Winterbourne Parish Council Report - Frenchay Park House Development

Following the closure of Frenchay Hospital, Winterbourne Parish Council will be taking over and running the hospital’s open spaces. Before this happens major management work is being carried out. The trees are being pruned, brambles cleared and the nature reserve restored.

As part of this work the fence along Beckspool Road has been removed. This gives a full view of Frenchay Park House (the former trust headquarters) for the first time in many years. When the house is returned to a private residence I think it is important to keep this view. The grounds surrounding Frenchay Park House were designed to enhance the views of the house. There are proposals to mark the boundary of the house with ‘parkland fencing’ and a yew hedge. The fence would allow a view of the front of the house but the yew hedge could eventually grow tall enough to block this view.

In the nineteenth century the land was an open common from what is now the Bristol Road down to the River Frome. When Hannah Rooke took over the house she fenced off part of the common land to form the grounds of the house. She also gave part of the common to build Frenchay National School. Whether she had the right to do this is another matter; and anyway, who is going to oppose the gentry, particularly as they were probably your employers.

The removal of the fence unifies the hospital grounds with the common. When the new tennis courts are built adjacent to the museum the present ones will be removed, enhancing this view still further. So next time you are walking across Frenchay Common turn and look at the new view which has been opened up. It is really breathtaking.

Carol Thorne
Frenchay Ward
Winterbourne Parish Council