Summary

A convalescent shelter and war memorial of 1917.

Description

A shelter for convalescing soldiers constructed in 1917.

MATERIALS: constructed of timber panels with cast-iron canopy detailing and rainwater goods, and modern slate roofs. The seats have steel frames and timber seats and backs.

DESCRIPTION: the shelter is T-plan and split into three seating areas. The widest (5.46m, six panels), along the bar of the T, faces south-east. The other two have L-shaped seating plans, partly facing north to the downs. The structure is built of chamfered and stopped timber posts and rails, and with timber board infill panels in a herringbone pattern. It stands on a concrete base. The bench seating is set back against the walls, under the cover of oversailing canopies. Iron detailing to the canopies is in a French style including a flower motif. The roof has a wheel cross finial on top of each of the three gable ends.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 15 December 2016.

History

The shelter, known as The Downs Haven, was built in 1917 for the use of injured servicemen and women who were convalescing at the nearby Queen Victoria Hospital. It is located on the southern edge of Durdham Down, a large green open space considered to be an ideal and healthy location to aid rest and recuperation. The Downs Haven was paid for by public subscription and had a Roll of Honour to the 4th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment installed in June 1917, which was later moved, possibly to the Drill Hall in Old Market Street, Bristol. The shelter was restored in 1999, at which time a plaque was attached by Redland and Cotham Amenity Society.

Reasons for Listing

The Downs Haven memorial shelter at Westbury Road, Bristol is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the generous response it made by erecting this shelter for those who had suffered in the cause of freedom and needed the means of convalescence in which to recover from their injuries;
* Architectural interest: a simple and modest design, well-crafted and enlivened with good quality detailing particularly in the cast-iron eaves and roof ridge detailing;
* Intactness: the structure is unaltered;
* Group value: it groups well with neighbouring listed buildings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677311

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
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  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living