Joseph Cottle lived at Firfield House, with his married sister, Mrs John Hare, at 'this gentleman's country residence' and its wooded grounds. He possessed valuable collections of literary treasures and of portraits -- the latter given after his death to the National Portrait Gallery. Well-known as the publisher of the Lyrical Ballads and as a controversial biographer of Coleridge, Cottle was frequently visited at Firfield by literary and artistic people, including Mary Russell Mitford. 

Though considered as a possible 'green space' as Bristol expanded, the grounds were not saved and the house was demolished. The site is now a doctors' surgery.

Cottle was buried in Arnos Grove cemetery which is close nearby.