Warmley House And Stable Block

Warmley House, with its attached stable block, dates to the mid-18th century and is constructed of ashlar with slate roofs. The house is three storeys high, with the north-facing entrance elevation featuring a pediment over a slightly projecting central section. The window arrangement is 1:3:1, with sash windows containing glazing bars set in reveals. The central section has a rusticated ground floor and a central, pedimented porch with a semi-circular arched opening, keystone, impost blocks, and later double, half-glazed doors. Other details include quoins, a moulded cornice, parapets with coping to the side units, and a plain band at the first floor level. The right-hand end elevation has a two-storey, two-window semi-circular bow with a balustraded parapet. A two-storey, five-window section connected to the stable block links the house, with glazing bar sashes in reveals. This section features a central arched, rusticated doorpiece, a plain door, and a fanlight, topped with a balustraded parapet.

The stable block is built of colourwashed brick with stone imposts, moulded stone coping, and a hipped, modern tile roof. It has three segment-headed openings on the ground floor and one in the end elevation. Circular openings, now blocked, are positioned on the first floor above each arch.

The interior hall features a moulded cornice and fluted pilasters flanking the doors, along with a dado of raised and fielded panels. The staircase has a heavy, moulded handrail and two balusters per tread.

Warmley House and its associated buildings are historically significant as the former residence of William Champion, a Quaker who developed a new brass-making process utilizing zinc. The foundry was located on the premises, and Champion constructed a hammer house and a statue of Neptune. A notable local feature is the use of stag material from the foundry in the walling of the summerhouse, quoins, and dressings—a practice also observed in Bitton, Upton Cheyney and Kelston. Remnants of the large former gardens to the east of the house remain. The now-demolished buildings connected to the foundry represented an early example of a community development concept similar to Cadbury’s "Bourneville" model, where the employer provides housing for the workers.