Blaise Hamlet

Blaise Hamlet is a hamlet in north west Bristol, England, composed of a group of nine small cottages around a green. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle the Hamlet is listed, Grade II*, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. Nikolaus Pevsner described Blaise Hamlet as "the ne plus ultra of picturesque layout and design".Blaise Hamlet was built around 1811 for retired employees of Quaker banker and philanthropist John Scandrett Harford, who owned Blaise Castle House.The hamlet was designed by John Nash, master of the Picturesque style. He had worked for Harford on other buildings. The hamlet is the first fully realized exemplar of the garden suburb and laid out the road map for virtually all garden suburbs that followed. The cottages are all unique and include brick chimneys and dormer windows with some having thatched roofs. They are examples of the picturesque, an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin. An oval path links the cottages and encircles the village green with its sundial. The cottage gardens are planted in a Victorian cottage garden style.