Leigh Court
Encyclopedia
Leigh Court is a country house
which is a Grade II* listed building in Abbots Leigh
, Somerset
, England.
The manor of Leigh at the time of the Norman Conquest belonged to the lordship of Bedminster but William the Conqueror awarded it to the Bishop of Coutances. The manor house was given in 1118 by Robert Fitzharding
to become a house of rest for the abbot and monks of St Augustine's Monastery in Bristol and as "Abbot's Leigh" it was destinguished from other places named "Leigh
". At the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, Paul Bush
, the Bishop of Bristol
, surrendered it by a deed dated 25 May 1549 to Henry VIII
; on 23 September the King granted the reversion of the manor, after the death of the bishop (which took place in 1559), to Sir George Norton (d. 1585).
The original house was demolished and rebuilt in the Regency period by Philip John Miles and became the seat of the Miles Baronets
. The estate now offers office accommodation, conference and meeting rooms, and the house has a licence as a venue for civil wedding services.
built by Sir George Norton of Bristol
in 1558. His great-great-grandson, also George Norton (born 1622), unknowingly hosted Charles II
, who arrived at the house the evening of 12 September 1651, during his escape to France
following the Battle of Worcester
. the Nortons were friends of the Kings's travelling companion, Jane Lane
. The Nortons were unaware of the King's identity during his three-day stay.
While staying at Leigh Court and after being recognised by the elderly butler, who had served the King when a young Prince at Richmond, Charles deflected suspicion by asking a trooper, who had been in the King's personal guard, to describe the King's appearance and clothing at the Battle of Worcester
. The man looked at Charles and said, "The King was at least three inches taller than you."
Richard Ollard describes the house in The Escape of Charles II, After the Battle of Worcester:
After the Restoration
, the King made George Norton a Knight; his widow set up an elaborate monument to him in the church at Abbot's Leigh.
The manor of Abbot's Leigh eventually passed into the hands of the Trenchard family after Sir George Norton's son, also Sir George (1648–1715), and his daughter Grace (1676–1697) both died without issue. William Trenchard of Cutteridge, Wiltshire, had married Ellen Norton, sister and coheir of Sir George. The direct Trenchard line died out on the death of John William Hippisley Trenchard (1740–1801) and the estate and the old Tudor manor, now in a state of disrepair, was sold to Philip John Miles (1773–1845), who also owned properties and extensive estates elsewhere including Kings Weston House
(by Sir John Vanbrugh
), The Manor House (Old Rectory) at Walton-in-Gordano, Walton Castle
, Cardigan Priory and Underdown (by Anthony Keck) in Ledbury
, Herefordshire
.
. Philip Miles died in 1845, leaving Leigh Court to his eldest son, William Miles
, for whom the Miles Baronetcy of Leigh Court, Somerset
was created in 1859. In 1884 the second Baronet, Sir Sir Philip Miles
, entertained the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII
.
Externally the architectural style of Leigh Court is Palladian. The house, built of Bath stone
, has a hipped
slate
roof with a glazed and coffered area over its Great Hall. The south-east and north-west elevations are identical, with the central three bays slightly advanced with a detached portico of four, unfluted Ionic
columns, with plain entablature
and pediments. The north-east elevation is of seven bays with the central bays recessed behind four Ionic columns. To the south-west are attached nine-bay service wings of two storeys.
The impressive, largely intact interior is Greek Revival. The square entrance hall has a central ring of eight marble Ionic columns which support a saucer dome. In addition it contains decorative anthemion
friezes and a stone and marble
patterned floor. The morning room in the east corner is in a late 19th century Adam
/Wyatt
style.
The mansion housed a collection of over a hundred paintings representing many Old Masters - Domenichino
(including the St John the Evangelist
sold in 2009 for £9.2 million), Titian
, Poussin
, Michelangelo
, Raphael
, Rubens
, Claude Lorrain
(including the Altieri Claudes) and Van Dyke
, as well as numerous family portraits, however the majority of the more famous paintings were sold between 1884 and 1898. It was possible to visit the house to view the art collection on Thursday afternoons upon application to the Miles family's business offices at 61 Queen Square, Bristol
(formerly the house of Philip John Miles's father, William Miles). The Great Hall which has a double staircase still contains an original pipe organ
built by Flight and Robson of London
. In addition to being played manually, it could originally be set to play the overture and a duet ("Ah, Perdona") from Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito. The grounds were originally landscaped
by Humphrey Repton. At the turn of the 19th century a 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) walled garden was built to provide food for the estate.
The Miles family continued to occupy the house until 1917 when, in common with many such houses, it had become oversized for modern living; with onerous death duties to pay, it was put into a period of institutional use as a hospital.
capitals giving the impression of a circular room. This leads to the Great Hall
50 feet (15.2 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) and 50 feet (15.2 m) high extending to the glazed and coffered
roof; the Hall is surrounded by galleries on the first floor which are supported by marble pillars with Ionic capitals. This in turn leads on to the Salon
which is the same size as the Entrance Hall. To the right of the Great Hall is the Library
which is 55 feet (16.8 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) and was fitted with bookcase
s on three sides to the full height of the room and has two mauve marble fireplaces and deep coved friezes and cornicing. The ceiling, 18 feet (5.5 m) high, is of a bold, coffered geometrical design. The Library leads, to its right, to the Morning Room, about 35 feet (10.7 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m) and to its left to the Drawing Room of the same size as the Morning Room
, decorated with gilt and tapestries and with views extending across the Severn to the Welsh hills
. To the left of the Salon is the Dining Room
, of the same size as the Morning Room. Also to the left of the Great Hall are a Billiard Room
, Smoking Room
(now used as a bar when the house hosts receptions), Gun Room
and WCs.
On the first floor is a suite of six "principal" bedrooms of approximately 24 feet (7.3 m) by 19 feet (5.8 m) and two dressing rooms, with a further eight other "best" bedrooms of approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 15 feet (4.6 m). There are two secondary bedrooms or "night nurseries" and a "day nursery" or school room as well as bathrooms and WCs. On a mezzanine level are workrooms, store rooms and closets.
On the second floor are fourteen "Maidservants' Bedrooms"
though most such bedrooms have been converted to office space.
In the south-west wing on the first floor level are eight "Menservants' Bedrooms", again converted subsequently to office space and on the ground floor level are the domestic offices which were originally the Butler's Pantry, Butler's Room
, Servants' Hall
, Housekeeper's Room, Kitchen, Still Room
, Scullery
, Dairy, Wash-house etc., though these again have mainly been converted to office space.
In the basement there are extensive wine cellar
s, storage and boiler space.
council as a venue for civil wedding services.
Business West (formerly the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative) also have their head offices at the house.
A not-for-profit organic farm has been established based on the walled garden, and buildings within the old estate are used by a charity providing mental health services and by the Macmillan Lymphoedema Service.
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
which is a Grade II* listed building in Abbots Leigh
Abbots Leigh
Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about west of the centre of Bristol.-History:The original Middle English name was Lega and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid 12th century when Robert Fitzharding , who acquired the village as Lord of the Manor, gave the...
, 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.
The manor of Leigh at the time of the Norman Conquest belonged to the lordship of Bedminster but William the Conqueror awarded it to the Bishop of Coutances. The manor house was given in 1118 by Robert Fitzharding
Robert Fitzharding
Robert Fitzharding was an Englishman from Bristol who rose to the feudal barony of Berkeley and founded the family which still holds Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, the castle whose construction he started...
to become a house of rest for the abbot and monks of St Augustine's Monastery in Bristol and as "Abbot's Leigh" it was destinguished from other places named "Leigh
Leigh
- In England :* Leigh, Dorset* Leigh, Greater Manchester** Leigh * Leigh, Kent* Leigh, Staffordshire* Leigh, Surrey* Leigh, Wiltshire* Leigh, Worcestershire* Leigh-on-Mendip, Somerset...
". At the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, Paul Bush
Paul Bush (bishop)
Paul Bush was an English Augustinian and first bishop of Bristol of the new diocese.-Life:He was born in Somerset, and studied at the University of Oxford, taking his degree of B.A. about 1517, by which time he was known as a poet. He subsequently read divinity, studying among the Bonhommes whose...
, the Bishop of Bristol
Bishop of Bristol
The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...
, surrendered it by a deed dated 25 May 1549 to Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
; on 23 September the King granted the reversion of the manor, after the death of the bishop (which took place in 1559), to Sir George Norton (d. 1585).
The original house was demolished and rebuilt in the Regency period by Philip John Miles and became the seat of the Miles Baronets
Miles Baronets
The Miles Baronetcy, of Leigh Court in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1859 for the banker and Conservative politician William Miles...
. The estate now offers office accommodation, conference and meeting rooms, and the house has a licence as a venue for civil wedding services.
Original building
The original Leigh Court was an Elizabethan mansionElizabethan architecture
Elizabethan architecture is the term given to early Renaissance architecture in England, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Historically, the period corresponds to the Cinquecento in Italy, the Early Renaissance in France, and the Plateresque style in Spain...
built by Sir George Norton of 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...
in 1558. His great-great-grandson, also George Norton (born 1622), unknowingly hosted Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, who arrived at the house the evening of 12 September 1651, during his escape to France
Escape of Charles II
The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 is a key episode in his life. Although it took only six weeks, it had a major effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life.-The fugitive king:...
following the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
. the Nortons were friends of the Kings's travelling companion, Jane Lane
Jane Lane, Lady Fisher
Jane Lane played a heroic role in the Escape of Charles II in 1651. The main significance of the story is the key part that the escape played in forming the character and the opinions of Charles.-Origins:...
. The Nortons were unaware of the King's identity during his three-day stay.
While staying at Leigh Court and after being recognised by the elderly butler, who had served the King when a young Prince at Richmond, Charles deflected suspicion by asking a trooper, who had been in the King's personal guard, to describe the King's appearance and clothing at the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
. The man looked at Charles and said, "The King was at least three inches taller than you."
Richard Ollard describes the house in The Escape of Charles II, After the Battle of Worcester:
"Abbots Leigh was the most magnificent of all the houses in which Charles was sheltered during his escape. A drawing made in 1788, only twenty years before it was pulled down, shows a main front of twelve gables, surmounting three storeys of cowled windows; a comfortable, solid west country Elizabethan house."
After the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, the King made George Norton a Knight; his widow set up an elaborate monument to him in the church at Abbot's Leigh.
The manor of Abbot's Leigh eventually passed into the hands of the Trenchard family after Sir George Norton's son, also Sir George (1648–1715), and his daughter Grace (1676–1697) both died without issue. William Trenchard of Cutteridge, Wiltshire, had married Ellen Norton, sister and coheir of Sir George. The direct Trenchard line died out on the death of John William Hippisley Trenchard (1740–1801) and the estate and the old Tudor manor, now in a state of disrepair, was sold to Philip John Miles (1773–1845), who also owned properties and extensive estates elsewhere including Kings Weston House
Kings Weston House
Kings Weston House is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston, Bristol, England.It was built between 1710 and 1725 was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for Edward Southwell on the site of an earlier Tudor house, and remodelled 1763 by Robert Mylne. A significant architectural feature is...
(by Sir John Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
), The Manor House (Old Rectory) at Walton-in-Gordano, Walton Castle
Walton Castle
Walton Castle is a 17th Century, Grade II listed castle set upon a hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, on the site of an earlier Iron Age hill fort.-History:...
, Cardigan Priory and Underdown (by Anthony Keck) in Ledbury
Ledbury
Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of Ledbury's most outstanding...
, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
.
Rebuilding
After the estate of some 2500 acres (10.1 km²) was sold to Philip John Miles (1773–1845) in 1811, he demolished the original building around 1812 and in 1814 rebuilt the seat a quarter of a mile further north-east, to designs by Thomas Hopper, that were based on plans which Hopper had previously drawn for Pytminster House, WiltshireWiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. Philip Miles died in 1845, leaving Leigh Court to his eldest son, William Miles
Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet
Sir William Miles, 1st Baronet was an English politician, agriculturalist and landowner. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford and was created Baronet on April 19, 1859, of Leigh Court, Somerset....
, for whom the Miles Baronetcy of Leigh Court, Somerset
Miles Baronets
The Miles Baronetcy, of Leigh Court in the County of Somerset, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 19 April 1859 for the banker and Conservative politician William Miles...
was created in 1859. In 1884 the second Baronet, Sir Sir Philip Miles
Sir Philip Miles, 2nd Baronet
Sir Philip John William Miles, 2nd Baronet was an English politician. Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he then served in the 17th Lancers. He was a sheriff of Bristol in 1853 and partner in the family's bank, Miles & Co from 1852 - 1854...
, entertained the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
Externally the architectural style of Leigh Court is Palladian. The house, built of Bath stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
, has a hipped
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof with a glazed and coffered area over its Great Hall. The south-east and north-west elevations are identical, with the central three bays slightly advanced with a detached portico of four, unfluted Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns, with plain entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
and pediments. The north-east elevation is of seven bays with the central bays recessed behind four Ionic columns. To the south-west are attached nine-bay service wings of two storeys.
The impressive, largely intact interior is Greek Revival. The square entrance hall has a central ring of eight marble Ionic columns which support a saucer dome. In addition it contains decorative anthemion
Palmette
The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has an extremely long history, originating in Ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art of most of Eurasia, often in forms that bear...
friezes and a stone and marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
patterned floor. The morning room in the east corner is in a late 19th century Adam
Adam style
The Adam style is an 18th century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practiced by the three Adam brothers from Scotland; of whom Robert Adam and James Adam were the most widely known.The Adam brothers were the first to advocate an integrated style for architecture and...
/Wyatt
Wyatt family
The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects across the 18th and 19th centuries.-The family:This is a summary tree to show the linkages...
style.
The mansion housed a collection of over a hundred paintings representing many Old Masters - Domenichino
Domenico Zampieri
Domenico Zampieri was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School, or Carracci School, of painters.-Life:...
(including the St John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist (Domenichino)
Saint John the Evangelist is a painting by the Italian Baroque painter Domenichino.-History:The painting is thought to have been commissioned by either Benedetto or his brother Vincenzo Giustiniani since it appears in the 1638 Giustiniani inventory...
sold in 2009 for £9.2 million), Titian
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Poussin
Poussin
Poussin refers to:*Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin Belgian mathematician*Charles-Louis-Joseph-Xavier de la Vallée-Poussin Belgian geologist and mineralogist, father of Charles Jean*Nicolas Poussin , French painter...
, Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
, Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French Claude Gellée, , dit le Lorrain) Claude Lorrain, , traditionally just Claude in English (also Claude Gellée, his real name, or in French...
(including the Altieri Claudes) and Van Dyke
Anthony van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
, as well as numerous family portraits, however the majority of the more famous paintings were sold between 1884 and 1898. It was possible to visit the house to view the art collection on Thursday afternoons upon application to the Miles family's business offices at 61 Queen Square, Bristol
Queen Square, Bristol
Queen Square is a garden square in the centre of Bristol, England. It was originally a fashionable residential address, but now most of the buildings are in office use....
(formerly the house of Philip John Miles's father, William Miles). The Great Hall which has a double staircase still contains an original pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
built by Flight and Robson of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In addition to being played manually, it could originally be set to play the overture and a duet ("Ah, Perdona") from Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito. The grounds were originally landscaped
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
by Humphrey Repton. At the turn of the 19th century a 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) walled garden was built to provide food for the estate.
The Miles family continued to occupy the house until 1917 when, in common with many such houses, it had become oversized for modern living; with onerous death duties to pay, it was put into a period of institutional use as a hospital.
Description
The mansion is entered from the south-east front through an Entrance Hall measuring about 30 feet (9.1 m) square, around which four pairs of massive marble pillars with IonicIonic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
capitals giving the impression of a circular room. This leads to the Great Hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
50 feet (15.2 m) by 30 feet (9.1 m) and 50 feet (15.2 m) high extending to the glazed and coffered
Coffer
A coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
roof; the Hall is surrounded by galleries on the first floor which are supported by marble pillars with Ionic capitals. This in turn leads on to the Salon
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
which is the same size as the Entrance Hall. To the right of the Great Hall is the Library
Private library
A private library is a library under the care of private ownership, as compared to that of a public institution, and is usually only established for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use stamps, stickers, or embossing to show...
which is 55 feet (16.8 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) and was fitted with bookcase
Bookcase
A bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture, almost always with horizontal shelves, used to store books. A bookcase consists of a unit including two or more shelves which may not all be used to contain books or other printed materials. Shelves may be fixed or adjustable to different positions...
s on three sides to the full height of the room and has two mauve marble fireplaces and deep coved friezes and cornicing. The ceiling, 18 feet (5.5 m) high, is of a bold, coffered geometrical design. The Library leads, to its right, to the Morning Room, about 35 feet (10.7 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m) and to its left to the Drawing Room of the same size as the Morning Room
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
, decorated with gilt and tapestries and with views extending across the Severn to the Welsh hills
Twmbarlwm
Twmbarlwm also known as Twm Barlwm, Twyn Barlwm, or locally known as "The tump" in relation to the mound that lies on its summit, is a mountain situated 2 km to the northeast of Risca in South Wales. It is high and is a well known sight throughout the region...
. To the left of the Salon is the Dining Room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
, of the same size as the Morning Room. Also to the left of the Great Hall are a Billiard Room
Billiard room
A billiard room is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table...
, Smoking Room
Smoking room
A Smoking room is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited....
(now used as a bar when the house hosts receptions), Gun Room
Gunroom
A gunroom is the junior officers' mess on a naval vessel. It was occupied by the officers below the rank of lieutenant, but who are not warrant officers of the class of the boatswain, gunner or carpenter. In the wooden sailing ships it was on the lower deck, and was originally the quarters of the...
and WCs.
On the first floor is a suite of six "principal" bedrooms of approximately 24 feet (7.3 m) by 19 feet (5.8 m) and two dressing rooms, with a further eight other "best" bedrooms of approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) by 15 feet (4.6 m). There are two secondary bedrooms or "night nurseries" and a "day nursery" or school room as well as bathrooms and WCs. On a mezzanine level are workrooms, store rooms and closets.
On the second floor are fourteen "Maidservants' Bedrooms"
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...
though most such bedrooms have been converted to office space.
In the south-west wing on the first floor level are eight "Menservants' Bedrooms", again converted subsequently to office space and on the ground floor level are the domestic offices which were originally the Butler's Pantry, Butler's Room
Butler
A butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
, Servants' Hall
Servants' Hall
The Servants' Hall is a common room for domestic workers in a great house. The term usually refers to the servants' dining room.If there is no separate sitting room, the Servants' Hall doubles as the place servants may spend their leisure hours and serves as both sitting room and dining room.Meals...
, Housekeeper's Room, Kitchen, Still Room
Still room
The still room is a distillery room found in most great houses, castles or large establishments throughout Europe dating back at least to medieval times. The lady of the house was in charge of the room, where medicines were prepared, cosmetics and many home cleaning products created, and...
, Scullery
Scullery (room)
A scullery is a room in a house traditionally used for washing up dishes and laundering clothes, or as an overflow kitchen when the main kitchen is overloaded. Tasks performed in the scullery include cleaning dishes and cooking utensils , occasional kitchen work, ironing, boiling water for cooking...
, Dairy, Wash-house etc., though these again have mainly been converted to office space.
In the basement there are extensive wine cellar
Wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...
s, storage and boiler space.
Current use
Leigh Court was eventually restored to much of its former glory and many rooms and outbuildings have been converted for use as office accommodation, conference and meeting rooms. It is also approved by North SomersetNorth Somerset
North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare....
council as a venue for civil wedding services.
Business West (formerly the Bristol Chamber of Commerce and Initiative) also have their head offices at the house.
A not-for-profit organic farm has been established based on the walled garden, and buildings within the old estate are used by a charity providing mental health services and by the Macmillan Lymphoedema Service.