Arnos Manor Hotel
| Arnos Manor Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | Brislington, Bristol, England |
| Coordinates | 51°26′29″N 2°33′39″W / 51.4415°N 2.5608°W |
| Area | South-west England |
| Built | 17th-19th centuries |
| Architect | Attributed to James Bridges |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival |
| Governing body | Private |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Arnos Manor Hotel |
| Designated | 8 January 1959 |
| Reference no. | 1201988 |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Black Castle Public House (formerly the stables to Arnos Court) |
| Designated | 8 January 1959 |
| Reference no. | 1292881 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Arno's Court Triumphal Arch (formerly the entrance gate to Arnos Court) |
| Designated | 8 January 1959 |
| Reference no. | 1203684 |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Former Convent at rear of Arnos Manor Hotel |
| Designated | 8 January 1959 |
| Reference no. | 1203961 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | The Bristol Colonnade (formerly the frontage of the Arnos Court bathhouse, now at Portmeirion) |
| Designated | 14 January 1971 |
| Reference no. | 4878 |
Arnos Manor Hotel (formerly Mount Pleasant, Arnos Court or Arno's Court) is an 18th-century house, now a hotel, in Brislington, a southern suburb of the City of Bristol in south-west England. The original house dates from the 17th century. In around 1740 the estate was bought by William Reeve, a Bristol industrialist, who converted the first house to a service wing and built a new mansion next to it. Reeve's architect was likely James Bridges. In the 1760s, Reeve embellished the estate with the construction of a stable block in the form of a mock castle, now the Black Castle public house; an entrance archway, the Arno's Court Triumphal Arch; a bathhouse with a colonnaded frontage; and by giving the front of his new house an early Gothick makeover. The hotel is a Grade II* listed building, while the Black Castle pub is listed at Grade I, and the Triumphal Arch at Grade II*. The bathhouse was demolished in the 1950s, when its colonnaded façade was moved to Portmeirion in North Wales. This structure is also listed at Grade II*.
History
[edit]The original house on the Arnos Court site dated from the 17th century.[1] In around 1740 the estate was bought by William Reeve, who had made his money through the production of copper and brass.[2] Reeve repurposed the original house as a service wing and built a new house adjoining it in a neoclassical style. His architect may have been James Bridges.[1] In the 1760s, Reeve redeveloped the estate as a pleasure ground, using an early Gothic Revival style. Andrew Foyle, in his Somerset: North and Bristol volume in the Pevsner Buildings of England series, revised and re-issued in 2011, suggests the Gothic work may have been by the Bristolian builders, Thomas and James Paty.[a][1] Developments included a stable block in a castellated style, constructed from compressed slag generated from Reeve's metal furnaces,[3] and an entrance arch which contains some genuine medieval fragments.[4] The court itself was given a "superficial" Gothick makeover.[1]
The estate was heavily developed in the 20th century, and the bathhouse Reeves had constructed in the grounds was demolished, its façade salvaged by Clough Williams-Ellis who re-erected it in the grounds of his fantasy village, Portmeirion, on the North Wales Coast.[1] The stables, now a public house, were separated from the court by a road widening scheme for the A4, and the arch was moved to its present location.[4] The court is now a hotel.[5]
Architecture and description
[edit]Arnos Court Hotel is a three-storey main block, with an attached service wing. The planning is entirely classical, but the main house has what Andrew Foyle describes as a "superficial Gothic trim".[1] The building was extended to the rear in the 19th century when it was used as a convent.[b][6]
Arnos Manor Hotel is a Grade II* listed building.[2] The Black Castle pub is listed at Grade I,[3] and the Triumphal Arch at Grade II*.[4] The colonnaded façade of the bathhouse, now at Portmeirion, is also listed at Grade II*.[7] The former convent building is listed at Grade II.[6]
Gallery
[edit]-
The former stables to Arnos Court, now the Black Castle pub -
The former entrance gate to Arnos Court -
The frontage to the former Arnos Court bathhouse, now at Portmeirion, Wales
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See also
[edit]- Arno's Court Triumphal Arch (the former entrance gate)
- Black Castle, Bristol (the former stables)
- List of buildings and structures in Portmeirion (the site of the Bristol Colonnade)
Notes
[edit]- ^ The use of a Gothic Revival style in the 1760s was progressive. Horace Walpole, who later described the Arnos stables as the "Devil's Cathedral", had begun "Gothicising" Strawberry Hill House only ten years earlier.[1]
- ^ The chapel of the former convent now houses the hotel's snooker room.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Foyle & Pevsner 2011, pp. 420–421.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Arnos Manor Hotel (Grade II*) (1201988)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Black Castle Public House (Grade I) (1292881)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Historic England. "Arno's Court Triumphal Arch (Grade II*) (1203684)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Arnos Manor Hotel, Venue & Lounge". Arnos Manor Hotel. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Historic England. "Former Convent at rear of Parkside (now Arnos Manor) Hotel (Grade II) (1203961)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
- ^ Cadw. "Bristol Colonnade (Grade II*) (4878)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
Sources
[edit]- Foyle, Andrew; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2011). Somerset: North and Bristol. Pevsner Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12658-7.