The Dower House, Stoke Park is a

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish or Welsh estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house from the larger family h ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is one of Bristol's more prominent landmarks, set on

Purdown Purdown (sometimes spelt Pur Down) is a hill in the north east of Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire t ...

, a hill above the M32 motorway on the main approach into the city, and painted yellow. The house was built in 1553 by

Sir Richard Berkeley Sir Richard Berkeley (15311604) of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire was MP for Gloucestershire in 1604. He had previously served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1564, and as Deputy Lieutenant of Gloucestershire. He was knighted by Queen Elizabet ...

. Rebuilt by

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt (c. 1717 – 15 October 1770), was a British courtier, member of parliament, and royal governor of the colony of Virginia from 1768 until his death in 1770. Life Norborne Berkeley was born about 1 ...

circa 1760, it eventually became used as a dower house by the

dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...

at nearby

Badminton House Badminton House is a large country house and Grade I Listed Building in Badminton, Gloucestershire, England, which has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The house, which has given its name to th ...

. This included

Charles Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort (12 September 1709 – 28 October 1756) was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1731 until 1745 when he succeeded to the peerage as Duke of Beaufort. Life Somerset was the ...

(the son of

Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort Henry Somerset, 2nd Duke of Beaufort, KG PC (2 April 1684 – 24 May 1714) was an English peer and politician. He was the only son of Charles Somerset, Marquess of Worcester, and Rebecca Child. He was styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1698, ...

) and wife

Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (''née'' Berkeley; 9 April 1799) was born in Stoke Gifford in Gloucestershire to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warr ...

whose daughter's obelisk can be found to this date on the hill she died on from falling off a horse. The Dower House, from green

It was used as part of Stoke Park Hospital, previously ''Stoke Park Colony'', from 1909. The house closed as hospital wards in November 1986 when the final remaining patients were moved to other wards, though the laundry remained for a period. The building was sold in 1991 to the Sennitt and Neate families who planned to redevelop the house into a nursing home, and it was rented to the nearby

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

(UWE) for lectures and seminars in the interim, while the facilities at the

Frenchay Frenchay is a village in the County of South Gloucestershire, England, and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne. It is on the outskirts to the north east of the city of Bristol. Frenchay was first recorded in 1257 as ''Fromscawe'' and later as '' ...

campus were redeveloped. Residential planning permission was sought, but before any planning permission was acquired, in 1998 the house was sold on to a consortium of housing developers. The last UWE lecture was in spring 2003. The main house was converted into 13 apartments in 2004. The estate is now maintained as an open space by

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 wards ...

, known as Stoke Park Estate. Several aspects of the house and estate are listed. The house is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The balustraded terrace, the Orangery, the remains of the Obelisk, and the Broomhill Gate are all

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The woods contain the Beaufort Memorial, the cold bath and a partially derelict stone tunnel with rusticated entrance arches, all also

. It is known locally as "The Yellow Castle".

Haunted history

Dower House is rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a girl named Elizabeth Somerset, who died in 1760 from injuries sustained after tumbling from her horse. Many visitors have claimed that they have heard galloping hooves as they travel through - although horses haven't been on the grounds for years. Steve England, a conservation educator and RHS horticulturist, states that “I’ve heard the sound of thumping hooves behind me on numerous occasions, once so vividly I jumped out of the way, but there was nothing there."

References

External links

Stoke Park Estate
Bristol City Council
The History of Stoke Park
edited by Adrian Kerton, Glenside Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Dower House Dower houses Grade II* listed buildings in Bristol Country houses in Gloucestershire Grade II* listed houses Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Houses completed in 1553 1553 establishments in England