Pavilion

Pavilion, Sydney Gardens

A former gardener's cottage and lodge, later converted to a cloakroom and pavilion, dating from around 1840.

The building is constructed from limestone ashlar with a shallow pitched roof featuring wide bracketed eaves. It is rectangular in plan with a projecting porch to the front and an outshut to the rear.

The pavilion is a single-storey Neo-classical structure, set on a slightly projecting limestone plinth. The main elevation features a central porch with open sides carried on square columns, with an arched opening topped by a central keystone. The roof has broad eaves supported on brackets, with insets over the recessed corners, and a central stack. Single window openings flank the porch on either side. A plat band at lintel level supports large paired stone brackets at the corners of the main block. The returns feature an impost band with large semi-circular arched, panelled recesses above eight-over-eight sash windows, which have panelled aprons.

The interior has been altered, though the living quarters to the rear retain a contemporary fireplace.

Sydney Gardens were laid out as commercial pleasure grounds between 1792 and 1794. The initial design was by architect Thomas Baldwin; after he went bankrupt, he was replaced by Charles Harcourt Masters in 1794. The gardens opened on 11 May 1795 as Sydney Gardens Vauxhall and rapidly became a popular entertainment venue, hosting public breakfasts, promenades and galas. The main building was the Sydney Tavern (now the Holburne of Menstrie Museum), located at the western end of the central walk, which housed tea and card rooms, a ballroom, coffee room and public house. In 1799, a section of the Kennet and Avon Canal was cut through the gardens, with decorative bridges and tunnels added, enhancing the picturesque appeal. During the early 19th century, additional features and structures were introduced to create variety and surprise in accordance with landscape design principles of the period. From around 1839, a section of the Great Western Railway was constructed through the gardens. Further ornamental structures were added later in the 19th century, though most were cleared away after World War Two.

In 1891, when the original 99-year lease expired, the entire site including the Tavern, then in use as a college, was sold with the intention of replacing the former Tavern with a large hotel and remodelling the grounds. This plan was abandoned. In 1908, Bath City Council purchased the site; the gardens were opened to the public as a municipal park in 1913, while the Tavern was remodelled by Sir Reginald Blomfield into the Holburne of Menstrie Museum. The gardens remain in use as a public park.

This building was erected around 1840 as a gardener's store with living quarters to the rear and was occupied until around 1900. It was later used as a pavilion and cloakroom for visitors to the pleasure gardens. It is currently used as an occasional education room for the nearby museum.