Kings
Weston House has been described as one of Sir John Vanbrugh's finest
compact houses. It was built
for Sir Edward Southwell, Secretary of State for Ireland under Queen
Anne. Work began in about 1710 and
the house was completed in 1719. In 1763-8 the house was altered by
Robert Mylne for Edward Southwell III.
The principal rooms were redecorated and improved and a two-storey
kitchen wing was built at the rear.
Edward Southwell IV died without issue and in 1833 the house was sold
to Philip John Miles. Miles was MP
for Bristol from 1835-1837 and also purchased Leigh Court Estate, where
he built the present mansion. His
eldest son by his first marriage inherited Leigh Court, while the
eldest son by his second wife inherited
Kings Weston. Philip William Skynner Miles financed the building of the
railway and docks at Avonmouth.
His son, Philip Napier Miles, died without an heir in 1935. Kings
Weston House was sold to Bristol Municipal
Charities for £9,800 to pay death duties. Miles' widow had a
smaller house built in the grounds which is now
Kings Weston School. Bristol Municipal Charities intended to move Queen
Elizabeth's Hospital school here
from Berkeley Place and redevelopment began, which included the
demolition of Mylne's kitchen extension
in 1938. However the outbreak of the Second World War halted building
work and the house was occupied
by the military. After the war the house was used as a school prior to
the completion of the Lawrence Weston
estate, and was then owned by the Bristol College of Science and
Technology. In 1970 Kings Weston was
purchased by the Home Office and became a Police Training Centre. When
the police left for new premises
at Portishead in 1995 the house was abandoned and its future became
uncertain. But in 2000 Kings Weston
was acquired for a business and conference centre and has a tea room
which is open throughout the year.