Stoke Park is a public open space of in

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 occupies a prominent position on the eastern flanks of

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 ...

, alongside the M32 motorway, together with the

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

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 ...

and Purdown transmitter. Approximately 80% of the park is within the

ward of

Lockleaze Lockleaze is an area and council ward in the northern suburbs of the city of Bristol, England, north of the city centre, south of Filton, east of Horfield and west of Frenchay. Lockleaze is a residential area of social housing built on the ...

, the remainder within

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming part ...

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 ...

plan to extend cattle grazing throughout the park between April and November 2018 to stop the spread of invasive scrub and as an educational resource. There has been some public opposition to developments in the park. Petitions have opposed the felling of hundreds of trees in a stretch of young woodland and the construction of a 3m wide path which could stretch for nearly 2km across the park's meadows.

The Dower House

The Dower House The Dower House, Stoke Park is a dower house in Bristol, England. It is one of Bristol's more prominent landmarks, set on Purdown, a hill above the M32 motorway on the main approach into the city, and painted yellow. The house was built in 1 ...

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

. It has also been used as part of Stoke Park Hospital. The house closed as a hospital in 1985, and has been converted into flats.

Duchess Pond

Within Stoke Park are two small lakes, the largest of which is Duchess Pond. It is used for angling and also supports breeding birds which are scarce elsewhere in Bristol, for example,

reed warbler The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler famil ...

and

reed bunting The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a ...

; in addition, an

Egyptian goose The Egyptian goose (''Alopochen aegyptiaca'') is a member of the duck, goose, and swan family Anatidae. It is native to Africa south of the Sahara and the Nile Valley. Egyptian geese were considered sacred by the Ancient Egyptians, and appeared ...

was seen here in 2006 and a

bittern Bitterns are birds belonging to the subfamily Botaurinae of the heron family Ardeidae. Bitterns tend to be shorter-necked and more secretive than other members of the family. They were called ''hæferblæte'' in Old English; the word "bittern" ...

in 2014.

Listed structures

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, a stone tunnel, and a partially derelict stone tunnel with rusticated entrance arches, all also

Other facilities

* Hermitage Tunnel *

Purdown BT Tower Purdown BT Tower, also known as Purdown Transmitter (sometimes written as ''Pur Down''), is a 70.1 metres (230 ft) tall telecommunications tower in Bristol, England. Built in 1970 for the British Telecom microwave network, it is now used to ...

* Woodland * World War II gun emplacements on Purdown: The site was first established in 1939 to hold mobile anti-aircraft guns, but was converted to a permanent concrete reinforced battery in June 1940. Manned by the Royal artillery regiment, the site included octagonal gun emplacements, integral ammunition bays and shelters with surrounding blast walls as well as a command post. Most of the structures survive and are still clearly observable.

References

External links

Stoke Park Estate
Bristol City Council
The History of Stoke Park
edited by Adrian Kerton, Glenside Museum
Stoke Park, Bristol Outline Management Plan
Cooper Partnership, September 1999 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoke Park, Bristol Parks and open spaces in Bristol