further. One source suggests 1954, which may be correct, as the condition of the old stables seen through the arch is better than when it’s next recorded, derelict, four years later. Regardless of when they were taken, they are a beautiful record of the house not long after it ceased as a private residence.
The Lilypond and Georgian Lodges have now been declared surplus to the needs of Kingsweston Special School, and we hope now to be able to discuss restoration with the Council more directly
Fruit trees trained up the back wall of the walled gardens, with the beds gone to seed.
