Kelston Park is located in the village of Kelston

Kelston

Kelston is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, north west of Bath, and east of Bristol, on the A431 road. It is situated just north of the River Avon, close to the Kelston and Saltford locks...

, approximately 3 miles from Bath in North East Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England. Altogether the house and gardens of Kelston Park cover an area of approximately 75 hectares (185.3 acre). The house has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.

The River Avon, Bristol & Bath Railway Path, A4 and railway track between Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 and Bath can be viewed from the rear of the building, which is now primarily used as offices.

History

The first house on the site was built between 1567 and 1574 by John Harrington which was later finished by his son. It was intended to be one of the grandest houses in the county.

The current house within Kelston Park, which covers 13202 square foot on three floors, was built around the 1760s by John Wood, the Younger

John Wood, the Younger

John Wood, the Younger was an English architect, working principally in the city of Bath, Somerset. He began his work as an assistant for his father, the architect John Wood, the Elder...

 for Sir Caesar Hawkins, who was the physician to the King. Sir Caesar Hawkins then commissioned Capability Brown

Capability Brown

Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...

 to lay out the park in 1767-8.

In 1828 it was sold by the Hawkins family to Joseph Neeld

Joseph Neeld

Joseph Neeld was Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the rotten borough of Gatton, Surrey in 1830 and for Chippenham, Wiltshire, England from 1830 to 1856.- Career :...

 who built many of the outhouses. It passed down through the family to the Inigo-Jones family, who added an entrance lodge and the porch over the main entrance. The house was leased to the Methodist Church in 1967 for use as a training centre.

Office use

In 1993 the house was purchased to became the headquarters of The Andrew Brownsword

Andrew Brownsword

Andrew Douglas Brownsword , is an English entrepreneur, developing his fortune through the greeting cards and gifts of Forever Friends. He has regularly featured on the Sunday Times Rich List, with an estimated fortune of £190 million....

 Collection, which made greeting cards and were acquired by Hallmark Cards

Hallmark Cards

Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....

. The offices now in the house include the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), Cornwall Light and Power and U2.com.