Royal Fort House

The Royal Fort House is a historic house in Tyndalls Park, Bristol. The building currently houses the University of Bristol's Faculty of Science offices, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research and the Cabot Institute.The house was built for Thomas Tyndall KCB, in the 18th century, on the site of bastions which were fought over during the English Civil War and demolished in 1655. The Baroque, Palladian and Rococo styles of architecture are because of the work of three different architects: James Bridges, Thomas Paty, John Wallis. The garden was laid out by Humphry Repton around 1800.HistoryThe house was constructed on the site of a Civil War fortification, which had two bastions on the inside of the lines and three on the outside. It was the strongest part of the defences of Bristol, designed by Dutch military engineer Sir Bernard de Gomme. It was one of the few purpose-built defensive works of the war era. The fort was designed as the western headquarters of the Royalist army under Prince Rupert. Royalists retreated into the fort when the Parliamentarians had broken through the lines in the siege of 1645, before eventually surrendering to Cromwell's forces.