The last volunteer working party of 2023 continued work around the View Garden adjacent to the old Stables on Napier Miles Road. Cherry laurel was again our target and the dense thickets along the west side of the lost garden area as well as another spot of interest; this was what looks to be another designed rockery area next to the original viewpoint at the far north-west of the garden site.
The thicket of laurel along the edge of the path to the viewing platform (on the left) taken looking north-west from the sweet chestnut tree.The same cherry laurel disappears to reveal the impressive sweet chestnut.
It’s been satisfying to address the encroachment of the laurel across this area, where felling gives such an instant impact. Volunteers worked quickly on the area around the viewpoint, transforming it before lunchtime and revealing a huge sweet chestnut tree that much have once formed part of the Victorian garden design. Sadly, any prospect from the viewing point across the Severn would be impossible to restore for the number of trees that now obscure it.
Animation showing the impact of removing the invasive cherry laurel from the road junction between Kings Weston Land and Napier Miles Road.
Work along Kings Weston Lane Removed the errant laurels that threatened to push out across the road. The removal of these has also improved the visibility on the awkward junction with Napier Miles Road and the entrance to Kings Weston house itself, the removal of the dense shrubbery having opened a clearer view in the mirror used to check oncoming traffic coming up the hill.
The open space now restored on this corner still retains the native trees that have seeded themselves through the laurel, but the rest would be a good spot for the grubbing-up of brambles and reseeding with meadow grass. The now-open bank along Napier Miles Road also offers an opportunity for bulb planting in the Autumn.
Clearance of the area seen looking from the south, with the Victorian rockery in the middle distance.
After it first featured in the popular BBC series in 2017, Kings Weston house again took a cameo role in the Doctor Who Christmas special last month. Much of the episode ‘The Church of Ruby Road’, the first full episode with new Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, was filmed around Bristol, with the stair hall at Kings Weston the backdrop to a nasty accident involving Davina McCall and a Christmas tree. Fortunately, (spoilers) the Doctor returned through time to save her.
With a renewed focus on the area, it’s worth looking again at the history of the View Garden, once referred to as “the gem of the whole garden”, and lilypond to understand their significance. There’s enough map evidence provided by two important estate surveys of 1720 and 1772 to appreciate the colossal scale of the works undertaken from 1763 to transform the area into the walled garden and stable complex that survives today as a series of Grade II-Star listed buildings split across Napier Mile Road. To help understanding and appreciation we’ve created a short series of sketch views of the area at key moments in their development. Each image has a numbered key with the individual points described below…
1720
Halett’s estate plan of 1720 is an important record of Kings Weston just as the mansion had been completed, and before new garden works were begun. Although broadly accurate it provides scant information on the appearance and use of the area east of the main house. A later engraving gives a bit of detail, but the reconstruction here can only be described as speculative despite being based on these sources. Our reconstruction depicts an agricultural landscape with fields, orchards, and gardens separated be dry stone walls and hedges, with a few scattered traditional vernacular styled buildings. One of these was perhaps the source of a carved window stone, later built into the glasshouse wall in the 1770s.
1. The road entrance to Kings Weston house approaches from the east as it does today. The present gatehouse and wall are Victorian and of 1903, and it’s not clear what the gates would have looked like at this time.
2. The present Napier Miles Road is a rural track leading from Kings Weston House to Henbury, and the parish church there.
3. Kings Weston Lane is another agricultural track, leading to a few scattered cottages and farms. The lane passes through an ancient hollow-way where centuries of water have washed off the hill and created a gully. Several gullies like this are distributed along the escarpment edge.
4. A number of houses occupy plots of land to the east of Kings Weston house. Most will have been for labourers tied to the estate. This house was on a roughly east-west alignment, and possibly reused the manor’s medieval chapel that would have fallen out of use at the Reformation. Another medieval chapel survived as a cottage in nearby Lawrence Weston until the mid 20th century.
5. A larger house stands above Kings Weston Lane, uncomfortably built into the steeply sloping land that descends towards the north. From its size it’s likely to be a higher status house than those around it. Could it have been an earlier site of the manor, before the current site was established in the Tudor period? A fragment of stone salvaged from the glasshouse wall was recorded by us in 2016.
6. A smaller building in a small plot in this location may have been a barn or other agricultural structure.
7. Shown on the 1720 plan is a large natural pond to the south of the lane to Henbury. This ill have provided a useful resource for the farms, and likely produced ice in the winter for the earlier ice house behind the mansion.
1772
Isaac Taylor’s comprehensive estate survey was undertaken between 1771 and 1772 and includes a number of radical changes east of the house, a striking transformation from rural backwater to thriving estate hub. There are, in fact, two maps of the area drawn by Taylor, each showing slightly different features, perhaps finished at slightly different times. Both show how the old houses and boundaries were largely erased. From 1763 onwards the architect Robert Mylne enacted the third Edward Southwell’s ambition to clear away all the old stables and service buildings from beside Kings Weston house and extend the landscaped parkland to fill their space. Together, architect and client instead created a new set of buildings set in a series of rectangular walled compartments on a grid plan, providing an ambitious integrated design accommodating key estate functions, various gardens, glasshouses, and an impressive carriage house and stables complex. This was all to serve the main house with produce and flowers and service the estate’s transport needs.
8. The lane to Henbury has been realigned to become a broad straight road with grassy verges either side. The new road is designed to have a visual impact when viewed from the gates to Kings Weston house from the west.
9. The natural pond is formalised into a square pond which could be stocked with fish for the kitchen as well as providing water for the gardens and stables. Ice would be collected here in the winter for storage in the icehouse. Ramps and a platform below water level are designed to wet carriage wheels to prevent them from shrinking in hot weather and losing their metal rims.
10. The centrepiece of the new complex is the grand and formal carriage houses, with stables in the wings beyond the archway.
11. Matching the stable block in style are two lodges built framing the pond; One provides a gardener’s cottage and the other a seed house.
12. Paddocks for horses are probably intended for the north-eastern quarter of the complex.
13. Set in its own compartment and angled to maximise exposure to the sun, the glasshouse at Kings Weston and was one of the largest in the country was built in about 1771. A tall masonry wall at the back incorporated a hidden hot air heating system powered by a furnace at the back. The glasshouse quickly became a focus for Sophie Southwell’s interest in horticulture and where she nurtured her interest in growing exotic plants and flowers. It became a much-remarked feature of the estate during the 18th Century.
14. Produce gardens were kept to the southern compartments behind the pond and this walled area. This area with better access to Kings Weston house was a flower garden, laid out on a broadly regular plan but with eccentric windy paths adding interest. Flowers would have been grown to supply the house with attractive displays and perfumed blooms, but also offered a more intimate garden experience to the landscaped parkland then laid out around the mansion. An oval pond at the centre would have ben used to help watering and create an attractive centrepiece to the garden.
15. One plan of this date shows a cross here and describes a “site of an old church”. Later maps show “Bewy’s Cross” standing here. In 1720 the site was that of a building, so it’s unlikely that the cross was there at the time. It’s speculated that an ancient cross at the mouth of the Avon was relocated to Kings Weston as a garden ornament, though perhaps intended to mark the site of the old chapel. What evidence existed to suggest the church, more accurately chapel, stood here is unknown and lost when the standing buildings were demolished.
16. To create a regular new road to the stables and improve the way down the hill parts of the hill are quarried out and pushed back to leave rugged rocky cliffs against the road. New plantations are planted above them to naturalise their appearance and as a setting for the cross.
1884
The rigid Georgian plan and ambitious scale of the walled garden complex provided well for Kings Weston for over a century, with little change. The ownership of the estate had passed from the Southwell to the wealthy Miles family. Changing fashions in garden design and use and a greater demand for service buildings saw some blurring of the rigid boundaries and expansion into the surrounding landscape. The biggest change was the creation of the View Garden, probably laid out in the 1860s. The name is first recorded in 1916 when it was described as “the gem of the whole garden” at Kings Weston.
17. By the 1840s the wall of the north-east compartment is thrown down and the glasshouse and cross brought into a single garden space. About 20 years later a long axial path is laid out on the same alignment as the glasshouse, with two sets of stone steps. Fragments of these survive today. The lawns either side of the path were probably set out with ornamental flower beds. The new garden is christened the “View Garden”.
18. The Georgian glass house is passed its prime and has been rebuilt on a less ambitious scale against its original. The parts no longer covered are turned into more planting beds.
19. A covered garden seat or alcove is built at the head of the axial path, just to one side of the entrance gate, and from which to enjoy aligned views through the gardens. Yews and box trees are planted to lead the visitor along the paths and line the back of the main garden wall.
20. Another path is laid out on a more picturesque winding course, taking in a large new rockery on its way to a small clearing around the medieval cross. It may have been whilst creating the rockery or the axial path that foundations of a building were uncovered again in the 1860s and again thought to be the chapel ruins. In 1868 the cross was described and illustrated as covered in ivy, perhaps planted for picturesque affect? The view through the trees here certainly had eye-catching views to the Severn.
21. The axial path culminated in a circular viewing platform elevated above the slope of the hill. It enjoyed distant views across the Severn and Avon towards Portishead and Wales beyond, giving the View Garden its name.
22. The old icehouse behind Kings Weston house was done away with, probably in the mid-Victorian era, and relocated to behind the old glasshouse. It was covered in earth to provide added insulation and planted around with yew trees to protect it from the sun. One yew tree was planted at the very summit of the domed icehouse and remained there until it finally fell in the 1980s, pulling the earth covering with it.
23. The original Georgian rear wall was pushed north with the land built up to form a flat platform, falling away with a steep embankment beyond. The additional space accommodated the icehouse and more paddock and building space.
24. Fox hunting had become a popular recreation activity for the Miles family and more buildings were needed to stable horses and provide storage and dog kennels. These were added to the north of the stables. A woodyard and sawmill were also added in this area.
25. The flower garden had become more formal and less focussed on providing for the house. It’s dominated by four conifers planted around a now-rectangular ornamental pond. Like the View Garden, the lawns were likely planted with floral displays of seasonal bedding plants in the Victorian fashion. This garden would shortly be transformed again, with the conifers felled and a more informal pond and rockery.
This biggest news this month is the long-anticipated start to works on the Kings Weston iron Bridge. Finally, after eight years of campaigning by local groups work is finally picking up speed. The road was closed on the 27th of November for a supporting scaffolding platform to be erected under the bridge; This would take the weight of the historic structure during the required disassembly. Dorothea restoration, a specialist Bristol restoration company, oversaw the works to strap the main bridge parts to steel cradles and make a few selective cuts to metalwork, separating the bridge into two major components with a number of other elements. The western half of the bridge remained in its original condition, with components held together by iron pegs, molten lead, and just four square bolts. The eastern half had been replaced and repaired at some point in the 1970s when it was last hit.
The first half of the bridge takes flight.
The second half is craned onto the flatbed.
The big day arrived with an early and frosty start on Friday 1st December. Contractors had been on site since 7am preparing for the lifting. A crane and flatbed lorry were positioned on the north of the bridge and final preparations were made to ensure a safe and clean lift.
Eventually, at about 9am everything was in place and the first piece, the central meeting plate of the bridge, was lifter clear. Next came the first of the major sections, starting from the east, which also lifted cleanly and, with some relief, in one piece. As the bridge was dismantled it became clearer how it had been put together originally and how cleaver the design was, but there were still areas of concern. One thing that remained unknown was how the bridge was attached to the abutments, so with some trepidation the western half was edged out only gradually. Fortunately, there were no unknown anchors fastening it back into the stone, instead being fixed in position only by gravity and its own weight.
Each section of bridge, including its lifting cradle, weighed les than a ton. With efficient work by Dorothea and contractors Griffiths the work was finished by 10am and the two pieces of bridge positioned on the lorry for carrying off to the restoration workshop.
The second half to be removed floats above the trees on its short journey to the waiting lorry.
iron pegs found on the south-west arched section of the bridge.
With a detailed inspection one new feature has been identified, one so small it’s evaded notice until now. The two original arched spandrels on the west half of the bridge have tiny iron pegs close to the centre point. Four pegs were identified on the south side, but fewer were identifiable on the north. It was suggested that these once held letters or plaques, and this led us to return to old photos. It came as a surprise to discover that there were indeed plates visible in some early 20th Century postcards that we’d never noticed before. These plaques appear to be the last fragments of a larger inscription, but the photos are not clear enough to read what they said. There may be the letters “K I N” on the left side, suggesting that it may have read Kings Weston on the left and, like similar bridges, perhaps “erected 1823” was on the right? If anyone knows anything about these, what they said, or has any better images, please let us know.
Detail of an old postcard view showing the fragmentary remains of cast plaques.
The road will be closed again for a longer period in January for the main element of the works to start. This will involve the raising of the abutments either side and the formation of new steps. The road will be completely closed from the 15th Jan with a projected reopening by the 3rd May. We hope now that the programme runs smoothly and that we can look forward to a late-Spring inauguration of the restored bridge
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.
Last month we featured some of the Eighteenth Century letters written between Katherine Southwell and her son Ned Southwell; these mentioned the estate manager, or Steward, called Mr Nicholls. By chance an interesting snippet of history relating to him fell into our laps just recently.
We now know that Mr. Nicolls Christian name was Edward, and he was a Gloucestershire man born around 1723. He married Mary Churchill of Clifton in 1743, and is known to have held the key role of Steward at Kings Weston for at least 24 years, between 1755 and 1779. Whilst living and working at Kings Weston the couple had around 10 children. Katherine’s letters reveal that one of them, Ned Nicholls, had a nasty accident falling of a wall onto spikes behind the house, but was unharmed. She also mentions the eldest daughter, Betty, who she suggests might be available to act as her maid to attend her on a trip to Kings Weston, so was presumably also employed at the house. It was, however, another of their sons, Henry, who would go on to far greater things.
A coulourised early print of Kings Weston at around the time Henry Nicholls would have known it.
Henry was baptised in Henbury church in 1759. His father, aged 36, was already established in the management of the house and estate for the young Ned Southwell. Ned had recently embarked on his Grand Tour of Europe, but on his return seems to have taken an interest in Henry.
Henry took a keen interest in ships he’d regularly have seen arrayed below Kings Weston house, sailing to-and-from Bristol’s docks, and moored in Hung Road waiting for the tide. It was said of him that he “was born of the winds, and cradled in the storm”, and a fascination for the sea no doubt developed from an early age. He reputedly displayed an honest bluntness that earned the respect of Ned Southwell. Recognising the bright nature of the child, and his eagerness to join the navy, Ned arranged schooling for him in Yorkshire, before, in 1774, aged around sixteen, he joined the Royal Navy.
The opening engagement at Trafalgar; Royal Sovereign, seen at a time after Nicholl’s command, raking the stern of the Spanish flagship Santa Ana; John Wilson Carmichael
From his beginnings at Kings Weston, and through the support of Ned Southwell, Henry rose through the ranks of the Royal Navy, first being stationed in Guinea, before involvement in naval skirmishes of the American Wars of Independence. During this period he was promoted to Lieutenant, at the age of just 21. By 1781 he was made Commander of HMS Barracouta, and in 1791 had worked his way up to Flag Captain, commanding HMS Formidable, Flagship of Rear-Admiral Leveson-Gower. His next commission was the flagship Royal Sovereign which, in 1794, he commanded fighting against the French Revolutionary fleet in the Battle of the Glorious First of June, an action in which he performed so honourably he was awarded a gold medal.
He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1807, and Vice-Admiral four years later, knighted, and then appointed an Admiral in 1825. Admiral Sir Henry Nicholls, as he then was, retired from the Navy and returned to Bristol, but not Kings Weston itself where few would remember him from his childhood there. Ned Southwell, his biggest supporter, had died young in 1777, and most of the staff had been laid off during the minority of his son, Edward.
Nicholls pictured in an engraving celebrating the success of the Battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794.
Henry resided at Sion House in Clifton for the remainder of his life. Described in old age as “stoutly-built and above the middle stature. A direct, un-affected man who in later life was regarded benevolently as a rough, kind, seaman, he was an avid snuff-taker”. His 1830 obituary recorded “Sir H. Nicholls, though a strict officer, was still admired and respected, not more for his uniform zeal, perseverance, and ability, than for his excellent disposition, which displayed the kindest heart of a rough seaman in all his dealings with mankind.” Appropriately he was buried in the church where he’d been baptised, back in Henbury.
Strangely, for such a high-ranking Naval officer, with a glowing war record, there is little written about him, and less still on his connections to Kings Weston. Even his final home on Sion Hill lacks a blue plaque. Perhaps this son of Kings Weston deserves to be better know.
Sion House, Sion Row, Clifton, is the tallest of the houses facing the Gorge, with a pair of matching tall polygonal bay windows. Seen here in the 1860s at the top of the Zig-Zag.
