Current Projects
Past Projects
The Kings Weston Estate is a 98-hectare historic parkland that was laid out by the Southwell family in the mid-to late eighteenth century, with the advice of eminent landscape designers Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Thomas Wright. The informal park incorporates the remains of a formal landscape dating from Sir John Vanbrugh’s redevelopment of an earlier house and gardens around 1710-20. Vanbrugh’s contribution to the estate is represented by the survival of Kings Weston House and three garden buildings: the Echo, the Loggia and the Brewhouse, all of which are listed Grade I.
Historic tree walk at Kings Weston Estate, April 2012
Since 1992 Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust has been closely involved in the conservation, repair and reuse of the previously derelict garden buildings. Whilst the designed landscape had been the subject of a Historic Landscape Survey and Management Plan in 1994, the recommendations were not undertaken and the estate landscape had suffered a further period of decline and neglect.
In 2012 Bristol Buildings Preservation Trust commissioned a Conservation Management Plan to review the designed landscape, identify strategic projects towards its repair and conservation, and promote its positive future management.
Kings Weston House: South-east elevation drawing by Leon Shenk, c. 1710
Landscape design for Conger Hill on the Kings Weston Estate, dated 1724
A view across the Estate today
Key facts
98-hectare historic parklandAll buildings are listed Grade I
An outstanding historic landscape