21-26, Walcot Buildings

The terrace at 21-26 Walcot Buildings comprises six houses dating from the late 18th century, altered in the 19th and 20th centuries and now used as shops. The houses are constructed of painted limestone ashlar, with double-pitched slate mansard roofs, hipped at the ends and incorporating raking dormers; some have moulded stacks to the party walls. They have double-depth plans.

The houses are three storeys and attics, likely with basements, and each has a two-window front. A continuous coped parapet, cornice, and ground floor platband are consistent across the terrace. Originally featuring six/six-pane sash windows, the houses have been altered with various shopfronts and window replacements. Number 21 has panelled pilasters to metal windows and a shopfront, a six-panel door with overlight, and some blind windows to the return. Number 22 shares moulded stacks with Number 21, has paired raking dormers with six/six-pane sash windows, plate glass windows below, and a 20th-century shopfront with semicircular arched panelled pilasters. Number 23 incorporates moulded stacks to the right, six/six-pane sash windows, a six-panel door to the left, and a 20th-century shopfront mirroring Number 22. Number 24 retains a truncated stack, two/two-pane sash windows to the dormers, plate glass sashes below, and roundels to consoles flanking the fascia of a mid-19th-century shopfront, now with later infill. Number 25 has moulded stacks, plate glass sash windows, one raking dormer, and a 20th-century shopfront. Number 26 displays a single dormer, plate glass sash windows, and a 20th-century shopfront. The interiors have not been inspected.

These buildings appear on a plan of Bath dated 1793 by Harcourt Masters and are part of the city’s mid-Georgian arterial development.