In about 1710 Sir John Vanbrugh was instructed to prepare designs for a new house on the site of the old one. Vanbrugh had previously designed stupendous Castle Howard for the Earl of Carlisle in Yorkshire, Blenheim Palace for the Duke of Marlborough. Vanbrugh was the most celebrated architect of his day; certainly he was the most original.
When Sir Edward died in 1730 he was succeeded by his son, also named Edward, who from 1739 to 1754 represented Bristol in parliament. His son, another Edward, inherited the estate in 1755 and from 1763 he employed Robert Mylne to build the stables and make substantial alterations to the house.
- Who was the architect and what style was it built in?
John Vanbrugh like Wren did not come to the profession of architecture until he was in his thirties. Also like Wren, he was engaged in other, different careers before this. He was commissioned in the army in 1686 and spent time in France. Vanbrugh returned to England in 1692, a few years later he took up a new profession as a successful playwright. Vanbrugh’s entry into the architectural profession was momentous; it came when he was asked in 1699 by the Earl of Carlisle to design Castle Howard in Yorkshire. This stupendous mansion was the new architect’s first attempt at design. It established him as the leader of the Baroque school in England. Vanbrugh was a master of three dimensional forms in stone, adept in creating monumental, grandiose shapes in light and shade.
Baroque is still often misunderstood in Britain because it is so frequently thought to mean heavily ornamented and elaborately shaped building. It is sometimes confused with Baroque music, which is said to mean very fancy and flowery music although the true meaning of Baroque architecture is of a much deeper quality. The essence of Baroque architecture is deeper, a quality which, at Kings Weston, can be achieved almost without ornament, or even without ornament, or even without classical apparatus of columns and cornices. Baroque is the architecture of power and of titanic forces. However there are many classical features at Kings Weston. The panned sash windows that move up and down a feature that is of the eighteenth century houses. The house seen from a distance will show that it is symmetrical. The triangular pediment shows that Vanbrugh intended to use the style of the Romans and Greeks ancient temples.
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How typical is it of other 18th century house?
The typical 18th century Georgian house would have a triangular pediment where is above the entrance to the houses, which is similar to the pediment on ancient roman temples, which is held up by pilasters which is like Kings Weston, however kings Weston’s portico is held up by pillars they are built on and called pilasters. Another grand Georgian house called Houghton hall has stairs leading up to the front door which is also similar to kings Weston.
On most of the 18th century grand houses such as Castle Howard in Yorkshire, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire which was also Vanbrughs work, Houghton Hall in Norfolk were all built to hide the roof of the houses which is also similar to Kings Weston house. All of the houses were symmetrical as Kings Weston is if viewed from a distance.
The differences Kings Weston shows compared with Houghton Hall is that there is a Georgian statue on top of the triangular pediment which Kings Weston has not got. Castle Howard has wings stretching sideways from the entrance. King Weston’s is just a smaller version of castle Howard’s centre. Also Castle Howard has a dome above the entrance which Kings Weston has not.
Blaise House has a portico which is held up by columns but Kings Weston is not held up by columns, it just has pilasters which are stuck to the wall.
Kings Weston is the smallest house that Vanbrugh had ever worked on. It has been said that apart from the chimneys it looks like a cubic block. However Vanbrugh wanted the house to look simple, these great houses were designed primarily as ceremonial buildings.
5. What does kings Weston tell use about life and fashions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?
During the 17th and 18th centuries Britain’s overseas trade grew quickly and by 1800 she had trading links with many parts of the world. Some of this trade was with her colonies such as India and West Indies. Britain exported products like coal, wool, cotton cloth, metal goods etc. she imported lots of things like tea and cotton cloth from India, furs from Canada, sugar, coffee and cotton from the West Indies. This trade made many merchants very rich. Many also made a lot of money from the slave trade.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries if you were rich you could keep up with the fashion
The house would be grand, the house would need dozens of servants to clean the house, take the warm water to the house owners and let them wash and then take the dirty water, to cook, be guardians, grooms etc.
In Holkham hall which is in north Norfolk. The kitchen is about 50 metres from the dining room which made serving hot meals a problem. This shows that the houses are grand perhaps for showing off not for convenience or comfort.
Inside the house were light and beautifully proportioned, but rather cold and formal in feeling. The huge rooms and lofty ceilings were perfect for ceremonial gatherings but not very comfortable for family life. The ceiling, walls, doors and fireplaces were decorated with carved wood or plaster patterns copied from Greek buildings: Greek or Roman statues or urns stood in niches round the walls. The tall narrow sash windows let in floods and light this is similar to kings Weston. The rich gentlemen had to have beautiful surroundings. Some if the richer people had enough money to have grand stretching wings extended from the main block of the house. Also if you were rich enough you could have a small version of a Greek or Roman temple they would use it as a summer house perhaps the Southwells had been to Italy, Greece and Egypt.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries if you were rich life would have been wonderful. They must have had dozens of servants to keep the house clean, have the meals cooked and brought to you, look after the horses and keep the garden tidy. The children of these rich people went to public schools where they studied Latin, Greek, some maths however no science and they took a gap year and went off on a grand tour to Italy, Greece and maybe Egypt to study the architectural designs and when they got back they wanted to build buildings including all of the designs they had seen in Italy, Greece and in Egypt.
- From being a busy home for wealthy families in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it became a school in the 1930s, was empty and no is a conference centre. Explain why this might have happened. Describe the changes, locally and nationally, which might help explain it.
In the 18th and 19th centuries Kings Weston house belonged to wealthy families. This was a time when servants were very cheap, being a servant was a decent job it paid low wages however food and lodging also often came with the job but perhaps not needed at Kings Weston because the Southwells could have got the workers from Shirehampton or the surrounding area.
However from 1870 more working class children were educated. In 1914 men went to war and the women began working in the factories doing the men’s jobs. Death duties were introduced where wealthy families had to pay death duties on estates, the bigger the house the more money you would have to pay. Some families couldn’t afford this, so they abandoned their houses and moved into smaller ones. There were now a wide variety of jobs available. Between 1919, the end of World War One and 1939 the start of World War Two servants became harder to find.
During World War One the house was used as a convalesant home and a lot of damage was done to the house.
Between the end of ww1 until 1937 the miles family owned the estate but council houses were started to be built creating the 2 villages Shirehampton and Sea Mills and ruining the view these could have been the reasons for the Miles family to sell the house. In 1937 Kings Weston House was sold to Bristol Municipal Charities. An alternative was to make it into a school. There were plans to change Kings Weston into Queen Elizabeth Hospital School. However in 1939 when the Second World War started the project was abandoned.
From 1939-45 the house became a military hospital for wounded soldiers again there was a lot of damage done. Kings Weston was leased to Bristol Education Committee for use as a primary school. Then was sold to Bristol College of Science and Technology and became the Department of Architecture for Bath Universities. In 1971 it was taken over for a police training school.
For somebody to actually live in Kings Weston House today would be very difficult and expensive. Even though the house was cheap to buy, the repairs would have been very expensive. As it was such a big house it would need a lot doing to it.
Today the people who owned the house would need about four or maybe more maids to keep the house clean it would have also been very expensive in terms of bills the electricity, lighting, heating and cleaning would have been very expensive.
The women of today would like a house that is more manageable as there are now more women in the work place. They would most likely want a regular sized house that is easy to keep clean.
The house now belongs to James Harding he plans to put in offices and a restaurant. The house is also a ceremonial building where wedding receptions do take place.
