Description

BRISTOL

ST6175 BELL HILL, Stapleton
901-1/33/1935 (South side)
08/01/59 Colston School, former Bishop's
Palace
(Formerly Listed as:
BELL HILL
(South East side)
Colston School (Main Block))

II

House, later bishop's palace, now school. c1725. Altered
1841-5 by Decimus Burton. Red brick with limestone dressings;
roof not visible. Georgian style. Double-depth plan. 2 storeys
and attic; 7-window range.
Symmetrical front in 3 sections separated by rusticated
pilasters, with a ground-floor plat band, cornice, and attic
course with coved coping. Large, solid porch with Doric
pilasters, entablature and blocking course; segmental-arched
doorway and overlight, and sashes with keyed architraves each
side. The central section has 3 windows, the middle one
taller, round-headed on the first floor and flat on the attic.
The remaining windows have keyed segmental heads, architraves
and bracketed cills, and 6/6-pane sashes with fine bars. The
right return is similar, of 5 sections and a doorway with
attached Doric shafts and an entablature with triglyphs.
INTERIOR: largely mid C19, details include a high central hall
leading to a lateral stair well, with a stone open-well stair
with cut string and smooth soffit, cast-iron balusters,
wreathed rail and curtail step; ground-floor rooms have
modillion cornices and coffered ceilings with roses, and
shutters with acanthus panelling.
HISTORICAL NOTE: originally called Stapleton House, it became
the residence of the Bishop of Bristol and Gloucester in 1840
following the burning of his Palace by the Cathedral in the
Reform Bill riots, and part of Colston's School in 1857.
(Bristol As It Was: Bristol's Suburbs Long Ago: Bristol: 255).

Listing NGR: ST6149075888

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26571340

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper