Blaise Castle House Museum

About the venue

Blaise Castle House Museum is a fine Bath stone building set in over 400 acres of rolling parkland on the northern fringes of the city.

Originally built in 1 796 for John Scandrett Harford, a prominent Bristol Quaker, it was designed by the architect, William Paty. At the same time the grounds were laid out by Humphry Repton, one of the most famous landscape designers of the time. The House was later altered by Harford's son, a classical scholar and art connoisseur who commissioned Charles Cockerell to design a picture gallery with an impressive portico in 1 832 and was largely responsible for the present appearance of the House. The House has been a museum for well over 50 years and holds the social history collections belonging to Bristol's Museums, Galleries and Archives. The displays feature a wide selection of toys and games, intriguing domestic equipment, and nineteenth century costume. The Picture Room as been restored to its former glory with walls decorated with sumptuous red paper, hung with pictures from the City Museum & Art Gallery's collections and lit by four beautiful chandeliers, creating an elegant setting