Leigh Court

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Coordinates: 51°28′11″N 2°39′33″W / 51.46972°N 2.65917°W / 51.46972; -2.65917
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Leigh Court
Palladian
LocationAbbots Leigh, Somerset
Coordinates51°28′11″N 2°39′33″W / 51.46972°N 2.65917°W / 51.46972; -2.65917
Construction started1812 (1558 for the Tudor house)
Completed1814
Demolished1812 (Tudor house)
Technical details
Floor count4 (plus mezzanine on one side)
Design and construction
Architect(s)Thomas Hopper

Leigh Court is a

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.[3]

The site was a house of rest for the monks of St Augustine's Abbey, which became

civil wedding
services.

The

Humphrey Repton; part of them is now within the Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve
. An organic farm has also been established based on the walled garden.

History

Original building

The manor of Leigh at the time of the

Henry VIII; on 23 September the King granted the reversion of the manor, after the death of the bishop (which took place in 1559), to Sir George Norton (d. 1585).[4]

Miles baronets, of Leigh Court
MottoLabora sicut bonus miles
ArmsAzure a chevron paly of six ermine and or between three lozenges argent each charged with a fleur-de-lis sable, in chief upon an inescutcheon argent a sinister hand appaume coupled at the wrist gules
CrestUpon a helm barry affronte with visor open a dexter arm embowed in armour proper garnished or supporting with the hand an anchor also proper

The original Leigh Court was an Elizabethan mansion built by Sir George Norton. His great-great-grandson, also George Norton (born 1622), unknowingly hosted Charles II, who arrived at the house the evening of 12 September 1651, during his escape to France following the Battle of Worcester. The Nortons were friends of the Kings's travelling companion, Jane Lane. The Nortons were unaware of the King's identity during his three-day stay.[5] While staying at Leigh Court and after being recognised by the elderly butler, who had served the King when a young Prince at Richmond, Charles deflected suspicion by asking a trooper, who had been in the King's personal guard, to describe the King's appearance and clothing at the Battle of Worcester. The man looked at Charles and said, "The King was at least three inches taller than you."[6][7] Richard Ollard describes the house in The Escape of Charles II, After the Battle of Worcester:[8]

"Abbots Leigh was the most magnificent of all the houses in which Charles was sheltered during his escape. A drawing made in 1788, only twenty years before it was pulled down, shows a main front of twelve gables, surmounting three storeys of cowled windows; a comfortable, solid west country Elizabethan house."

Original house images

1.The Gateway to Abbots' Leigh House, where Charles II took refuge after the Battle of Worcester[9] 2.Side view of Abbots' Leigh House [10] 3.Main façade of Abbots' Leigh House c.1788 [11] A sketch c.1580 of the front elevation of Abbots' Leigh House (note 13 gables?) referred to as the Old Court House [12]

After the

Restoration, the King made George Norton a Knight; his widow set up an elaborate monument to him in the church at Abbot's Leigh.[13]

The manor of Abbot's Leigh eventually passed into the hands of the Trenchard family after Sir George Norton's son, also Sir George (1648–1715), and his daughter Grace (1676–1697) both died without issue. William Trenchard of Cutteridge, Wiltshire, had married Ellen Norton, sister and coheir of Sir George. The direct Trenchard line died out on the death of John William Hippisley Trenchard (1740–1801) and the 2,500 acres (10 km2) estate and the old Tudor manor, now in a state of disrepair, was sold in 1811 to

Walton-in-Gordano,[14] Walton Castle, Cardigan Priory and Underdown by Anthony Keck in Ledbury, Herefordshire.[4]

Rebuilding

The Drawing Room, Leigh Court, Bristol, c.1840. Oil on canvas by Thomas Leeson Scrase Rowbotham

Miles demolished the original building around 1812 and in 1814 rebuilt the seat a mile further north-east, to designs by

Prince of Wales, later Edward VII.[16]

Miles purchased the art collection of

Altieri Claudes) and Van Dyke,[17] as well as numerous family portraits; however, the majority of the more famous paintings were sold between 1884 and 1898.[18] In the middle of the 19th century it was possible to visit the house to view the art collection on Thursday afternoons upon application to the Miles family's business offices at 61 Queen Square, Bristol (formerly the house of Philip John Miles's father, William Miles).[4]

Hospital

The Miles family continued to occupy the house until 1917 when, in common with many such houses, it had become oversized for modern living; with death duties to pay, it was put up for auction; however, the house and 76 acres (31 ha) were withdrawn from the sale.

Royal Commission for inquiry into care of the feeble-minded that led to the Act.[22][23][21][24] The colony was regarded as a leading institution of its type.[21] Leigh Court continued to operate as part of the Stoke Park Hospital group until taken over by the National Health Service in 1948 but was subsequently restored.[2]

During the 1980s, Leigh Woods (surrounding the house) were used to film the TV series, Robin of Sherwood starring Michael Praed (later Jason Connery).[25]

Current use

Since 2000 Leigh Court has been restored and many rooms and outbuildings have been converted for use as office accommodation, conference and meeting rooms.

civil wedding services.[27] Business West (formerly the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative) also have their head offices at the house.[28]

Architecture

Externally the architectural style of Leigh Court is

Palladian. The house, built of Bath stone, has a hipped slate roof with a glazed and coffered area over its Great Hall. The appearance of the south-east and north-west elevations mirror each other. Each has three central bays, These project slightly from the rest of the frontage. The porticoes have of four, unfluted Ionic columns, above which are pediments on the plain entablature. Ionic columns can also be found on the seven bay north-east elevation. There are two-storey service wings attached to the main house.[2]

The interior is decorated in

friezes and a stone and marble patterned floor. The morning room in the east corner is in a late 19th century Adam/Wyatt style.[4]

The mansion is entered from the south-east front through an Entrance Hall measuring about 30-foot (9.1 m) square, around which four pairs of massive marble pillars with

Severn to the Welsh hills. To the left of the Salon is the Dining room, of the same size as the Morning Room. Also to the left of the Great Hall are a Billiard room, Smoking room (now used as a bar when the house hosts receptions), Gun Room and WCs.[4]

The Great Hall which has a double staircase still contains an original

Clemenza di Tito.[18]

Leigh Woods
attached to the estate

On the first floor is a suite of six "principal" bedrooms of approximately 24-foot (7.3 m) by 19-foot (5.8 m) and two dressing rooms, with a further eight other "best" bedrooms of approximately 20-foot (6.1 m) by 15-foot (4.6 m). There are two secondary bedrooms or "night nurseries" and a "day nursery" or school room as well as bathrooms and WCs. On a mezzanine level are workrooms, store rooms and closets. On the second floor are fourteen

Scullery, Dairy, Wash-house etc., though these again have mainly been converted to office space.[4] In the basement there are extensive wine cellars, storage and boiler space.[29]

The former seven-bay stable block, which was built around 1814, has now been converted into workshops and offices.[30]

Grounds

The grounds were originally

Great Storm of 1987.[3]

A

not-for-profit organic farm has been established based on the walled garden,[32] and buildings within the old estate are used by a charity providing mental health services and by the Macmillan Lymphedema Service.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b Historic England. "Leigh Court (1320671)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Leigh Court Hospital (1320671)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Leigh Court (1000407)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cooke, Robert (1957). West Country Houses. Batsford. pp. 155–158.
  5. ISBN 978-0-9543875-0-1
    .
  6. ^ Count Grammont. Memoirs of the Court of Charles the Second and the Boscobel Narratives Archived 11 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, edited by Sir Walter Scott, Publisher: Henry G Bohn, York Street, London, 1846. Chapter: King Charles's escape from Worcester: (The King's own account of his escape and preservation after the Battle of Worcester as dictated to Samuel Pepys at Newmarket on Sunday, October 3rd, and Tuesday, 5 October 1680). p.466
  7. ^ J. Hughes (ed.) (1857). The Boscobel Tracts: Relating to the Escape of Charles the Second After the Battle of Worcester and his subsequent adventures Archived 20 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine, William Blackwood and Sons. p.166
  8. ISBN 978-1-111-85365-5
    .
  9. ^ "The Gateway to Abbots' Leigh House, where Charles II took refuge after the Battle of Worcester". Watercolourworld.org. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Side view of Abbots' Leigh House, where Charles II took refuge after the Battle of Worcester". Watercolourworld.org. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Main façade of Abbots' Leigh House, where Charles II took refuge after the Battle of Worcester". Watercolourworld.org. 19 February 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. ^ "About our History and Heritage | Abbots Leigh". Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  13. ^ Historic England. "Holy Trinity Church, Abbot's Leigh (1312353)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Manor House, Walton Street (1129136)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  15. ^ Evans, William (1997). "Leigh Court, Thomas Hopper and Pythouse". Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (SANHS). 141. The Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society: 115–123.
  16. ^ "Abbots Leigh Village Character Statement" (PDF). Abbots Leigh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  17. ^ Young, John; Philip John Miles (1822). A Catalogue of the Pictures at Leigh Court, Near Bristol. London: W. Bulmer and W. Nicol. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  18. ^ a b "A brief history of Leigh Court at Abbots Leigh" (PDF). Leigh Court. Business West. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  19. ISBN 978-0-9543875-0-1
    .
  20. S2CID 10355739
    .
  21. ^
    PMID 8676319
    .
  22. ^ "Burden Neurological Hospital, Bristol". Hospital Records Database. The National Archives. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  23. ^ Adrian Kerton, ed. (2005). "The History of Stoke Park". Glenside Museum. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  24. ^ Charles Paget Lapage (1911). Feeblemindedness in Children of School-Age. Manchester University Press. pp. 11–13, 314. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  25. ^ "Locations". Robin of Sherwood. Archived from the original on 6 September 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  26. ^ "Choose Leigh Court – a grand place for a grand event". Leigh Court. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Leigh Court". Approved premises for wedding. North Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  28. ^ "Contact Us". Business West. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  29. ^ Summary of description from survey undertaken in 1915 by Knight Frank
  30. ^ Historic England. "Former Stableblock, immediately south-west of Leigh Court Hospital (1137405)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  31. ^ "Abbots Leigh". Goblin Combe Environment Centre. Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  32. ^ a b "History". Leigh Court Organic Farm. Archived from the original on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2008.
  33. ^ "Walking in Leigh Woods" (PDF). Avon Gorge. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  34. ^ "History". Leigh Court. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2010.

External links

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