July’s working party location coincided with a large pile of rubblestone strewn down the hillside at the foot of the steps through Penpole Wood. It’s an area we’ve explored before, with the knowledge that the stones are some of the last remnants of Sir John Vanbrugh’s Penpole Lodge that once stood immediately above.
The landmark lodge, built around 1724, survived in good condition until the last private owner of the estate, Philip Napier Miles, died in 1936. It was kept in good condition too by Bristol Scouts who bought the woods as a campsite shortly after, but decay set in during WWII, accelerated through vandalism in the years following, and finally succumbed to demolition teams in 1951.
It’s not known whether all the rubble arrived at its present location hurled from the building by vandals or simply by labourers, but both were probably responsible. It looks as though the stones settled naturally in the location rather than being dumped deliberately, though the area is well defined and localised amongst the trees.
Having hunted through the pile for architectural artefacts before and been disappointed, it was a surprise that working party volunteers began discovering some interesting fragments as they worked. Other pieces have since been recovered.
So far, five individual stones have been salvaged, four of which have since been identified as having been parts of monumental urns from the flanks of the 18th Century building. There were two types of urns on the building, four on the central tower, and four squatter cylindrical ornaments lower down on the supporting piers; in their general form these were designed to evoke ancient roman temple altars. The fragments come from these
A photograph taken shortly before Penpole Lodge was demolished shows it in a derelict condition and from the angle taken three of the cylindrical urns had already been toppled and lost. The fragments now discovered are most likely to have been from the most northerly corner, out of view from the photographer here. The other urn on the western corner had vanished much earlier, and the location of fragments close to the surface suggest they arrived there at about the time the building was disintegrating by one means or another.
It’s been possible to identify the source of these stones by carved details still preserved and recognisable through comparison with historic photos. Fragments are curved and carry carved swags replicating textiles that are seen decorating four sides of each cylindrical urn. One represents the gathered rosette or knot, another the end of the cloth hanging loose beneath it, whilst two are sections of the intermediate swags.
Having scanned the stones using photogrammetry, it’s been possible to arrange them to suggest how they might have fitted together. But, we’re far from certain whether the fragments were in this actual configuration, as none of them fit together. The two swags are from similar locations from two of the swags.
What is odd is that the urn has been so comprehensively destroyed, broken into such small pieces. Whether the drums were solid or hollow, a great deal of effort must have been expended in rendering them down to a collection of such similar sized pieces. Surely this was a deliberate reduction to rubble?
A fourth stone is more of a puzzle. It doesn’t correspond with any known detail of Penpole Lodge, either from photos or recorded in survey drawings made in 1947. One side of it has white mortar applied over its carved detailing, suggesting it was re-used from elsewhere. The carving is regular and linear, and has convex and corner mouldings on two of its outer edges. A rough slit runs up most of the ling edge, suggesting it was a rebate for glazing. The mouldings stop close to the bottom, suggesting it connected with something at its lower edge.
It’s likely to have been part of a window surround. It’s location in the debris field suggests it came from the rubble fill of the walls of Penpole Lodge, but this can’t be proven. Neither can the original source of the stone be confirmed. However, there was an earlier ornamental belvedere on the same site, known from engravings, estate plans, and other illustrations. It was a hexagonal structure, perhaps a banqueting house, and would have been demolished to make way for Vanbrugh’s more ostentatious Baroque building. Perhaps this is a fragment of that earlier structure?
One final artefact is worthy of note – referred to as the stone doughnut. This is the last portion of one of the other urns, the larger structures from the very top of the lodge. These urns were formed with great bulbous centres surmounted by tapered pinnacles from which stone flames once emitted. At some point one of these urns fell from the lodge, shed its pinnacle, and rolled like a wheel much further than any of the other debris, finally coming to a rest at the very edge of the woods. There is survives today, too massive an heavy to move, but, hopefully, salvageable someday.
