Bridgwater House

Bridgwater House is a house with a former coffee house on the ground floor, built between 1748 and 1750. It was likely designed by John Wood the Elder. The front of the building is limestone ashlar, now rendered and painted, while the side walls are of rubble and the roof is slate. The building is double depth, with a rear wing, and has three storeys and attic space.

The front façade has four windows. The ground floor features a high-quality, off-centre stone doorcase with a six-panel door with an arched head, a keystone, and impost blocks. Flanking the door are a replacement bow window with twenty-four panes and a plate glass sash. The first floor contains two/two-pane sashes with cornices and architraves, above architraved sashes of the late 18th century with six/six panes. A projecting modillion cornice tops the building, and a parapet has been partly reduced in height to accommodate two flat-topped dormers. The hip mansard roof has large ashlar end stacks with decorative pots, some of which are missing. The rear elevation has been altered, with later windows.

The ground floor interior has been extensively altered; it was formerly occupied by a building society and is currently being remodelled. The interior has not been otherwise inspected.

The building appears on John Wood’s plan of the area in his 1749 “Essay towards a Description of Bath.” For many years, it was known as The Parade Coffee House, a socially prominent location on this busy street. Early photographs show alterations including an inserted door to the left of the main entrance and a large bow window to the right, when the building was occupied by Crowbrow’s India House.