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, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. 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 1553 by Sir Richard Berkeley. Rebuilt by

Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt ( – 15 October 1770) was a British Tory politician and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770, when he died in office. While serving as rector at the College o ...

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

dukes of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It 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 Du ...

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 the spor ...

. 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) and wife

Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort (''née'' Berkeley; 9 April 1799) was an English Duchess. Biography Somerset was born in Stoke Gifford in Gloucestershire to John Symes Berkeley and Elizabeth Norborne.G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H. ...

whose daughter's obelisk can be found to this date on the hill she died on from falling off a horse. It was used as part of

Stoke Park Hospital __NOTOC__ Stoke Park Hospital, was a large hospital for the mental handicapped, closed circa 1997, situated on the north-east edge of Bristol, England, just within South Gloucestershire. Most patients were long-term residents, both adults and c ...

, 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 university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

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

, 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 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, H ...

. 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 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, H ...

. 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 Elizabeth Somerset, daughter of Charles Noel Somerset, 4th Duke of Beaufort, who died in 1760 from injuries sustained after falling 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