# Talk:Ashton Court

@ Rodw, as you are the primary editor here, I won't make single, tiny disparaging comment about the infobox.......BUT, wouldn't that very useful map in a box, look a lot tidier if it were inside that very uninformative infobox. Even by infobox lovers standards surely one can have too much of a good thing. I am looking very forward to seeing you try to get the architecture style(s) in the box :-D  Giano   (talk) 16:13, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

I've used the Bristol map in the infobox, however as Ashton Court is actually in North Somerset the red blob appears well over the the left. I can't find a way to make the specific map created for this site in the infobox. Any thoughts?— Rod talk 19:01, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Would you prefer a collapsed infobox?— Rod talk 19:09, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
it's 'your' page, you have what you like. I've only written one small section. It does look better all one box though. Good!  Giano   (talk) 19:13, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
I don't understand what's going on with that map/infobox. The caption says "Location in Bristol", but Ashton Court isn't in Bristol is it? Secondly the article says that Ashton Court is mainly in North Somerset, so where's the rest of it?  Eric Corbett 19:13, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Bristol City Council own it - although it is across the Clifton Suspension Bridge which crosses the Avon Gorge - the boundary between the city and North Somerset. I could try the N.Som map and see what that looks like. The mainly comment is (I think) because the house and most of the parkland is in N.Som but a small part of the surrounding parkland is within the city.— Rod talk 19:23, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
The map makes even less sense in that case, as it appears to show Ashton Court some distance from Bristol.  Eric Corbett 19:31, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Map changed & caption now says location within Somerset.

This might be why the original map (shown right) was used. I could ask an infobox code expert whether this can be shown instead?— Rod talk 19:51, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
I think infoboxes are more trouble than they're worth, so your choice.  Eric Corbett 20:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
I don't think it is "my page" or "my choice" but I have asked for help. I've got a bit distracted updating Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels following publication of plans today.— Rod talk 21:09, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Yes, I read about all of that while I was en piste. I thought how lucky that in these ecumenical European times that the UK Environment Agency does not have jurisdiction over Holland - the Dutch would have been very upset. All this newts and frogs before people is ridiculous. You started the page and have done the most work, I'm seriously not bothered what you do with the infobox. Giano   (talk) 21:28, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

"From the roof hang clusters of incandescent laps ..."  Eric Corbett 16:17, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

@ Eric, Very angry lamps, or possibly these. Do we use this term in UK; I've never heard it before?  Giano   (talk) 17:21, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
We do indeed use the term incandescent lamp to refer to those old light bulbs, but not to the lamp fitting as a whole, which these days is almost certainly using low-energy bulbs anyway.  Eric Corbett 18:30, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Oh those horrible, useless things: one puts then in the portico to light guests on their way, and they are half way to Malta before it's bright enough to see the jetty. Giano   (talk) 19:11, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
You're living in the past Giano. We use LED lamps, which use even less power than those things you're talking about and get to full brightness instantly.  Eric Corbett 19:15, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
You! Mr Corbett, have clearly never lived in a pace where the sole source of electricity is a goat in a treadmill. Giano   (talk) 19:17, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
That's true, although I have lived in Scotland.  Eric Corbett 19:20, 6 March 2014 (UTC)

What else do people think is needed to get this article to meet the Good article criteria?— Rod talk 17:27, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Ashton Court/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Casliber (talk · contribs) 08:19, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
O-kay then..........Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 08:19, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Overall, an engaging read and definitely within striking distance of GA - will jot some quibbles....

Actually we don't have a location segment in the body of the text...and in hte lead, maybe how many km west of Bristol is it
This is complicated as it is a large estate, part of which is within the city and mostly in N. Somerset. The house is approx 1.5 km from the city centre but less than 0.5km from the city boundary (ie the River Avon, Bristol).— Rod talk 11:32, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Okay - but none of this is in the article - remember I am unfamiliar with the subject and it sorta leaves me scratching my head. I wonder whether renaming the Estate section Location and surrounds and inserting where it is in relation to Bristol as well as what surrounds it (fields? suburbia? etc.)
I've had another go at this and included some of the other info discussed below.— Rod talk 13:16, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Yep. Nice. that is very helpful. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 19:39, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
From the 16th to 20th centuries it was owned by the Smyth family with each generation improving and changing the house. - hmmm, not sure I like "improving" which carries a subjective tone to it - maybe "rebuilding", "renovating", "enlarging" or something more neutral? There is another instance of the verb further along too.
First one removed "changed" says enough, second one changed to expanded as he was able to enlarge the estate.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Thomas De Lions -can we give this person any descriptors to give a picture of who/what he is? ("local nobleman/knight/baron.."?)
Limited info available but I have added "a nobleman originally from France" is that enough?— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
That's fine.Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:06, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
he house was owned by the Choke family for some time and after that in 1506 it was sold to Sir Giles Daubeney who was a knight and a Chamberlain of Henry VII. - the middle and latter bit of this is a bit runny - do we have a rough idea of how long the Choke family owned it (to the nearest century maybe?) - and a comma and ,"after which" is a cleaner connector than the run-on and. Also a comma before "who" or (better) replace the "who" with an mdash.
Re Choke family I don't think we can do centuries as it was likely no more than 100 years, but details seem to be "lost in the mists of time". Full stop and comma added.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Fair enough Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:22, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
:In the Sir Greville and Lady Emily Smyth section, you have the first and third sentences covering some of the same material - it'd be great if you could meld these into one sentence somehow.
A bit of first sentence removed.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Sir Greville Smyth inherited the property. - "inherited" is mentioned twice in sentences close together. Some way of melding these would be good too.....
See above.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
As I love gardens, any information on Sir Greville's gardens would be great - especially as they were highly esteemed...
I will go back to some of the sources and look again.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
I've looked again in Bond "Somerset Parks and Gardens", but doesn't have any further detail. Greville Smyth Park was originally part of the estate & is named after him. This says it was given to the city, but I don't think it is the same area of the estate described in the article.— Rod talk 11:43, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
aaawww Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:22, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
the Bristol Mercury - italics?
Done.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
link some terms I am not hugely familiar with - pediment, mullioned, ogee (wiktionary can be useful for some if they are a simple dicdef)
We have articles on all these so wikilinked.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
The Recent history section is a tad choppy - a little more info or melding of paras would make it flow better.
I've taken out some of the breaks between paras. Is something else needed?— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
In 1946, the last resident of Ashton Court Dame Esme Smyth, died. - be good if we could find some detail....was it just old age?
I can't find a cause of death (or date of birth)
I think I'd remove the subheadings from the Estate section as they are tiny and break the prose a bit. Any details on the rare beetles?
Subheads removed. I've added 3 specieis names from the SSSI sheet, but I don't know much about beetles.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Are there still deer in the deer park?
Yes in 2 separate areas.— Rod talk 11:18, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Make sure there are inline refs at the ends of paras.
I think these are all addressed now with the exception of the observation about the castellations in the architecture section. I have discussed this with User:Giano who wrote the architecture section and is much more expert in this area. He suggests that this is clear from the observation of the building. Does this have to be removed?— Rod talk 21:23, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
Yeeah..ok, works for me....hang on while I find some templates (ruffles around in template suitcase.......) Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:29, 27 March 2014 (UTC)
Nice engaging read overall. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:59, 26 March 2014 (UTC)
1. Well written?:

Prose quality: 
Manual of Style compliance: 
2. Factually accurate and verifiable?:

References to sources: 
Citations to reliable sources, where required: 
No original research: 
3. Broad in coverage?:

Major aspects: 
Focused: 
4. Reflects a neutral point of view?:

Fair representation without bias: 
5. Reasonably stable?

No edit wars, etc. (Vandalism does not count against GA): 
6. Illustrated by images, when possible and appropriate?:

Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales: 
Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions: 

Overall: 

Pass or Fail:  forsooth. Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:34, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

It may be time to consider the future of the estate, and what may be done to prevent its loss. Government policy may force the council to sell it off. This is my own view, not backed up by anything specific, but selling off land is one of the things that George Osborne specifically expects councils to do. Ashton Court has been protected by many different interests for decades, some scientific, some related to public amenity, but none of these may be enough to protect the estate for public use at all, let alone in its current state, given the forced pace of reductive change in the British State. It may become a gated community for the rich, lost to the public for generations. I am not writing this to incite defence, though I think it may be needed anyway. My point is that its future may be under direct threat, and some discussion of facts as they emerge may be best placed in the main article to keep people informed. The estate has been considered for sale in the past, at least so I have been told, but no mention of any council decisions exists in the main article. In the past 20 years or so this appears not to have been an issue, but it likely will become important in the near future that these things are recorded, so people can make decisions rather than be led blind into irrreplaceable loss. 31.51.85.171 (talk) 23:37, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Ashton Court. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071112100921/http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=33487 to http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=33487
Added {{dead link}} tag to http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=AC&pos=1
Added {{dead link}} tag to http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=43326
Added {{dead link}} tag to http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=45390&pos=1
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 18:04, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 3 external links on Ashton Court. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140302121602/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/derelict-mansion-city-s-new-party-central/story-11247270-detail/story.html to http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/derelict-mansion-city-s-new-party-central/story-11247270-detail/story.html
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141210194702/http://www.nsas.org.uk/about-nsas/ to http://www.nsas.org.uk/about-nsas/
Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100925002857/http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Environment-Planning/Parks-and-open-spaces/parks/ashton-court-estate.en to http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Environment-Planning/Parks-and-open-spaces/parks/ashton-court-estate.en
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 13:20, 20 May 2017 (UTC)

It has been a while since this article has been reviewed, so I took a look and noticed the following:

There are some uncited paragraphs in the "Recent history" section.
The "Recent history" section stops at 2018. Are there any more recent events to add to the article?
There are several large block quotes, which should probably be put into summary style instead.
"Location and surroundings" has a lot of small paragraphs which could be merged together for better formatting.
Should this article go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 22:05, 28 June 2025 (UTC)


### Ashton Court