17-21, CHARLES STREET

Nos. 17-21 Charles Street are a group of five terraced houses dating to approximately 1780-1790, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The houses are constructed of limestone ashlar, with some coursed and squared stonework to the rear, and have slate roofs. They are three storeys tall, with an attic and basement, and each has a single window to the front. Most windows are sashes, with tripartite windows at the first and second floors, and hipped dormers with paired sashes. Each house has a five-panel door within an architrave, topped by a flat hood resting on pilasters with consoles.

No. 17 has plain sashes, including a single window on the ground floor, and a door to the left. The return elevation to James Street has a blind sash and a plain sash at the first and second floors, a plain ground floor, and a double-hipped mansard end behind a parapet. No. 18 retains what appears to be the original layout, featuring twelve-pane sashes in the dormer, eight:twelve:eight-pane sashes at the first and second floors, and sixteen-pane sashes on the ground floor, with a door to the left. No. 19 is similar to No. 18, but has a 20th-century display window and door to the right. No. 20, paired with No. 19, also has twelve-pane sashes to the dormer but plain sashes below, and a similar display window and door to No. 19. No. 21 differs from the others, with a single plain sash dormer, paired sashes of differing widths to the first and second floors, and a single window to the ground floor with a door to the right.

A platband runs above the ground floor, and a sill band is present on the first floor to Nos. 17-19 only. The first-floor windows extend downwards at the first floor to Nos. 20 and 21. A moulded parapet with a blocking course runs the full width and returns to the James Street front. Three ashlar ridge stacks are visible, with coped party divisions and a gabled right end. The rear elevation rises to four full floors, and each house has a single hipped dormer. Various twelve-pane sashes are present on the rear, along with some plain sashes, and No. 21 features a tripartite window at each level. Thin, straight drips are present below the ground and first-floor windows. Some doors provide access to the basement level. No. 20 has a later extension.

The interior of No. 17, inspected by Bath Council in 1992, includes an original front door, fireproofed in the 20th century, and the hall retains some original cornices and a staircase, though these are now blocked. The second floor front room contains a good mid-to-late 19th-century marble fireplace, while the second features only the surround. The first floor front room has a plain sash window with a tripartite configuration. The house was converted to offices in the late 20th century, and many original features have been blocked. A partial inspection of No. 19 by Bath Council in 1986 revealed reproduction cornices and a bow window on the ground floor front room, with original cornices at the rear. Original cornices and a staircase, featuring Doric newels and colonnettes, remain in the hall.