North Colonnade At Grand Pump Room

The North Colonnade at the Grand Pump Room is a colonnade built in 1790 by Thomas Baldwin. It is constructed from limestone ashlar, with the roof likely made of lead, although it is not visible from the street. The exterior features an open colonnade with nine bays of unfluted Ionic columns that increase in height towards the south to accommodate the slope of the ground. The columns are paired at either end where the colonnade meets No. 3 Stall Street and the Grand Pump Room. The entablature has an enriched pediment that slightly projects forward over the three central bays facing the street. This pediment includes reliefs of Sphinxes on either side of a wreathed oval featuring a relief of Hygeia. There is a parapet with a blind balustrade above the second and sixth bays. The elevation facing Abbey Church Yard has only six bays due to the presence of Nos 6-10 Abbey Church Yard. The colonnade is part of Baldwin's Neoclassical redesign of the city center, which was initiated following the Bath Improvement Act of 1789. Along with the Grand Pump Room and the adjoining South Colonnade, it represents some of the most significant civic improvements of its time in the country.