29 Rivers Street and attached railings

Number 29 Rivers Street and attached railings

A terrace house built between 1770 and 1775 as part of the Rivers Street development by John Wood the Younger.

EXTERIOR

The building is constructed in limestone ashlar to the front, with ashlar and render lined out in imitation of ashlar to the rear. It has a double pile parapeted mansard roof with artificial slate to the front and double Romans tiles to the upper slope at the rear, artificial slate to the lower slope, and a coped party wall to the left with two rebuilt ashlar stacks with early clay pots.

The house comprises three storeys, an attic and basement with a three-window front. The first floor has three plate glass horned sashes in ovolo moulded architraves with friezes and cornices, set above lowered mould stone sills on console brackets. The second floor also has three plate glass horned sashes in ovolo moulded architraves with stone sills. The ground floor features two plate glass horned sashes in splayed reveals with stone sills to the left, and to the right a six-panel door with flush beaded, fielded and glazed panels. The doorcase is pedimented Doric in style with an attached wrought iron footscraper, and there are two pennant steps in front leading to a concreted crossover. The basement contains two six-over-six sashes in plain reveals with stone sills and a twentieth-century door in ashlar infilling under the crossover. The limestone area steps have been refaced in concrete with a wrought iron handrail. A double dormer with plate glass sashes is present in the roof.

A band course runs over the ground floor, and a modillion cornice with coped parapet continues across Numbers 28, 30 and 31 Rivers Street.

The rear elevation has plate glass horned sashes on the first floor with a wrought iron balconette, two six-over-six sashes to the staircase at the first half-landing with wrought iron bars with shaped heads, a single storey ashlar parapeted hipped roof extension, and other single storey extensions. A lead hopperhead sits at the eaves to the centre.

Attached wrought iron railings and gate with shaped heads stand on limestone bases.

HISTORY

Rivers Street was developed by John Wood the Younger on three separate parcels of land. Numbers 1 to 11 were constructed in conjunction with Catharine Place on ground conveyed on perpetual leasehold from Sir Benet Garrard to Wood and Brock (as his trustee) on 19 and 20 December 1766. Numbers 16 to 28 and 36 to 47 Rivers Street, with areas behind Numbers 46 and 47, were constructed on ground conveyed from the Rivers Estate (owned by Sir Peter Rivers Gay) to Wood on 5 March 1768 for a term of 99 years. Numbers 28 to 35 Rivers Street were built in conjunction with Russell Street on ground purchased by John Wood and Andrew Sproule (as his trustee) from Thomas and Daniel Omer on 30 December 1768 on perpetual freehold rents. The strip of ground on which Numbers 12 to 15 and 48 to 50 Rivers Street stand was probably never acquired by Wood. The sites of Numbers 12 to 15 were conveyed from the Rivers Estate to Thomas and James Beale on 30 December 1774 and 16 October 1776 on perpetual freehold rents.

A number of different Bath builders were responsible for implementing Wood's overall design. The house was occupied in 1819 by G.P. Manners, Architect (c.1789-1866), according to the Bath Directory of that year.

The interior has not been inspected.