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Kings Weston House () is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston, Bristol, England. It was built between 1712 and 1719 was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for Edward Southwell on the site of an earlier Tudor house, remodelled 1763–1768 by Robert Mylne and again between 1845 and 1850 by Thomas Hopper. A significant architectural feature is the grouping of all the chimneys into a massive arcade. The Kings Weston estate possesses one of the largest collections of buildings designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in the UK. Whilst the house and the majority of the estate buildings are still standing others have been demolished or been heavily altered. Bristol is the only UK city outside of London to possess buildings designed by Vanbrugh.〔Foyle, p. 292〕 The house passed through several generations of the Southwell family until the estate was sold in 1833 to Mr Philip John Miles for £210,000, and became the family seat. During the World War I the House was converted into a hospital though the house continued as a family home until 1935 when, on the death of Philip Napier Miles, it was auctioned and bought by Bristol Municipal Charities and leased to the education authority for use as a school. It later became the Bristol Technical College School of Architecture which later developed into Bath University School of Architecture. In 1970 Bristol Corporation obtained a 50% grant from the Home Office and purchased the House for £305,000 to set up a Police Training Centre for Bristol Constabulary and was used as such until 1995. It was then abandoned for five years and between 2000 and 2012 was leased from Bristol City Council and partially restored as a Business and Conference Centre by local businessman John Hardy.〔Daily Mail 4 April 2011 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/property/article-1373269/King-Weston-Houses-owner-John-Hardy-totally-consumed-major-Georgian-renovation.html〕 After April 2011 the lease on Kings Weston House was put on the market for £2 million. Following a short period of closure to the public the house was sold to a new leaseholder, local businessman Norman Routledge in December 2012. Since then the house has been extensively renovated and has opened again as a conference and wedding venue, as well as a communal residence. It has been designated by Historic England as a grade I listed building. Buildings in the grounds include a Loggia, Brewhouse and Echo which are all grade I listed in their own right. The house is surrounded by parkland and an area of woodland bordering the suburbs of Shirehampton, Sea Mills and Lawrence Weston. An iron bridge across Kings Weston Lane connects the estate to that of Blaise Castle. In April 2011 the Kings Weston Action Group (KWAG) was formed as a volunteer organisation with the ambition to conserve and enhance the Grade II Registered Historic Landscape around the house. The remains of the historic park consists of almost 220 acres split in ownership between Bristol City Council and the National Trust whose 93 acres of Shirehampton Park are leased to Shirehampton Golf Club. The whole landscape is accessible as either public park or by public footpaths and includes areas of Common land at Penpole Point. ==Before Vanburgh== Sir Robert Southwell purchased the Kings Weston estate from Humphrey Hooke, a Bristol merchant, in 1679.〔Gomme, Jenner and Bryan, p. 107〕 In 1712 a birds-eye view of the estate by Johannes Kip was published in Robert Atkyns' ''The Ancient and Present State of Glocestershire''.〔 It showed what appears to be a late Tudor house, with a layout similar to that of the current building, having a three-sided entrance court.〔 Vanbrugh later used part of the old foundations in his rebuilding, as well as retaining some of the old walls and a staircase in one of the turrets that were in the angles of the entrance court, though the staircase was later removed.〔 The park surrounding the house was extensive.〔 An avenue extended to the southwest, and there were formal parterres to the southeast.〔 The Kip illustration also shows a banqueting house, which survived as a ruin until 1966, when it was destroyed by vandals.〔 An architectural drawing dated 1707 describes it as being 'after the Modell of the Duke of Ormonds at Richmond', and it consisted of two floors, the lower one a workspace and the upper serving as the dining area.〔 Because the building was on a steep slope. both floors were accessible from ground level, and the south facade consisted of a single storey.〔 This south facade was constructed of red rubbing bricks laid in Flemish bond with exceptionally fine jointing, consisting of a little less than 1/16 inch of slaked lime putty.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kings Weston House」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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