1-20, Caroline Buildings

Caroline Buildings comprises twenty terrace houses built around 1800, as indicated by their appearance on a Bath directory in that year. The buildings are located on the east side of Pulteney Road. Constructed of limestone ashlar, with dressed stone to the rear, they have slate, tile, or concrete tile roofs. The terrace is arranged in a long, straight line, with the end units and a central pair set slightly forward. The houses are double-depth, and some have later, small extensions to the rear.

The architectural style is of three storeys, with each house originally featuring two windows. Much of the original twelve-pane sash windows remain in numbers 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 12, 17, 19, and 20 at all floors; number 6 has replacement lights, and the remaining houses have plain sashes. Doorways are arched on both the left side (numbers 1-10) and the right side (numbers 11-20). Panelled doors remain in most houses, except for numbers 1, 3, and 6, and radial fanlights are preserved above the doors of numbers 1, 5, 9, and 20. The keys and surrounds to the doorways are painted at numbers 1-5 and raised at the remainder. Number 9 has a full-width slated dormer with a two-light window, replicated at the rear, while number 19 has a large two-light dormer to the rear. A continuous moulded sill band and a blocking course with a parapet run along the facade. Most original stacks remain, though some have been cropped, and the party walls feature coped slate roofing, retained at numbers 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and 17. The right-hand return is rendered, with a double-gabled design, while the left-hand side is plain, coursed stone. The rear elevation has a cornice and a shallow blocking course, constructed mainly from rubble or dressed stone, although numbers 8, 9, and 12 are ashlar. Numerous windows retain original glazing bars, primarily twelve panes, within flush ashlar surrounds. A narrow twenty-one-pane stair light is present at number 12.

Several houses were inspected by Bath Council during the 1980s. Numbers 1 and 2 retain many original features, while number 7 had its front sash windows replaced in 1989. Number 10 contains remains of old range arches with fine stone vaulting, and a staircase with stone treads alongside vaults over the half landings. Number 12 was inspected in 1981, and number 14 in 1988, by which time much of the original detail had been removed and the house was divided into two maisonettes. Caroline Buildings is depicted on Harcourt Masters’ map of 1800, and the diarist Richard Kilvert (1803-82) grew up in number 7.