Clevedon Court, an attractive stone manor house, dates back to the 14th century.
The house was built in 1320 by Sir John de Clevedon, whose family were given the manor after the Norman Conquest. The building incorporated parts of a massive 12th century tower and 13th cent great hall.
After changing hands several times, Clevedon Court was purchased in 1709 by Abraham Elton, a Bristol merchant, who later became Mayor of Bristol and a Member of Parliament.
The Eltons were a prominent Bristol family whose wealth came, in part, from the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Clevedon Court remained in the hands of the Eltons until 1961, when the property was donated to the National Trust in part-payment of death duties.
However, the Elton family still own the surrounding estates and remain resident at Clevedon Court, opening and managing the house for the the Trust.
Although the building underwent considerable alteration in Elizabethan times it still retains the character of a medieval manor house.
Clevedon Court is associated with William Makepeace Thackery, author of Vanity Fair, who was a frequent visitor to Clevedon Court in the mid-19th century and the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson stayed here in 1850.
Sir Edmund Elton (1846 - 1920) was a well-regarded potter and the house contains many striking examples of Eltonware. There is also a fascinating collection of Nailsea glass.
Surrounding the charming building are beautiful Georgian terraced gardens, outbuildings and an impressive rear wall.
