31 Rivers Street

Terrace house, now shop with flat over, built between 1770 and 1775. Part of the Rivers Street development by John Wood the Younger. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar to front and rear, with rubble to the flank wall at rear left. It has a parapeted mansard roof, hipped to the right and to the rear, covered in artificial slate. A single ashlar stack with early clay pots to the left is shared with No.30 Rivers Street.

The building occupies a wedge-shaped plot near the junction of Rivers Street and Julian Road, narrowing to the right, with the staircase positioned to the right. The main front is three storeys, with attic and basement storeys, and three windows. The first floor contains nine/six horned sashes to left and centre, and a similar six/six sash with timber panel below to the right, all set in ovolo moulded architraves with friezes and cornices. Stone sills, lowered and moulded to left and centre, are not clearly visible above the projecting shopfront. The second floor has three six/six sashes in ovolo moulded architraves with stone sills. Three single dormers contain two/two horned sashes.

The ground floor has been substantially altered by a projecting shopfront built out over the area, constructed in ashlar. To the left are two round-headed windows with iron bars applied to give the effect of glazing bars over plate glass. To the right is a six-panel door with moulded and fielded panels and plate glass overlight, treated as windows, with two pennant steps and a cast iron foot-scraper in a round-headed plain reveal. The shopfront has a moulded cornice and coped parapet, with a modillion cornice and coped parapet continuous with Nos.28-30 Rivers Street. Basement openings below the windows have simple iron grilles, each with two twentieth-century windows behind.

The rear elevation has six/six sashes to the first and second floors, a nineteenth-century sash with border glazing to the third floor, and a blocked window to the ground floor. A painted street name reading "JULIAN ROAD" dates from the nineteenth century. Remains of a painted sign on the right side above No.31A Rivers Street read "OLD RED/HOUSE/RIVERS ST/BRANCH", presumed to be a reference to the Red House Bakery, see Nos.8 and 9 New Bond Street.

The interior was not inspected.

Rivers Street was developed by John Wood the Younger on three parcels of land. Nos.1-11 were constructed in conjunction with Catharine Place on ground conveyed on perpetual leasehold from Sir Benet Garrard to Wood and his trustee Brock on 19-20 December 1766. Nos.16-28 and 36-47 Rivers Street with areas behind Nos.46 and 47 were built on ground conveyed from the Rivers Estate, owned by Sir Peter Rivers Gay, to Wood on 5 March 1768 for a 99-year term. Nos.28-35 Rivers Street were constructed in conjunction with Russell Street on ground bought by John Wood and his trustee Andrew Sproule from Thomas and Daniel Omer on 30 December 1768 on perpetual freehold rents. A number of different Bath builders were responsible for implementing Wood's overall design. This house and shop was occupied by G. Smith's Circulating Library in 1809.