No. 4 ('Alfred Hopkins House') With Railings

This is a large house, now used as offices, constructed between 1729 and 1734 by John Wood the Elder as part of a group of six on the east side of Queen Square. The building is of limestone ashlar with a slate roof. It is three storeys high, plus an attic and basement, and has a symmetrical, wide frontage. The windows are restored glazing bar sashes, with small twelve-pane dormers above nine-pane windows in eared architraves to the second floor, and twelve-pane windows in architraves to the lower floors. The ground floor windows are set in splayed surrounds. The central doorway is a wide seven-panel design with a glazed top panel, framed by pilasters with shaped consoles and an open pediment with a sunk panel to the frieze. A drip course is present above the ground floor, with a platband running along the front. The detailed cornices include a modillion cornice with a shallow blocking course and a parapet, complemented by a low mansard roof with coped party divisions and ashlar stacks. The interior has not been inspected. Simple cast iron railings on an ashlar curb enclose the basement areas, returning at the doorway and to the right, with steps leading to the basement. The building is set slightly lower than the adjacent No.3, due to the sloping street, and is stepped forward approximately 100mm. The replacement of glazing bars restores the house to a close approximation of Wood's original intention. Initially, Wood had planned to level the sloping site, but this was abandoned due to cost. Queen Square holds exceptional importance as the first large-scale example of town planning in Bath, drawing on contemporary London house building precedents to create a monumental ensemble. The ensemble is an early and lower element in the sequence of developments by the Wood family that culminates with the Royal Crescent.