83-101, CHURCH ROAD

Ten terrace houses on Church Road, Combe Down. The terrace is dated 1729 in the central pediment, though most architectural detail appears to be from the later 18th and 19th centuries, with some 20th-century alterations. The houses were originally designed by John Wood the Elder for workers at Ralph Allen's quarries.

The buildings are constructed in limestone ashlar with slate roofs. All have cornices with blocking courses and parapets, except numbers 85 and 95, where the cornice moulding continues through as eaves support. The terrace comprises two storeys throughout, with a double roof over an internal valley. Most houses have three-window fronts, though numbers 85 and 95 have two windows.

Individual houses display varied window and door treatments. Number 83 has plain sashes with fretted valance hoods at first-floor level and decorative iron flower guards. It features a central square porch with moulded cornice and blocking, topped with a small urn over a panelled door with margin panes. The main parapet has a small urn at each end. Number 85 has twelve-pane sashes throughout, all with flower guards and valance hoods at first floor, with a central panelled door beneath a tent canopy on lattice standards. Number 87 has plain sashes at first floor with flower guards, above which are inserted doors with a lean-to glazed porch. Number 89 has twelve-pane sashes in chamfered surrounds with a panelled door to a transom light with margin bars on the right side. The central house has plain sashes and a central square porch with a pierced parapet and arched opening over a 20th-century door. A pediment with modillions and a ball finial spans the full width of this house, which was intended for the quarry foreman and originally had a small chapel at its rear. Number 93 has eight-pane sashes above two French doors and a square porch with a slab top over a panelled door. Number 95 has eight-pane sashes in chamfered surrounds and a central panelled door in a raised surround with moulded cornice. Number 97 has plain sashes with a panelled door to the right under a wide tent hood on lattice standards. Number 99 has two-light casements with transom and a central crenellated porch over a high pilaster doorcase with consoles and a slab hood. The last house has an added wing set back to the right. The main front has a plain sash above a panelled door in a plain surround and a two-storey canted bay with plain sashes, while the added bay has eight-pane sashes.

Interiors have been partially inspected. Number 83, inspected by Bath Council in the 1990s, has evidence of a possible stone barrel-vaulted ceiling over the upper rooms with the pitched roof immediately above. The hall has a flagged-stone floor, an original fireplace with a Victorian grate, and early cupboards either side of the chimney breast. The door to the staircase is wide and boarded with an interesting early exposed lock. The original fireplace in the parlour has been removed, and the original staircase survives, though the balustrades may be later. Number 93, inspected by Bath Council in 1983, has Victorian stairs at the rear, window seats in the thick walls at first-floor level, and original plain stone fireplaces. Number 97, inspected by Bath Council in 1979, contains no surviving Georgian detail. It has a pair of fine cupboards in the hall with arched panels in the doors, an arched alcove and original chimney breast, and an arch at the end of the hall with elaborate cornice and small ceiling rose. The front room has a white marble fireplace with vine-leaf detail. A Victorian staircase with turned banisters and newel post and a Victorian dresser in the rear room also survive.

The terrace was probably originally developed uniformly by John Wood the Elder, though varied approaches to individual properties have resulted in changes over time. The houses were intended for quarrymen's families and served as both an advertisement for the economical use of locally quarried stone and as local accommodation for quarrymen, eliminating the need to travel and thereby increasing efficiency. These houses represent very early examples of dedicated industrial housing, comparable to the Ralph Allen Cottages at numbers 6–26 Prior Park Road, built between 1726 and 1740 for banker masons working on the quay.