9, Walcot Terrace

No. 9 Walcot Terrace is an 1837 building, originally the Bath Ear and Eye Infirmary, now used as funeral director's premises and set forward from No. 8 Walcot Terrace. The building is constructed of limestone ashlar with an unseen roof and two moulded stacks to the left return. The exterior is single-storied, with no windows on the front. A tall, corniced parapet features a projecting pier supporting a Greek Revival bust inscribed with the name 'Ablis' (identified as a misspelling of Aesculapius, the divinity of medicine). There are paired pilasters with anthemion caps above the cornice, and three stone balusters on plinths below it, repeated on the left return, which also features a 20th-century door and a six/six-pane sash window. A returned cornice and stepped blocking course sits above a prostyle Ionic porch with a late 19th-century half-glazed double door. Painted lettering on the eastern wall reads 'THE BATH EAR AND EYE INFIRMARY'. An octagonal, top-lit room is located at the centre of the plot. The building operated as the Bath Ear and Eye Infirmary from 1837 until 1911, when it became the premises of W.F. Dolman & Sons Undertakers. It was designed in a Greek Revival style reminiscent of Goodridge’s work and reflects the philanthropic spirit of the era. The bust is comparable to the colossal bust of Jupiter in Royal Victoria Park. The structure was conserved around 1987 following structural damage caused by traffic, under the direction of Dougal Hunter.