This wonderful Elizabethan house is situated off Lodge Street on Park Row. The plain red door and the red stone exterior conceals a wonderful surprise when you explore the interior hidden treasures.

It was built for John Yonge around 1590 as one of the two Tudor lodges to his Great House where Queen Elizabeth I once stayed. Throughout its history the lodge has been restored and added to and is now furnished in both Tudor and Georgian style.

The Great Oak Room is stunning with its carved oak panelling. It is one of the most magnificent rooms to be found in the West Country with its magnificent interior porch, beautiful plasterwork ceilings and a very impressive carved stone chimney piece which is the only one of this period remaining. The staircase leading to the Great Oak room and the other rooms are all Georgian, as are the Reception Room and the Print Room.

The Red Lodge was once a reform school for girls. Mary Carpenter set up the school in 1854 with the financial help of the poet Lord Byron’s widow. Mary was one of the social pioneers of the day and many of the girls came out of the school reformed to lead normal lives. She died in 1877 and there is a room specially set aside in her memory with a display of her life and work.

The Red Lodge walled garden is an extra hidden treasure. There is an Elizabethan knot garden of box hedges which is a replica of the pattern from the lodges bedroom ceiling. Surrounding the knot garden are herbaceous borders containing plants that could be found in English gardens around the 16th century. This south facing garden is an unexpected haven of peace considering its busy location.

James Prichard wrote The Natural History of Man whilst living at The Red Lodge from 1827. The Red Lodge is also the home of the Bristol Savages whose wigwam is an extension to the main building. The club was formed in 1894 and was originally for Bristol artists only but has been extended to entertainers and lay members.

Living History days are held at The Red Lodge at weekends. Actors bring the house to life and show what life in the household may have been like during its heyday.

www.bristol-savages.org