Red Lodge

Last Sunday I went to the Red Lodge in Bristol with my brother. I'd been intending to go for a long time but hadn't got round to it-I used to go there on school trips as a child so it is somewhere I've known of for years. I was really glad we made the effort as it was definitely worth it! The Red Lodge was built in 1580 as a lodge for a Great House, which unfortunately no longer exists. The lodge would have been used for entertainment and as extra accommodation, a bit like some large houses have annexed accommodation for guests today. After it was originally built it has had many changes of use and lots of additions to the structure and decoration of the house. The rooms in the Lodge are now partly Tudor and partly Georgian, and the outside of the house does not look Tudor at all.

The first room we visited in the house was the Print Room, which was Georgian. It was a small room hung with various prints from the era. The things I found most interesting were the "japanned" grandfather clock, the painted and carved harpsichord and the beautiful tiles around the fireplace. There were some lovely  landscapes, and images of birds and other animals, but my favourite was this tile with goats or sheep painted on it.

The next room was the Great Oak Room, which is one of the largest rooms in the house and has the original Tudor features. It had an impressive carved stone fireplace, and incredibly intricate wood panelling covering the whole of the walls.

Even the ceilings had moulded patterns.

The heavily carved doorway led into a small dressing room.

Which in turn led to a bedroom, which was home to a four poster bed with ornately embroidered hangings and bedding.

The drapes and bedding have been recreated following patterns from original Tudor textiles. It was a very beautiful bed but I think I'd find it pretty spooky to sleep in!

In the 1850s the Red Lodge was used as a reform school for girls, so there is a room exhibiting some objects and photos from that time. This is an exercise book which was found underneath the floorboards, it is filled with beautiful neat handwriting.  

There was a photograph of the Great Oak Room being used as a school room! It seems strange that such an impressive, ostentatious room was used for something so utilitarian. I wonder what the original owner of the Lodge would think?

The stairs back down to the ground floor are beautiful, with glowing chandeliers and lots of gilt edged mirrors.

The rooms downstairs are Georgian, and much more sparsely decorated and furnished. The rooms feel much airier and lighter, less oppressive than the Tudor rooms, gorgeous as they are. The main feature downstairs is this fireplace, decorated with painstakingly hand painted Delft tiles.

The huge windows look out onto a re-created Tudor knot garden, planted with herbs used as medicines or for cooking.

Unfortunately the garden was closed due to wet weather, so I had to content myself with the view from the window.

As the piece de resistance to an already brilliant visit, a very kind member of staff let us look at the cells underneath the Lodge and take photos of them. They are usually out of bounds to the public, but he saw my digital camera and said we might be able to get interesting photographs so unlocked them for us. They are believed to be left over from when the area the Lodge stands on belonged to the Carmelite Friary, so would have been used for monks, not prisoners.

I had a really good time visiting the Red Lodge and found it very interesting, as did my brother. The staff were friendly and helpful, useful information sheets were provided, and the Lodge wasn't crowded so it was easy to see all the details without having to push past people.  The Red Lodge has free entry, which I think is fantastic, and you can find out more information here.