21-27, QUEEN SQUARE (See details for further address information)

Seven symmetrical terrace houses forming the north side of Queen Square, part of a Palladian palace-fronted terrace. Built 1729-1736 by John Wood the Elder. The terrace is constructed of limestone ashlar with a rendered right return and double pitched slate mansard roofs with moulded stacks on coped party walls. The houses have double depth plans.

The terrace rises three storeys with attics and basements, presenting a twenty-three-window front composed of three-bay houses flanking a five-bay central house. The ground floor features a moulded base with two courses of chamfered rustication and radial voussoirs reaching a platband, stepped forward over equal openings to set back windows and doors. The doorways are deliberately understated to reinforce the impression of a unified 'palace'. This ground floor forms a substantial plinth supporting the grand order above: engaged Corinthian columns, an entablature and modillion cornice. Four columns stand at each terminal, five at the centre, all stepped forward. The paired houses flanking the centre have pilasters instead of columns, with quarter pilasters in the angles with the projecting houses. Coped parapets and dormers mark the attic storey.

The terminal houses, Numbers 21 and 27, have attic storeys with coped parapets and pilasters above the columns. They formerly had three-over-three-pane sash windows, now all with dropped sills. Upper floor windows have moulded architraves. The second floor originally had three-over-three-pane sashes, the first floors six-over-six-pane sashes, as did ground floors and basements. First floor windows feature alternating triangular and segmental pediments (triangular to the outer ends) and now have lowered sills with mostly six-over-nine-pane sashes. The doors were probably originally of eight raised and fielded panels.

Number 21, on the left, has a six-panel door with a margin-paned overlight to the right. Blind glazed windows occupy the second floor centre and left. The left return faces Queen's Parade. The coped parapet and cornice to the attic and the modillion cornice to the second floor are returned with a pediment spanning the stepped forward three central ranges and rising to the attic parapet. This five-window range has blind windows to the attic storey (except to the left), six-over-six-pane sashes to second and first floors, and cornices to first floor windows. A single storey extension stands at ground floor left. Steps to the basement area have a wrought iron overthrow for a former lamp.

Number 21 became the Bath and County Club in 1858 (founded in York Buildings in 1790), and single storey extensions for billiard rooms were added to the Queen's Parade front. These extensions are in Bath limestone ashlar and top lit. Roof lights were altered around 1980. Although plainly detailed, these extensions are included in the listing. The building is now in residential use.

Number 22 has two dormers, three-over-three-pane sashes to the second floor, six-over-nine-pane sashes to the first floor, and six-over-six-pane sashes to ground floor and basement. The door to the right and landing over the basement area are paired with Number 23. Now in residential use.

Number 23 is similar to Number 22 except for horned plate glass sash windows and splayed reveals to the first floor. Now in office use.

Number 24, the central house, is pedimented with urns to the apex and quoins. It has plate glass sash windows (two-over-two-panes to the basement), sills lowered to the platband with a fine early 19th century cast iron balcony to the central window, and a full height seven-panel door glazed to the top. Now in office use.

Number 25 has six-over-six-pane sash windows to two dormers, three-over-three-pane sashes to the second floor, six-over-nine-pane sashes to the first floor, nine-over-three-pane sashes to the basement, and a seven-panel door glazed to the top on the right. Now in office use.

Number 26 is similar except for painted splayed reveals to the first floor, six-over-six-pane sashes to the basement, and the door to the left. Now in office use.

Number 27 is similar to Number 21 (the left hand terminal) except for plate glass sash windows, balconettes to the second floor, and a late 19th century four-panel door with margin-paned overlight. The rendered four-window right return in Gay Street has no pediment to the attic storey but features ashlar quoins, moulded architraves to the upper storeys, and cornices to first floor windows. Blind windows occupy the left and inside-left of the first floor. A sill course (removed from the Queen Square facade) survives and continues along a parapeted two storey, two-window rear wing (probably original with similar quoins). A later similar two-window addition with an early 19th century six-panel door to the left and some crown glass to windows forms a continuous four-window wing. Now in use as a tutorial college.

Interiors

Numbers 21 and 22 were converted to flats around 1975, having been converted into guest rooms for the Bath County Club in the 1880s. Number 21 was partly inspected by the Bath Preservation Trust survey of interiors. The staircase was possibly replaced in the late 19th century with a replica. The interiors are subdivided.

The first floor front drawing room has a modillion and rosette cornice to a coved ceiling with a Greek Revival ceiling rose, and a good late 18th century marble chimneypiece with Siena marble inlays, a relief of a woman with amorino to the centre, and nymphs to the sides (not original and installed here recently). The dining room in the centre has a modillion cornice, coffered frieze with rosettes, moulded architraves to windows, and split panelled shutters. The dining room behind has a modillion cornice, moulded shutters, and a moulded sill to windows. A bedroom at the rear has an octagonal ceiling frieze of rinceaux and a blocked corner fireplace.

Number 22 was partly inspected by the Bath Preservation Trust survey of interiors. The wooden staircase has wide, shallow treads with scrolled tread ends, and a dado rail runs up the entire four flights. Moulded plaster cornices mark the upper landings.

Number 24 has an open-string wooden staircase with columnar newels and turned balusters, and a panelled dado.

Number 25 retains its wooden staircase to the rear, with columnar newel posts and turned balusters.

Number 27 has an open string wooden staircase with upswept handrail, twisted balusters, and columnar newels.

More detailed interior descriptions were recorded around 1981 for Number 21. The ground floor has an attractive room in the single storey rear extension with a high coved plaster ceiling. The staircase features Doric newels, three banisters per cut tread with Doric colonnettes over vases, and scrolled tread ends. A sample of what was thought to be the original decorative oil paint finish was preserved in situ under glass: it was marbled in various shades of earth pigments—umbers, ochres and siennas—with a yellowish varnish finish. The front room has a Regency cornice with rosettes in coffers, three windows with raised and fielded shutters, and an original white marble fireplace with elliptical-arched recesses on either side. The south west corner room in the Victorian extension has a raised panel in the ceiling, segmental arched recesses on north and west walls, a Victorian fireplace, and a four panel door to the north. The back room has a cornice as in the front room and a three light window to the Victorian extension.

On the first floor, the front south east room has a Regency cornice and a very simple fireplace. The front south west room has a Regency cornice, windows with panelled shutters, an original six-panel ovolo door with wide cyma architrave, original cavetto and torus skirting, and a Regency fireplace. A small north west room has timber panelling cyma reversa moulded above the dado, ovolo below, panelled shutters, a six-panel door, a marble fireplace with ovolo architrave, and torus skirting. The big north west room has an enriched cornice, timber panelling and shutters as above, a six-panel door, and an original white marble fireplace. The north room has a Regency cornice and a six-panel door.

Rooms in the principal end-of-terrace house include a front room that is very fine, with a coved ceiling with raised coffering in the centre and a Regency rose, enriched modillion cornice, Regency doors, a Regency white marble fireplace, and unusual original deeply moulded shutters. The central west room has a modillion cornice, Regency rose, Regency marble fireplace, and six-panel Regency door. The north west room has a ceiling with irregular octagonal frame with rococo garlands, panelled shutters, and Regency cornice and fireplace.

Number 22 was also inspected, though the date is unrecorded. The ground floor entrance hall has a Regency cornice with rosettes in coffered soffits. The front room has a cornice as in the hall, three-panel window shutters, a Victorian arch on consoles to the back room, Victorian segmental-arched wall recesses, and an original six-panel door. The back room has a Regency cornice and three panel shutters. A room in the back extension has a massive classical cornice and a Regency fireplace. The staircase has three Doric colonnette on vase banisters per tread, cut strings and Baroque tread ends with double C curves.

On the first floor, the landing has rococo decorative plasterwork with modillion cornice. The first/second floor half landing has a very fine hemispherical coffered dome with a central sun with rays, the ribs of the coffering ornamented with ribbons. The front room has a Regency cornice with Grecian scrollwork on the soffit, three windows with panelled shutters, an original six-panel ovolo door with wide cyma architrave, and a large opening with reeded architrave to the back room. The back room has a Regency cornice, acanthus rose, original door to the landing, and plain Regency fireplaces. The back extension has a Regency waterleaf cornice, two windows with panelled shutters, and a plain Regency fireplace with good original grate.

On the second floor, the front south east room has an original four-panel ovolo door with wide architraves as below. The front south west room has detail as the room above, a Regency cornice, and torus skirting. The back room has a Regency cornice, two-panel original window shutters, a Victorian door, an original six-panel cupboard door, a six-panel back door with Regency architrave, and a fireplace with stone architrave with beaded arrises and central line of bead and reel ornament. The back extension has the same fireplace and torus skirting.

Number 23 was inspected on 2nd June 1975. The staircase has timber open treads, a wide mahogany handrail, three banisters per tread, a plain soffit, panelled dado, and cable moulded panels to the wall above. The cornice is of cyma recta enriched with water leaves, plain frieze, architrave of bead and reel and single fascia. On the first floor, the front room has a cornice with enriched soffit with deep ornamented frieze, a ceiling rose with radiating acanthus leaves, three windows with wide ovolo architraves and three-section shutters, a fluted architrave to a large opening to the back room, and a marble fireplace with white shelf on white Ionic columns with Sienna background. Back room Number 1 has a cornice and ceiling rose as in the front, and a painted stone fireplace with tapering fluted pilasters supporting a frieze with spiralling vase. Back room Number 2 has a blocked corner fireplace with timber shelf, plain cyma reversa cornice, plain frieze and shallow architrave, and a dado rail.

On the second floor, the landing has walls cable moulded into panels above the dado. The front room has a simple plaster cavetto cornice, timber-panelling with dado rail, and a later painted stone fireplace. Back room Number 1 has an unenriched plaster coved cornice, timber panelling with dado rail, and a simple painted stone fireplace. Back room Number 2 has a plaster coved cornice, timber panelling with dado rail, and a fireplace with timber architrave moulding, marble fascia, and cast iron grate.

Number 24 was partially inspected, date unrecorded. On the ground floor, the west front room has a Victorian rococo plaster ceiling. On the second floor, the one-bay centre front room has a big scale cyma recta and reversa cornice. The two-bay front room to the east has a cornice as above and an Edwardian fireplace. The two-bay front room to the west has a more complex moulded cornice and a fireplace with cyma reversa and two-fascia architrave. The west back room has a two-cyma cornice with corona and a fireplace with architrave as above. The staircase has a ceiling with a coffered semi-dome.

Number 25 was inspected on 23rd April 1973. On the ground floor, the entrance hall has a plain cornice, panelled dado, an arch with architrave to a floor in the spine wall with three rows of square coffers to the soffit and single panels to reveals, and six-panel doors with wide architraves. The staircase is timber with cut string, three square banisters per tread, wide handrail with ramps to the landing, and tapered newels. The front room has a moulded cornice and a white marble fireplace with large moulded consoles and shells supporting a shelf with moulded edge. The back room has a cornice as in the front room and a white and grey marble fireplace.

On the first floor, the large front room has an ornate cornice, a central rose with radiating leaves and flowers, and a white marble console fireplace. The back room has a cornice as in the front room and plain later white and grey marble fireplaces. On the second floor, the small front room has no cornice, an original fireplace with stone arch, and four-panel doors. The large front room has no cornice. The back room has no cornice and a plain painted stone fireplace. The staircase is a close-string staircase to the third floor attics with bulbous banisters.

Number 26 was partially inspected on 7th July 1975. On the ground floor, the front room has a later plain moulded cornice with ornamented soffit, later panelled shutters, and a later segmental arch with panelled soffit supported on panelled pilasters with moulded capitals. The back room has a simple moulded cornice and original panels under windows but later architraves to windows and door. The basement has an 'Eagle' range with double ovens.

Number 27 was inspected on 3rd April 1979. On the ground floor, the outer hall has a large enriched dentil cornice and narrow cavetto door architraves. The staircase is very fine and original, with a broad mahogany handrail, torus and cavetto moulded cut treads, carved Baroque tread ends with triple spirally-fluted Doric colonnette on enriched vase banisters, and a very large spiral wreath at the bottom. The front room has a Regency cornice with foliage to the soffit, a central rose, and a flat elliptical arch to the back room. The back room has a very delicate late 18th century cornice with acanthus enrichment and scrollwork in the frieze, six-panel ovolo doors with cavetto architraves as above. The adjacent room in the back extension has a fine modillion cornice with egg and dart enrichment and a window with wide architrave with enriched cyma and enriched ovolo shutter mouldings. The north end of the back extension has a reproduction staircase opposite the side door to Gay Street.

On the first floor, the staircase from first to second floor has simpler Doric colonnettes. The front room has a Regency cornice with soffit scrollwork, three windows with enriched architraves and Regency shutters, a door with enriched architrave, and a Regency fireplace. The back room has a modillion cornice, enriched window architrave, an original dado with moulded rail, and a six-panel door with enriched architrave. The very fine adjacent room in the north wing has a cornice with acanthus leaves on modillions and rosettes between, a decorative plaster ceiling with central rose in a moulded circular frame, rococo scrollwork in two panels either side and plain plasterwork in panels at either end, enriched dado rail, skirting and window architraves, and a door with egg and dart enrichment in its six-panels.

On the second floor, the west front room has a cornice with egg and dart and leaf ornament and an ornamental plaster ceiling with wide cavetto-moulded frame to the central circular panel, and bolection mouldings to four panels round it. It has a wide architrave to the door to the back room and original cavetto and torus skirting. The east front room has a wide window architrave. The back room has no cornice, a six-panel ovolo door, and skirting as in the front rooms. On the third floor, the attic stair is cased in and doors are four-panel and unmoulded. In the basement, the front two-bay west room has rectangular fireplaces. The back room has one stone Tudor arched recess.

Subsidiary features

The front retains its cast iron railings. The entrance to Number 24 is marked with an overthrow. A bronze plaque over the door of Number 24 marks the residence of John Wood the Elder (1704-1754): it is now thought he lived elsewhere in the square, i.e. Number 9.

Historical context

This is the seminal example of a palace-fronted terrace, which notably achieves the aim of this emerging and subsequently very popular approach to house-building: subordinating the individual houses to a single architectural conception. The north side commands the highest ground and possesses the finest outlook; it formed the culmination of Wood's expansion of the city. Number 21 was built by Samuel Emes, responsible for the rough masonry work of the Queen's Square development: finished in 1736, it burnt down in 1747 and was rebuilt in 1749.

John Wood leased the site from Robert Gay from 1728 onwards, and granted underleases in 1729-1731 to a range of developers. The houses are first recorded as occupied in the rate books in 1734. Wood originally intended to level the sloping site, but this was abandoned on the grounds of cost.

Queen Square is of exceptional importance as the first large-scale instance of town planning to arrive at Bath. Wood drew on precedents in contemporary London house-building and, through the courageous and skilful pursuit of his vision, created a monumental ensemble on a fresh sloping site some distance to the west of the former city walls. Each side of the square forms a symmetrical composition, but none of the sides are alike. Queen Square forms the earliest, and lowest, element in the sequence of set-pieces by the Woods which culminates with the Royal Crescent.