This weekend I had a chance to take a tour of William Champion’s garden.
William Champion (1709 – 1789) was one of Bristol’s most important industrial pioneers. In 1738 he patented the first successful commercial process for separating zinc from its ore. He went on to establish a thriving brass works which became one of the largest industrial sites in England in the 18th century.
He chose Warmley as it was om the edge of the Somerset coal field and in easy reach of Copper Ore from Cornwall and Zinc ore from the Mendips. The site also has two streams which he used to create a thirteen acre lake to provide steam for his machinery and ice to quench the metal. On a previous trip to nearby Saltford Brass mill which is now a museum we had learnt more of the process of making brass.
Warmley House and gardens
As his wealth grew, he built Warmley House in the typical plain but elegant style favoured by the local Quakers. He also created a pleasure garden complete with grotto and an enormous and rather strange statue of Neptune. Neptune would once have been in the middle of the lake but after the factory was abandoned it silted up and Neptune now towers over a Park Home site.
The house dates from about 1750 and has been largely unaltered. It is built from Bath Stone.
He would have been able to see his mill and pin factory when he looked out of the windows. The gardens did not have extensive flower beds but they did have a large grotto and a huge ice house.
William Champion made extensive use of the slag that was left after the ores had been refined. He cast the slag into blocks to make an almost indestructible building material.
My photo shows part of the chequered wall. The black squares were created from metal slag. The image of William Champion is pure fiction. Like many Quakers he did not sit for a portrait.
Part of the grotto. Many contemporary grottos are decorated with shells but this one is lined with metal ores which give it its distinct colours particularly green from copper.
This is the site of a pin factory. It now houses community events, a goddess temple? and a studio for a local artist. The rear of the building has been turned into a community nature reserve. A lot of pins were used for dressmaking and weaving and local women earnt pin money. You can clearly see the clinker blocks on the side of the clock tower.
A former windmill now houses the excellent Kingswood Heritage museum which is run by volunteers and has displays about local history and industry.
After about twenty years William Champion’s patent ran out and he was forced to sell his factory to a rival.
More information –
William Champion’s Garden in Warmley, South Gloucestershire, was created by the 18th century industrialist and Quaker William Champion.
It is designated Grade II on the UK Parks & Gardens Register and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, together with Champion’s brass mill, which houses Kingswood Heritage Museum, and his original pin factory, known as the Clock Tower. Parts of the garden are open to the public but the grotto is only open a few times a year because of safety concerns.
The Garden contains a number of historic 18th century features that are all listed Grade II: The Grotto, Statue of Neptune, Snail Viewing Mound, Boat House, Echo Pond, Summer House and Ice House.
It also forms part of a Conservation Area together with the Brass Mill, Clock Tower and Champion’s Grade II* house, now a residential home. It is owned by South Gloucestershire Council.
There is a small book shop and cafe at the museum and a free carpark. If you want something more substantial to eat I recommend visiting nearby Warmley Station. The old waiting room has been turned into a very popular cafe with plenty of outdoor seating. Trains stopped running in 1966 and the line has become a very popular leisure path between Bristol and Bath. It is popular with both walkers and cyclists
- William Champion’s garden in Warmley near Bristol
- Luminescence at Westminster Cathedral
- Exploring the history of Gloucester
