![\"Large](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Bristol-Lord-Mayors-Mansion-House-In-Clifton-Down.jpg\")
Bristol Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in Clifton Down (Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\nNo decision has been made but the property is under reviewBristol Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in Clifton Down (Image: Google Maps)<\/p>\n
Bristol City Council is considering selling off the Lord Mayor\u2019s Mansion House, sparking anger that is showing \u201ccontempt\u201d for the city\u2019s history and \u201cbrazen glorying in property theft\u201d.<\/p>\n
The local authority has confirmed that a review of the current and potential future use of the historic Victorian building<\/a> is being carried out.<\/p>\n No decision has yet been made but council services will be asked if they could make use of the property before recommendations are brought forward whether to keep or dispose of it on the market.<\/p>\n Leading Tory Cllr Richard Eddy, who is \u2018Father of the House\u2019 having been elected for Bishopsworth 33 years ago, has slammed the Green-led administration for proposing the move, claiming it \u201cknows the price of everything and the value of nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n In response, council<\/a> deputy leader Heather Mack (Green, Lockleaze) said the former Conservative government had left local authorities with a funding shortfall legacy that meant they had to \u201cchoose between heritage and homelessness\u201d.<\/p>\n She said vital services required big investment, some of which came from selling properties, and that the council owned many buildings which, if faced with the decision to buy today, would not be prioritised above delivering what residents needed and relied on.<\/p>\n Sign up to receive daily news updates and breaking news alerts straight to your inbox for free <\/strong>here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Mansion House, near the top of Bridge Valley Road in Clifton<\/a> Down, has been the official residence of Bristol\u2019s lord mayor for 150 years, although they no longer actually live there.<\/p>\n It was built in 1867 as a private home for Alderman Thomas Proctor, a successful Bristol fertiliser company owner, and donated to the local authority following his death seven years later, as were his wishes.<\/p>\n Cllr Eddy said: \u201cFor months, there have been rumours that the city council wanted to sell the Mansion House and its beautiful grounds in Clifton.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has played host to members of the Royal Family<\/a>, politicians and dignitaries \u2013 including Sir Winston Churchill \u2013 the military, captains of industry, city investors and charity organisers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt also features in the lives of many Bristolians, including recipients of the Lord Mayor\u2019s Medal, those who gladly receive British citizenship, and many ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the years, the Guild of Guardians has raised huge sums for the efficient running of the Mansion House.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, it is fully licensed for wedding, anniversary parties and for hiring for all manner of events.<\/p>\n \u201cNow it seems Green leader Cllr Tony Dyer is determined to show contempt for Bristol and its history.<\/p>\n \u201cI challenge Cllr Dyer to confirm or deny this outrageous decision.<\/p>\n \u201cMore to the point, Alderman Proctor very wisely decreed that, if the city of Bristol ever chose not to use this impressive property as the official residence of the lord mayor then the property should go back to his family estate and not be absorbed by the council coffers.<\/p>\n \u201cAccordingly, if the council seeks to claim the proceeds of the asset, surely this amounts to brazen glorying in an act of property theft by a dishonest bureaucracy which is no better than the rogue landlords we rightly prosecute.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Eddy said the Mansion House had refused to take wedding and function bookings beyond September and had started to return donated treasures to the families of their donors, even though Bristol Museum claimed to have no room to house any which could not be given back.<\/p>\n It is understood that bookings have been stopped because notice has been served on the current caterers and a new contract will be awarded to another provider.<\/p>\n Cllr Mack said: \u201cMany of the council\u2019s core services such as children\u2019s services, adult social care and housing are struggling as a result of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and a local funding legacy from a Tory government that has left councils having to choose between heritage and homelessness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re investing to improve these services whilst also trying to bring budgets under control.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter being left with uncontrollable overspends from the previous administration we\u2019ve agreed sustainable transformation plans for these vital services.<\/p>\n \u201cThese transformation plans rely on capital investment, some of which comes from selling properties.<\/p>\n \u201cThe council owns many buildings, which if faced with the decision to buy now, would not be prioritised above delivering the vital services people rely on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fully recognise the heritage value of buildings such as the Lord Mayor\u2019s Mansion House and their position in our city\u2019s story, which is why the only responsible course of action is to consider all of our properties, the cost to the council of maintaining them, and the benefit that them being owned by the council brings to the authority and the city.<\/p>\n \u201cMany cultural assets can be improved and invested in better by other organisations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amazing work taking place at Jacob Wells Baths is a prime example of where local heritage is maintained for modern use.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must also consider whether some of these buildings could be repurposed to benefit those services we\u2019re investing in, could some become children\u2019s homes, or provide temporary accommodation for families desperately needing a roof over their heads \u2013 these are the questions we must ask ourselves instead of stoically holding onto buildings that for the most part remain underused and costly to maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n The council said its property transformation programme was established to review the estate of buildings it owned, assess options for use and recommend approaches to their future, including considering if any other council services could feasibly use them.<\/p>\n It said the Mansion House was currently subject to a review and that service departments would shortly be asked to consider the building for use before further discussions were held on its future, but that no decision had been made.<\/p>\n Try BristolLive Premium for FREE without intrusive ads and brilliant new features<\/p>\n No intrusive adverts, pop-ups or distractions! Just our brilliant content presented in the best way possible.<\/p>\n Get your free one-month trial by visiting the ‘Premium’ tab on the BristolLive app now (auto renews annually at \u00a319.99).<\/p>\n If you haven’t got it already, get started by downloading our app here on iPhone<\/a> or here on Android<\/a>. If you already have the app but can’t see the ‘Premium’ section, you’ll need to check for the latest update. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No decision has been made but the property is under reviewBristol Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in Clifton Down…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[14343,381,3893,748,18959,527,393,4884,14144,20075,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-124655","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bishopsworth","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-clifton","13":"tag-conservative-party","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-green-party","17":"tag-lockleaze","18":"tag-politics","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114555955781400766","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Medals-Ceremony.jpg\")
Then-Bristol Lord Mayor Cllr Andrew Varney and Deputy Lord Mayor Cllr Paul Goggin with the recipients of the annual Lord Mayor’s Medals awarded to the city’s unsung heroes who give outstanding contributions to the community, at the Lord Mayor’s Mansion House in December 2024(Image: Bristol City Council)<\/p>\n