The Georgian House is a historic building at 7 Great George Street,

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England. It was originally built around 1790 for John Pinney, a wealthy sugar merchant and

slave plantation A slave plantation is an agricultural farm that uses enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...

owner, and is now furnished and displayed as a typical late 18th century town house. The period house museum includes a drawing room, eating room, study, kitchen, laundry and housekeeper's room. There is also a small display on slavery and sugar plantations. The Georgian House has been a branch of

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol, in South West England. Bristol has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...

since it was presented to the city as a museum in 1937. The museum is open from 1 April to 31 December on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, 11am-4pm. It received 32,127 visitors in 2019.

History

The Georgian House is a well-preserved example of a typical late 18th-century town house, which has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

as a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It was built around 1790 for John Pinney, a sugar merchant and slave plantation owner, and is believed to be the house where the poets

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

and

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

first met. It was also home to the freed slave Frances Coker who was a maid and Pinney's slave, Pero, after whom Pero's Bridge at

Bristol Harbour Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river River Avon, Bristol, Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was preven ...

is named. It contains some of the original furniture and fittings, such as the bureau-bookcase in the study and a rare cold water plunge bath, and has been used as a location for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

TV series A Respectable Trade, which was adapted from the book by

Philippa Gregory Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...

, about the slave trade.

Areas of the house

*The Dining Room *Pinney's Study *The Drawing Room *Library and a Ladies' Withdrawing Room *The Bedroom *A hidden staircase *A small lift (dumb waiter) *The Housekeeper's Room *The cold water plunge pool

Film and media

On 5 July 2010, Amanda Vickery filmed scenes for her series '' At home with the Georgians'' at the Georgian House.

References

External links

The Georgian House Museum
{{Culture in Bristol Historic house museums in Bristol Houses completed in 1791 Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Bristol Georgian architecture in Bristol Museums established in 1937 1937 establishments in England

History

Areas of the house

Film and media

See also

References

External links