History of Clifton Hill House
A brief history
Clifton Hill House is an 18th century merchant's house on Clifton Hill and has been used as a Hall of Residence since the foundation of the University in 1909. New wings were added in 1960 and 1972, and the majority of students are now housed in these relatively modern buildings.
Clifton Hill House was built between 1746 and 1750 as a most imposing semi-rural mansion of Palladian inspiration for Paul Fisher, a highly successful linen draper, wealthy merchant and ship owner. Paul Fisher was hailed as a very benevolent man and a great benefactor for the poor of the community. He was also most prominent in the foundation of the Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1735.
At the height of his wealth, Paul Fisher employed the Palladian architect and designer of national renown, Isaac Ware, to build Clifton Hill House. Most of Ware’s works were for private persons and few remain today. His most famous surviving building is Wrotham Park, the plans of which appear in Soldi's portrait of Ware and his daughter. A modern copy of this 18th century painting now hangs in the Fisher Drawing Room at Clifton Hill House.
Paul Fisher chose the heights of Clifton, where the air was considered to be more salubrious than in the heart of the city for the building of his Palladian villa. Horace Walpole describes Bristol as “the dirtiest great shop (he) ever saw with a foul river” and in contrast “the delightful situation of Clifton” which “induced many opulent persons and families to make it their principal residence.”
Ware must have been pleased with Clifton Hill House as the design of the house appears in his book "The Complete Body of Architecture" of 1756. CHH is a landmark in the conception of the villa and belongs to the second generation of Palladianism, with the introduction of dramatic French rococo ceiling carvings in the main Reception Rooms.
In 1851 Clifton Hill House was bought by Dr. Symonds, a well-known Bristol physician, one of the first practitioner to be appointed to the then new General Hospital and one of the first lecturers in the Bristol Medical School. Dr Symonds was famous not only for his medical proficiency but also for his gift at entertaining the literary and artistic élite of his time. As his son quoted, "He was open at all pores to culture, to art, to archaeology, to science, to literature". The house was then filled with distinguished and talented people like Lord Lansdowne, Jowett, Percival (Clifton College Headmaster) and Jenny Lind, the celebrated Victorian singer. She sang several times at the Victoria Rooms and in 1862 stayed at Clifton Hill House and sang in what is now the The Symonds Music Room. The pitch of her exceptional voice was such that it broke one fine crystal glass that was on the mantelpiece of the marble fireplace (ref Margaret Vaughan, John Addington Symonds's daughter in "Out of the Past"). Other famous people stayed at Clifton Hill House, among them John Masefield, the Poet Laureate and Dame Clara Butt who, in 1921, gave a concert in the house to launch a fund for the construction of Manor Hall.
When Dr. Symonds died in 1871, the house passed on to his son, John Addington Symonds, the poet, historian, literary and art critic. In her biography of Symonds, Phyllis Grosskurth says, "Symonds is best known for his seven-volume “Renaissance in Italy”, but he was also the author of many volumes of poetry, criticism and belles lettres. Though his work is little read today, he was a leading participant in the literary culture of his time, an early enthusiast of Whitman and a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James and Edward Lear. We know that the "Owl and the Pussy Cat", “The Duck and the Kangaroo” and other Nonsense Poems and Limericks were written for Janet Symonds, his eldest daughter.
In 1877 the Symonds, partly due to John's poor health, decided to emigrate to Davos in Switzerland. They returned briefly to Clifton in 1880 to empty the house and, unfortunately, to burn or bury many of the family possessions. "When the papers were done with, my Mother had her way with the busts of those unlovely emperors and philosophers... (She) had a large trench dug in the garden, and the busts were all wheeled down in wheelbarrows and put in the trench, and then the earth was shovelled in, and then my Mother got in herself and danced upon the earth." (Ref “Out of the Past” p 187, Margaret Symonds, Mrs. Vaughan) In 1994 a large and little used ladies cloakroom was transformed into a library to display all the remaining possessions of the Symonds family that were scattered in Hall. A permanent exhibition with family photographs and memorabilia is housed in the Symonds Library.
It is worth noting Symonds’ great interest in the founding of Bristol University College and how pleased the family was when the house was finally acquired by the University to become the first hall of residence for women in the South West of England. In September 1909, Clifton Hill House was bought for £5,500 from the Symonds family, thanks to the generosity of two anonymous lady donors.
Miss May C. Staveley, the first Warden of Clifton Hill House (1909-1934) was instrumental in the purchase of the House by the University. “ She believed that the fullness of a University life can be best realised in residence, and soon kindled into action others who saw the need for a Hall for women students living outside Bristol.” (In “Clifton Hill House, The First phase 1909-1959” by E.E. Butcher)
Miss Staveley could then welcome the first fifteen young ladies who were to reside in the newly founded Hall. A portrait of Miss Staveley still hangs in the Fisher Drawing Room.
In 1911 the University of Bristol purchased the adjacent property, Callander House for £4,000. It was extended in the 1920's, mainly thanks to the generosity of the Wills family.
On a more contemporary note, the Hall has been used by the BBC as a film location for the 'House of Elliot' and for episodes of 'Casualty'.
A.M. Burnside (June 2006)
Clifton Hill House was built between 1746 and 1750 as a most imposing semi-rural mansion of Palladian inspiration for Paul Fisher, a highly successful linen draper, wealthy merchant and ship owner. Paul Fisher was hailed as a very benevolent man and a great benefactor for the poor of the community. He was also most prominent in the foundation of the Bristol Royal Infirmary in 1735.
At the height of his wealth, Paul Fisher employed the Palladian architect and designer of national renown, Isaac Ware, to build Clifton Hill House. Most of Ware’s works were for private persons and few remain today. His most famous surviving building is Wrotham Park, the plans of which appear in Soldi's portrait of Ware and his daughter. A modern copy of this 18th century painting now hangs in the Fisher Drawing Room at Clifton Hill House.
Paul Fisher chose the heights of Clifton, where the air was considered to be more salubrious than in the heart of the city for the building of his Palladian villa. Horace Walpole describes Bristol as “the dirtiest great shop (he) ever saw with a foul river” and in contrast “the delightful situation of Clifton” which “induced many opulent persons and families to make it their principal residence.”
Ware must have been pleased with Clifton Hill House as the design of the house appears in his book "The Complete Body of Architecture" of 1756. CHH is a landmark in the conception of the villa and belongs to the second generation of Palladianism, with the introduction of dramatic French rococo ceiling carvings in the main Reception Rooms.
In 1851 Clifton Hill House was bought by Dr. Symonds, a well-known Bristol physician, one of the first practitioner to be appointed to the then new General Hospital and one of the first lecturers in the Bristol Medical School. Dr Symonds was famous not only for his medical proficiency but also for his gift at entertaining the literary and artistic élite of his time. As his son quoted, "He was open at all pores to culture, to art, to archaeology, to science, to literature". The house was then filled with distinguished and talented people like Lord Lansdowne, Jowett, Percival (Clifton College Headmaster) and Jenny Lind, the celebrated Victorian singer. She sang several times at the Victoria Rooms and in 1862 stayed at Clifton Hill House and sang in what is now the The Symonds Music Room. The pitch of her exceptional voice was such that it broke one fine crystal glass that was on the mantelpiece of the marble fireplace (ref Margaret Vaughan, John Addington Symonds's daughter in "Out of the Past"). Other famous people stayed at Clifton Hill House, among them John Masefield, the Poet Laureate and Dame Clara Butt who, in 1921, gave a concert in the house to launch a fund for the construction of Manor Hall.
When Dr. Symonds died in 1871, the house passed on to his son, John Addington Symonds, the poet, historian, literary and art critic. In her biography of Symonds, Phyllis Grosskurth says, "Symonds is best known for his seven-volume “Renaissance in Italy”, but he was also the author of many volumes of poetry, criticism and belles lettres. Though his work is little read today, he was a leading participant in the literary culture of his time, an early enthusiast of Whitman and a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry James and Edward Lear. We know that the "Owl and the Pussy Cat", “The Duck and the Kangaroo” and other Nonsense Poems and Limericks were written for Janet Symonds, his eldest daughter.
In 1877 the Symonds, partly due to John's poor health, decided to emigrate to Davos in Switzerland. They returned briefly to Clifton in 1880 to empty the house and, unfortunately, to burn or bury many of the family possessions. "When the papers were done with, my Mother had her way with the busts of those unlovely emperors and philosophers... (She) had a large trench dug in the garden, and the busts were all wheeled down in wheelbarrows and put in the trench, and then the earth was shovelled in, and then my Mother got in herself and danced upon the earth." (Ref “Out of the Past” p 187, Margaret Symonds, Mrs. Vaughan) In 1994 a large and little used ladies cloakroom was transformed into a library to display all the remaining possessions of the Symonds family that were scattered in Hall. A permanent exhibition with family photographs and memorabilia is housed in the Symonds Library.
It is worth noting Symonds’ great interest in the founding of Bristol University College and how pleased the family was when the house was finally acquired by the University to become the first hall of residence for women in the South West of England. In September 1909, Clifton Hill House was bought for £5,500 from the Symonds family, thanks to the generosity of two anonymous lady donors.
Miss May C. Staveley, the first Warden of Clifton Hill House (1909-1934) was instrumental in the purchase of the House by the University. “ She believed that the fullness of a University life can be best realised in residence, and soon kindled into action others who saw the need for a Hall for women students living outside Bristol.” (In “Clifton Hill House, The First phase 1909-1959” by E.E. Butcher)
Miss Staveley could then welcome the first fifteen young ladies who were to reside in the newly founded Hall. A portrait of Miss Staveley still hangs in the Fisher Drawing Room.
In 1911 the University of Bristol purchased the adjacent property, Callander House for £4,000. It was extended in the 1920's, mainly thanks to the generosity of the Wills family.
On a more contemporary note, the Hall has been used by the BBC as a film location for the 'House of Elliot' and for episodes of 'Casualty'.
A.M. Burnside (June 2006)