Heritage. Creativity. Community.

A Place for Everyone

For more than 600 years, Ashton Court Mansion was a private home, shaped around the lives of a wealthy few.

We're working towards a very different future.

Our ambition is to regenerate the Mansion as a sustainable place people can use, enjoy and help shape. Somewhere to learn something, make something, see an exhibition, enjoy good food, celebrate or simply spend time.

A building with a private past. A future shaped by many.

Our Guiding Principles

Five principles guide how we look after the Mansion, develop its programme and make decisions about its future.

1
Community benefit is the purpose. We’re regenerating the Mansion so people can use it, enjoy it and help shape what happens here.
2
Conservation done properly, and in the right order. We’ll care for the building’s historic features and make thoughtful changes that allow it to be used for generations to come.
3
Commercial activity makes the charity sustainable. Events, weddings, workspaces and hospitality will help pay for the Mansion’s upkeep and support our charitable work.
4
Programmes built with partners, at a pace we can sustain. We’ll work with organisations and individuals who bring the right skills and experience, growing our activities as the Mansion develops. Fewer things done well, rather than more things promised.
5
Accountable to the people it belongs to. As a community benefit society, our members have a say in how the Trust is run. One member, one vote, regardless of how much they’ve invested.

Five Ways to Make the Mansion Matter

We've organised our charitable work around five areas. Each offers different ways to get involved, and each will grow as more of the Mansion comes into use.

Ashton Court Together

Culture, Arts & Wellbeing

Art exhibitions. Music. Workshops. Talks. Family activities. Things to see, learn and do.

Ashton Court Together will bring people into the Mansion through a varied programme of cultural, creative and wellbeing activities.

We want people to feel comfortable coming here, whether they're attending an event, trying something for the first time or bringing an idea of their own.

Ashton Court Heritage

Heritage & Conservation

There are more than six centuries of stories within these walls.

Through tours, research, exhibitions, oral histories and opportunities to explore the building, Ashton Court Heritage will help people discover the Mansion's past and understand the work needed to conserve it.

That includes telling the complicated parts of its history, as well as celebrating the people, architecture and events that have shaped it.

Ashton Court Works

Skills

There's a lot to learn from a building like this.

Ashton Court Works will create opportunities to develop practical skills, from conservation and traditional crafts to horticulture and building maintenance.

We'll work with colleges, training providers, craftspeople and local organisations to develop workshops, demonstrations and learning opportunities as the regeneration progresses.

The Mansion itself can become a place to learn by doing.

Ashton Court Food

Food

Food brings people together. We want it to have an important place in the Mansion's future.

Working with local chefs, producers and community organisations, including Team Canteen CIC, we'll develop opportunities to cook, learn, share skills and explore food in all its forms.

Over time, that could include growing, food education, community projects and a hospitality offer that reflects Bristol's food culture.

Ashton Court Nature

Nature & Outdoors

Step outside the Mansion and there's an extraordinary landscape to explore.

Ashton Court Nature will develop opportunities to learn about the estate's wildlife, gardens, landscape and natural history, working with people and organisations who know it best.

From practical gardening and outdoor skills to talks, walks and nature activities, we want to explore how the Mansion can connect people with the wider estate.

This part of our programme will develop through partnerships and alongside our work within the building.

Making It Work

The Mansion needs to earn its keep.

Weddings, celebrations, meetings, filming, hospitality, workspaces and overnight accommodation can generate income to help maintain the building and fund our charitable work.

At the same time, a lively programme of community activity gives people reasons to visit, return and feel part of the Mansion's future.

The two support one another.

Our aim isn't simply to repair a historic building and then work out what to do with it. It's to create a place that people have reasons to use, with a financial model capable of sustaining it for the long term.

Find Your Thing

There's no single way to be part of Ashton Court Mansion.

Volunteer your time. Share a skill. Bring an idea. Work with us. Make a donation. Invest in our community share offer. Or just come and see what's happening.

We're still developing our plans, and there's plenty of room for people to help shape them.

Get involved →Contact us →

Making It Work

The Mansion needs to earn its keep.

Weddings, celebrations, meetings, filming, hospitality, workspaces and overnight accommodation can generate income to help maintain the building and fund our charitable work.

At the same time, a lively programme of community activity gives people reasons to visit, return and feel part of the Mansion's future.

The two support one another.