1-9, Edgar Buildings

Edgar Buildings comprises nine symmetrical terrace houses, now with shops on the raised pavement above George Street. Built in 1761, probably by Thomas Jelly, the terrace underwent substantial late 19th and 20th century alterations.

The buildings are constructed in limestone ashlar with double-pitched slate roofs featuring two dormers and moulded stacks set against coped party walls and ends. Each house follows a double-depth plan and rises three storeys with attics and basements. Most units have a three-window range, except No. 5 at the centre, which has a six-window range with a pediment over the three right-hand windows. The terminal houses at Nos. 1 and 9, and the central No. 5, are stepped slightly forward. A continuous coped parapet, modillion cornice, and ground-floor platband run across the façade.

Originally the terrace featured six-over-six pane sash windows throughout, with moulded eared architraves to the second floor. The first floor had moulded architraves, cornices, and bracketed sills with pediments to central windows. By the time of listing, all first-floor sills had been lowered with splayed reveals, though Nos. 1 to 3 had reinstated sills and brackets.

Individual houses show considerable variation. No. 1 has horned plate glass sash windows with a moulded architrave and pediment over the door and overlight to the right. No. 2 has plate glass sash windows without horns and 20th-century basement windows, with a five-panel glazed door and lead rainwater downpipe. No. 3 contains two-over-two pane sash windows to the attic and six-over-six pane sashes to the second and first floors; a 1934 shop front by Taylor and Fare in early 19th-century style features entasis to Tuscan pilasters flanking the right-hand door and a plate glass shop window with moulded cornice to the fascia. The basement area has been paved over.

No. 4 has six-over-six pane sash windows to the dormers, second floor, and basement, with horned plate glass sashes to the first floor. Six cast-iron brackets support a fine cast-iron first-floor balcony with anthemion motifs to the tops of four scrolled piers. A raised and fielded six-panel door with tall overlight stands to the right. This was formerly the home of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon.

No. 5 displays a six-window range with horned plate glass windows and mid-19th-century scrolled balconettes to the first floor. A pair of wrought-iron lamp standards flanks a late 19th-century ornate porch featuring egg-and-dart caps to Tuscan columns, an elaborate scroll cornice, and a convex curved hood. This porch was created around 1900 by WJ Willcox for the Constitutional Club. Basement windows are blocked. The building was converted to a nightclub called Nero's in the 1990s.

No. 6 has horned plate glass windows with repositioned lowered sills and reduced brackets to the first floor. The ground floor contains three windows and no door, and forms part of No. 5. William Hoare, who was reported in the Bath Chronicle of 22 January 1794 to have enlarged it, lived here.

No. 7 has six-over-six pane sash windows to the dormers and basement, with plate glass sashes and splayed reveals elsewhere. A six-panel glazed door and overlight stand to the right, with a lead rainwater downpipe to the far right. No. 8 has horned plate glass sash windows except for a six-over-six pane sash to the left-hand dormer, with balconettes to the first floor. A 1923 shop front by WA Williams features a mutule cornice and triglyph friezes to pilasters, alongside a raised and fielded six-panel door with cobweb fanlight to the left. The basement area has been paved over.

No. 9, the right-hand terminal, has plate glass sash windows paired to the right-hand dormer and a six-over-six pane sash to the left-hand dormer. Fluted pilasters (20th-century) support the fascia and cornice, flanking doors on each side: a six-panel door to the left and double doors to the right. The basement area has been paved over.

Interior details, though not comprehensively inspected, include: No. 1 (partially inspected by Bath Council in 1981) contains a Georgian dresser on the rear basement wall, with Doric column legs hidden below. No. 8 (inspected in 1981) has a ground-floor rear room formerly used as a Turkish Bath, with stencilled glass panels in the door and a Georgian staircase featuring a Doric newel, balusters with colonnettes, and rope panels. No. 5 (partially inspected in 1987) contains an elaborate fireplace in the front ground-floor room with an urn in the centre panel and two heads within a circle, and an Edwardian dresser with zig-zagged ventilation panelling above food cupboards on the second floor. No. 9 (partially inspected in 1994) houses a very grand staircase in the middle with three balusters per tread.

The block was conceived as part of the same development as Milson Street, with Edgar Buildings centred on the south vista of the street. Council minutes from 1 October 1751 record agreement to auction the Town Acre for building leases; this terrace was built on leases dated 29 September 1761. No. 2 functioned as a Turkish Bath for 80 years.