Help to care for this beautiful bush

Jardinière

Hello,

We purchased this beautiful bush years ago. It is now huge and we wish to cut it down due to the lack of space. It produces some lovely flowers well appreciated by the bees.

We are concerned that we could damage it. The inside of the bush is very woody so once cute we will find ourselves with a leave less tree.

My questions are:
if pruned heavily will this type of bush recover?
when shall we prune it?
what kind of bush is it?

Thanks in advance for your help 
Estelle

Silver surfer

Oooh!
That looks like a huge ceanothus...common name Californian Lilac.
Looking at the leaves possibly Ceanothus  concha..alternate, small, evergreen.
Should normally bloom in spring.

I will leave pruning advice to those with more knowledge than me.

https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/339106/

Jardinière

Thanks for your input we do want to destroy it!

punkdoc

Once they have got to that size, they are difficult to manage.
If you prune into old wood, they are unlikely to re-grow.