2, Kennet And Avon Canal

This early 19th century canal cottage is situated facing the Kennet and Avon Canal and with a rear aspect to a railway line. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with a single-pitched slate roof, featuring moulded stacks to the gable ends. The plan is of a double-depth design, incorporating a long, single-storey left wing.

The two-storey front elevation has three bays at first floor level. A central arched door opening is set within a raised surround. Above are a pair of arched eight-pane windows to the left, and a single window to the right, all with raised surrounds and cills carried on consoles. The gables have moulded kneelers and wide, sloping, bracketed eaves. A ground floor platband and plinth are also present. Semicircular arched windows are present to the front; the first-floor windows have ornamental stops to raised hoods, and the ground-floor windows to the left are paired and have raised surrounds and bracketed sills. The now-blocked doorway retains a similar surround with a keystone. A 20th-century wall now provides access to the north of the property. The rear elevation, facing the railway, features a tripartite window to the left side of both floors. The first-floor window likely has a twelve-pane central section, possibly swivel-hinged, with six-pane sections to the sides. The ground-floor window has 20th-century glazing to the sides. The south wing also has 20th-century windows. A sign on the south gable identifies the building as the ‘Bath Humane Society’s station for life buoys and drag poles’. The interior remains uninspected.

The Kennet and Avon Canal was authorised in 1794 and opened in 1810, with John Rennie as the engineer. This cottage was originally built as a lengthman’s dwelling to oversee the pound up to the next section, the lengthman's cottage for which is located just beyond Bathampton.