Blaise Museum

About the museum

Blaise Museum is housed in Blaise Castle House, a two-storey Neoclassical mansion in the grounds of the Blaise Castle Estate in Henbury, on the north-west edge of Bristol. The Bristol merchant and banker John Harford bought the estate in 1789, pulled down the old house and had the present building put up in 1796–1798 to a design by William Paty. The landscaper Humphry Repton laid out the parkland, and John Nash added an orangery around 1805 and a dairy in the grounds.

Harford’s son John Scandrett Harford inherited the estate in 1812. In 1832–1833 the architect Charles Robert Cockerell designed the Picture Room for him, a gallery with a portico of six Ionic columns that still shows paintings from the Bristol museum collections on red flock paper. The Harford family lived here until Bristol City Council bought the estate in 1926 to protect it from development. During the Second World War the armed forces used the house.

Since 1949 the house has been run as a branch of Bristol’s city museum. Its galleries now show how people lived over the last 300 years, with displays of household equipment for cooking, lighting and washing, toys and costume, alongside the period rooms and interiors of the house. The museum is part of Bristol Museums and offers free entry. Visitors can also collect a key from the museum to visit the nearby Kings Weston Roman Villa.

Highlights

• Bristol at Home galleries on cooking, washing and household contraptions
• Toy collection from the 1800s to the present, with dolls, teddy bears and a rocking horse
• Costume displays from Bristol Museums’ historic clothing collection
• Picture Room by Charles Robert Cockerell, hung with paintings
• Dressing-up room and a setting in Blaise Castle Estate parkland

Permanent exhibitions

• Bristol at Home – Cooking, lighting, washing and other household equipment used in Bristol homes over the last 300 years, including a collection of baths and china toilets.
• Toys – Toys from the 1800s to the present, including teddy bears, dolls, tin soldiers, a rocking horse and doll’s house furniture.
• The Picture Room – A gallery of paintings from the Bristol art collections, hung on red flock paper in a room designed in the 1830s.

Founded

1949

Operated by

Bristol Museums (Bristol City Council)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free; donations are always welcome. A key to the nearby Kings Weston Roman Villa, a separate free site, can be collected at the museum against a refundable £10 deposit.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom: not available
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The house is a late 18th-century mansion with stairs to all floors and no lift. Wheelchair access to the ground floor is possible using a portable ramp, and visitors should ask staff for help. One adult-sized wheelchair can be borrowed. There is no wheelchair-accessible toilet. Folders with photographs of the displays upstairs are available on the ground floor for visitors who cannot climb the stairs. Assistance dogs are welcome. An access guide is available from AccessAble.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Hands-on stations
• Baby changing facilities

The museum has a dressing-up room and a setting in the parkland of Blaise Castle Estate. Baby changing facilities are on the ground floor. Because of the age and layout of the house, access is restricted and school workshops take place on the ground floor.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on Henbury Road. From the M5, leave at junction 17 and take the A4018 towards West Bristol, turn right into Crow Lane at the third roundabout, then right into Henbury Road, pass the Blaise Inn on the right, and follow the one-way system.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

A gift shop on the ground floor sells toys and gifts, and cold drinks, ice cream and snacks are available. Hot drinks and snacks are served at the Blaise Estate café near the car park entrance. Toilets are on the ground floor, with further toilets near the car park entrance.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit