Blaise Castle Estate

What to see at Blaise Castle Estate

The estate consists of several points of interest including a mansion house (which houses a museum), the castle and nearby Blaise Hamlet. All of this sits within 263ha (650 acres) of parkland.

Blaise Castle House and Blaise Museum

Blaise Castle House is a mansion house that was built in the late 18th-century. The house is home to the Blaise Museum where visitors can see the interior of the restored house including the picture room, exhibits about the evolution of domestic life in Bristol over the past 300 years and also visit the dairy and gardens surrounding the house.

Blaise Castle

Blaise Castle is a sham castle that was built in 1766 in the Gothic Revival style. The circular building is a Grade II*-listed building that features three turrets with crenellated parapets. The castle was referenced in Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey.

The castle offers views of Bristol and the surrounding countryside including as far afield as South Wales, the Cotswolds and the Mendip Hills.

Blaise Hamlet

Blaise Hamlet is a cluster of nine restored cottages surrounding a small green. The cottages were originally built to house retired staff from the Blaise Castle Estate.

Although the cottages are maintained by the National Trust, each home is rented out to private tenants so it is not possible to look inside the cottages. However, it is possible to view the cottages from the outside.

Visiting Blaise Castle Estate

Blaise Castle Estate is a large park in Henbury in the north of Bristol, around 7.5km (4¾ miles) northwest of the city centre.

It is easiest to visit if you’re driving but it is also accessible by public transport. The estate is around a 15-minute drive from the city centre and there is no charge for parking.

If you’re taking the bus, routes 3 and 4 both stop near the main entrance to the estate, however, these take a roundabout route going via Avonmouth and it can take almost an hour to get into the city centre from here. A slightly quicker option is to take bus route 2 from Station Road, around a five-minute walk east of the main car park.

The Blaise Museum (inside Blaise Castle House) is operated by Bristol Museums and is usually closed from January until the beginning of April. Entry to the museum is free of charge.

Blaise Castle is around 500m (⅓ mile) southwest of Blaise Castle House, which should take around 8–10 minutes to walk. Access to the castle is only available on selected days with the castle usually open on the third Sunday of each month between April and October.

We’re expecting it to be open the following days during 2024:

• Sunday 21 April
• Sunday 19 May
• Sunday 16 June
• Sunday 21 July
• Sunday 18 August
• Sunday 15 September
• Sunday 20 October

Blaise Hamlet is around a five-minute walk from the estate car park and it is accessible via a small pathway off Hallen Road. Entry to Blaise Hamlet is free of charge, although there is not much to do here other than walk around the green and look at the houses from the outside.

There is a nice cafe on the site, which serves drinks, light meals and ice cream and there is a lovely local pub, the Blaise Inn, just a five-minute walk from the main car park.

A visit to Blaise Castle Estate that includes both the museum and the castle should take around two hours. Add an extra 20 minutes if you also want to visit Blaise Hamlet plus additional time to get there from the city centre.