History of Ashley House
Ashley House and the houses in Williamson Road and St
Bartholomews Road here are built on land which
once formed part of the Ashley Grange estate.
The original Ashley Grange is now gone. It was built in the1830s as an
extension of the Ashley Farm house which stood on the crest of the hill, now
occupied by lock-up garages in front of the tennis club and houses at the
end of Wathen Road. The famous cricket icon, W G Grace lived there for a
couple of years in the 1890s.
At one time, Ashley Grange was owned by Sir Charles Wathen, the eminent lord
Mayor for six terms of office and generous benefactor to the City of
Bristol. He saved the City Museum and Art Gallery from bankruptcy with his
own funds, and bequeathed them to the city of Bristol. In 1865 he had Ashley
House built on part of his estate in the prominent position we know today.
Ashley House remained his home until his death in 1892. Ashley House was
subsequently occupied by Christopher Albert Hayes and later Walter Bryant.
Both were Lord Mayors for various terms of office. From 1938 the building
was used as a private collegiate (secondary) school and most recently for
the Sefton Park Youth Club.
Williamson and St Bartholomews roads were built around about 1910 as an
access road to the new Sefton Park School, built in the grounds to the rear
of the splendid Ashley House. On the corner with Ashley Down road (where No
2 Williamson Road now stands), was a gatehouse lodge and graceful curving
access drive up the hill to Ashley Grange. Part of the old Ashley Grange
stables yard on the corner of Williamson and St Bartholomews Roads was
occupied by Browns Motor Engineers in 1931. The site is still a motor repair
business today.
Houses first appeared in Williamson Road in 1939 and the four houses in St
Bartholomews Road were built soon after. The scout hut was originally behind
the now demolished St Andrews Church. This stood in the present park at the
lower end of St Andrews Road. The hut was dismantled and moved to the
present site in the late 1970s.
Ashley House is one of the few remaining historic houses in the Area. It's
fine architectural style contributes to the ambience of the neighbourhood
and it supports a unique infrastructure of facilities for children and young
people. The regrettable closure of the Youth Club is one of the first moves
in dismantling this infrastructure. The City Council, who clearly have no
appreciation of the historic value of this building, wish to demolish Ashley
house and the Scout Hut and expand the school behind from two form entry to
three form entry. We consider that such expansion is inappropriate to the
small size of the site and will be detrimental to the amenities in the area.
The much needed school places can be adequately provided by the original
(abandoned) proposal of building a new school on the Brunel field site.
Demolition of Ashley House with it's unique historic character is little
short of cultural vandalism. The Council should be looking to responsible
conservation of this building and sympathetically upgrading and insulating
the inside for modern low energy use. Such an approach will have
significantly lower carbon footprint and disruption than the proposed
demolition, clearing the site and starting from scratch.
For more on the history of Ashley house see the Application For Listed Building Status, Bristol Listing.doc