Partis College

Partis College

Almshouses and chapel in the Greek Revival style, built 1825–1827 on Newbridge Hill. The chapel was altered and improved in 1863, and an extension was added in the mid-20th century. Designed by Samuel and Philip Flood Page, with Gothic chapel alterations by George Gilbert Scott.

The building is constructed of limestone ashlar. It follows a large quadrangular plan, open to the south, with the main range running east to west and shorter north–south ranges at each end, approximately half the size of the main range. The west range is connected to the main range by a mid-20th-century extension. The east range stands free but connects to the main range via an additional range at right angles, which extends through to the Lodge.

Two storeys throughout, though the chapel has an attic in the Greek sense, giving it a higher roofline than the rest. The main range comprises thirty-two bays, divided three:ten:six:ten:three, with end pavilions set forward and articulated by giant Doric pilasters, paired at corners. A six-bay unfluted Ionic portico fronts the chapel, which features a large architraved doorway, a pediment with central roundel, and a blind attic with corner pilasters and returned cornice above. The wings contain five apartments each, with panelled doors and rectangular lights over. Ground floor windows are six-over-six sashes; upper floor windows are three-over-six, as in the pavilion wings. A listel and cornice run below a parapet; individual stacks serve each apartment. The pavilions have a taller parapet with a centre corniced block. The returned elevation is similarly detailed but with two windows and single pilasters at corners. Rear elevations are severely plain in rough stonework.

The east and west ranges comprise sixteen bays, divided three:ten:three, detailed as one wing of the main range with a pavilion at the other end. South elevations of pavilions are returned with paired pilasters at corners and single ones between windows. The west range joins the main range via the mid-20th-century extension, a canted range across the angle with similar details and six-over-six sashes on the upper floor. The east range has an additional section treated as a five-bay pavilion front, again with paired pilasters at corners and single ones between windows. It connects through to the Lodge via a small single-storey section featuring a Venetian window and paired corner pilasters. Rear elevations are severely plain in rough stonework.

Partis College was founded by Anne Partis, widow of Fletcher Partis, in fulfilment of instructions in his will. It was intended to house thirty gentlewomen reduced by widowhood or orphanage from affluence to distress. Residents had to be over forty, Anglican, and daughters or widows of clergymen, professional men, or those of similar rank. The foundation illuminates patterns of genteel respectability and philanthropy in the late Georgian period.

The college forms an exceptionally handsome collegiate ensemble, reminiscent of the severe phase of the Greek Revival (comparable to Wilkins's Downing College and Haileybury School), and represents Bath's finest example of the Greek Revival style. The small but sumptuous chapel is among Bath's finest High Victorian creations.