We are very fortunate. Bristol is surrounded by beautiful parkland and during August we have been exploring the country estates on the fringes of the city. For our last August walk, we ventured further down the Avon and explored the village of Shirehampton and the Kings Weston Estate. Before the M5 was built the Shirehampton to Pill ferry was the lowest crossing of the River Avon before it emptied into the Severn Estuary.
There is evidence that the Romans had a small harbour at Pill and there is the remains of a Roman villa at nearby Kings Weston. But the history of the area goes back much further. Archaeologists have found fragments of bone from the old stone age locally.
Shirehampton
Many of its 7,000 inhabitants refer to Shirehampton as a village and we met on the village green opposite the George Public house. In reality the old village has been swallowed up by Greater Bristol with a lot of social housing being built after the second World war.
We crossed the footbridge over the busy A4 Portway that bisects the village and walked down past the Lamplighter’s public house. Men rowed the ferry across the river from the Lamplighters until 1976. As we walked along the river we could see the old powder house built in 1775 to store the gunpowder which ships were not allowed to take into Bristol docks. More chilling are the quarantine steps where sick sailors would have been offloaded before being taken to the isolation hospital at Ham Green.
Pill still retains a lot of its charm although most of its twenty-one pubs where sailors would wait to pilot boats up the river Avon have now shut.
The Pill ferry was commemorated by Adge Cutler and the Wurzels with the song Pill, Pill I love thee still, even though I am leaving. The name Pill is supposed to come from an old word for creek but the Wurzels were accused of promoting drug taking. The song is recalled by this local mural.
Hung Road in Shirehampton is so called because the larger boats used to moor by the cliffs of the Avon Gorge. As the tide went out they were left hanging in midair.
Kings Weston House
After a short river bank walk we recrossed the Portway and walked up to Penpole Point on the Kings Weston Estate. Kings Weston house is a grade 1 listed building that was completed in 1719. It was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect who also designed Castle Howard and Blenheim Palace. The house is not open to the public but there is no admission charge to roam the 300 acres of beautiful parkland. There are mowed lawns, woodlands, fields and grand panoramas to discover.
Dogs are very welcome and the cafe in the house even serves an expensive brand of dog ice cream. Kings Weston house was built on the site of a Tudor mansion owned by Queen Elizabeth’s vice admiral Sir William Wynter who saw action against the Spanish Armada. In 1679 it was bought by Sir Robert Southwell who was Secretary of State for Ireland and president of the Royal Society. In 1689 he even entertained king William 111 there.
In 1712 his son Edward commissioned Sir John Vanbrugh the most important architect of his day to redesign the house and build some estate buildings. Visitors used to ride out from Bristol and Bath to see the views across to the Welsh hills and admire the house and his paintings.
The last remaining member of the Southwell family died in 1834 and the house was bought by Bristol’s first recorded millionaire Phillip Mills. In 1877 he opened a large new dock where the Kings Weston estate meets the Severn at Avonmouth. Both the docks and Avonmouth have grown considerably since then.
Fun fact
The last of the Mills family was a composer and his good friend Ralph Vaughn Williams composed the lark ascending while staying at Kings Weston. It premiered at the nearby Shirehampton village hall.
Since world war II Kings Weston house has been a college and a police training centre. It is now a conference centre and an upmarket wedding venue. It is only open for special occasions. There is free parking and the more energetic can combine a visit with the nearby Blaise Estate.
Walk length about 3 miles
You can download trail leaflets here.
3 responses to “Discovering Kings Weston House and Shirehampton”
Really enjoyed that, Anne. I missed that walk, unfortunately.
I see you are still getting your walking in, Anne. Bristol is beautiful, pastoral and I appreciate your photos.
Ah, Bristol. I would LOVE to be there again!