4, St James's Street is a Grade II listed building in the Bath and North East Somerset local planning authority area, England. First listed on 12 June 1950. Shop.

4, St James's Street

WRENN ID
hollow-spandrel-dale
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Bath and North East Somerset
Constituency
Bath MP: Wera Hobhouse (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
12 June 1950
Type
Shop
OS grid reference
ST 745 655
Coordinates
51.38839, -2.36763
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This is a shop with living accommodation above, completed in 1791. It was designed by John Palmer and built by William Hewlett. The front, right side, and rear of the building are faced with limestone ashlar, with the ground floor side and rear painted. It has a mansard roof covered with Welsh slate, hipped on the right side, and incorporates a coped party wall with a truncated ashlar stack to the left and an ashlar stack with early clay pots on the right side.

The building is three storeys high, with an attic and basement, and features a single window range. The corner location at the intersection of St James's Street and St James's Place results in a rear elevation with two angles facing St James's Place. The first floor has a six-over-six horned sash window in a plain reveal, and the second floor has a similar sash with a stone sill. A 20th-century shopfront occupies the ground floor. A dormer window with a six-over-six sash is present in the roof. A weathered sill band runs continuously with numbers 5 and 6 St James's Street. It has a moulded eaves cornice and a coped parapet, also continuous with numbers 5 and 6 St James's Street. The rear elevation retains early six-over-six sash windows, along with a 20th-century window and door on the ground floor. A grating is set into the pavement at basement level.

A canopy is attached to the right side and rear, forming an entrance to St James’s Place, and is also attached to number 3 St James’s Place. A decorative series of brackets beneath the canopy once supported hooks, reportedly used by a butcher. The interior was not inspected, but historical records suggest the survival of a staircase with Doric column newel posts.

The building is part of the unfinished St James's Square development, constructed on land leased in 1790 by Fielder, King, Hewlett and Broom from Sir Peter Rivers Gay. St James's Street forms one of four diagonal approaches to St James's Square, illustrating the application of Picturesque principles to town planning. An underlease was granted to William Hewlett in 1791 for 96 years.

Local climate

4, St James's Street receives an average of 860 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 60% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 64% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 52% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. No. 3 and Attached Canopy Nos. 1 and 2 (Part) Grade II 8 m
  2. 5 and 6, St James's Street Grade II 8 m
  3. 2, St James's Street Grade II 15 m
  4. 7, St James's Street Grade II 17 m
  5. St James's Wine Vaults Grade II 21 m
  6. No. 1 and Attached Wall and Gate Pier Grade II 21 m
  7. 9, St James's Street Grade II 22 m
  8. St Andrews Post Office Grade II 23 m
  9. 11 and 11a, St James's Street Grade II 24 m
  10. 6, St James's Place Grade II 36 m