Abbey Chambers

Abbey Chambers is a group value building comprising houses and an office block, constructed around 1762 and significantly altered in the 1870s and 1967. Designed by Thomas Jelly for the Duke of Kingston's Estate, it was later adapted for Isaac Pitman's Fonetik Institute and subsequently altered by Bath City Council around 1967.

The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with Welsh slate roofs. It has an L-shaped layout, divided into two distinct sections. To the right is a five-bay house facing Kingston Parade, while to the left is a taller block with two bays facing Kingston Parade and seven bays facing Kingston Buildings.

The 1967 alterations introduced “Georgian” style bow windows to the ground floor. A central doorway, flanked by the bow windows, is accessed via a panelled door with rectangular glazing above a bracketed hood. The first-floor windows have dropped sills with six-pane sashes in plain reveals, while the second-floor windows are six-pane sashes. A plain parapet tops the building, concealing a mansard roof with four flat-topped dormers (paired on the left side), also with six-pane sashes. Chimneys are truncated without pots. A blind return wall is present on York Street. The block to the left, on the site of Nos. 6-8 Kingston Buildings, appears to be entirely of 1875 construction with no earlier fabric. A corniced attic level marks the top of the Kingston Parade elevation, which also features a “Georgian” style shop window. The Kingston Buildings elevation is noted as very severe, with platbands and cornices carried round. A central doorway features panelled double doors and a swan neck pediment; an inscription reading “FONETIK INSTITUTE,” known from historical illustrations, is no longer present. All windows are late 19th-century plate glass sashes, plain.

The interiors were completely redesigned and modernized by Bath City Council around 1967. The original 1762 house faced Church Street and was positioned opposite the contemporary Kingston Baths, also a Jelly design. During the demolition of Abbey House in 1755, Roman Baths were discovered beneath, and Kingston Baths were demolished in 1887 to allow for the Roman East Baths, now beneath the pavement of Kingston Parade. The building was purchased by Isaac Pitman in 1874 for £600 at the Manvers Estate sale and served as his Phonetic Institute until 1888. Subsequently, it became the head office of The Bath and Portland Stone Co. (1888-1967) and then the Planning and Environmental Services department of Bath City Council (1967-1994).