Athenaeum And Attached Railings

This is an Assembly Rooms building, dating to the 17th century, with significant alterations and additions made in later centuries. Originally a large three-storey house, it was converted into an Assembly House in 1714 by John Eastland, a dancing master. It was remodelled in 1789, reducing it to two storeys. Major alterations between 1803 and 1805, including the present north front facing Angel Hill and the full-height ballroom, were designed by Francis Sandys. The Athenaeum was subsequently established within the building in 1853.

The north and west frontages are rendered. The north front features a wide mutule cornice and a stepped parapet, with the word "ATHENAEUM" in raised lettering. Behind the parapet is a copper-covered dome, housing a fitted observatory with a telescope, though it is no longer in use. It has a seven-bay facade with small-paned sash windows in shallow reveals. The central window is a three-light design with diminished side-lights and a segmental arch. A Roman Doric porch with iron railings and gilded lettering reading "SUBSCRIPTION ROOMS" is positioned centrally. Attached low wrought-iron railings define the front boundary. The east front was faced with white brick in 1821, and has a wood mutule eaves cornice with a low central pediment and six bays of deep small-paned sashes in segmental recesses, with a matching row of blank recesses on the ground floor. The west front has a plain eaves overhang and three bays of small-paned sash windows within flush cased frames. A wide central doorway features engaged columns, a triangular pediment, and a six-panelled door with heavy moulded surrounds.

The interior includes a cellar beneath the western half of the front, lined with coursed limestone blocks similar to those found at No. 11 Abbeygate Street. The front range, now a vestibule, has five bays with boxed-in main beams; the outer bays are each supported by a distyle Ionic colonnade in antis. Panelled window shutters are present. The floor is paved in a chequered pattern of black and white marble slabs. The ballroom is entered through double doors, leading to a double stair with stick balusters, reeded open strings, and wreathed ramped handrails. The segmental tunnel-vaulted ceiling of the ballroom displays delicate stucco decoration in Adam style, including a cornice with festoons and stucco panels above panelled dadoes. Ornate stucco decoration adorns the architraves of the doors. A segmental recess with a tetrastyle colonnade is located in the middle of the west side of the room, flanked by fireplaces with marble surrounds and decorative cast-iron grates.