22 Rivers Street and attached railings

This is a house, now flats, built between 1770 and 1775, as part of the Rivers Street development by John Wood the Younger. It has undergone alterations in the 20th century.

The front of the house is faced with limestone ashlar, while the rear is of rubble construction. It is a double-pile house with a parapeted mansard roof covered in Welsh slate, with a coped party wall to the left, featuring two ashlar stacks topped with early clay pots. The house is set back further than its neighbors to the rear and has a staircase at the rear.

The property is three stories high, with an attic and basement, presenting a three-window front. The first floor has three plate glass, horned sash windows contained within ovolo moulded architraves, featuring friezes and cornices, and lowered moulded stone sills resting on cut-down console brackets supporting wrought iron balconettes. The second floor mirrors this design with six/six-pane horned sash windows and stone sills. On the ground floor, to the left, are two plate glass, horned sash windows with plain reveals and stone sills. To the right is a six-panel door with flush beaded, fielded, and glazed panels, preceded by a single pennant step and sheltered by a pedimented Doric doorcase, with two further steps leading to a pennant paved crossover. The basement has two six/six-pane sash windows, the left window horned, both with plain reveals and stone sills; a 20th-century door is located under the crossover, alongside 20th-century area steps. The roof has a double dormer with plate glass sashes. A band course runs above the ground floor, topped by a modillion cornice and a coped parapet. A lead hopperhead and downpipe on the right side is shared with No. 23 Rivers Street. The rear elevation, partially visible, features horned glazing bar sashes and a lead hopperhead at the eaves.

Attached to the front are wrought iron railings and a gate, supported by bases of limestone and concrete, with shaped tops.

Rivers Street was developed by John Wood the Younger across three parcels of land, acquired through leases and purchases from Sir Benet Garrard, Sir Peter Rivers Gay, and Thomas and Daniel Omer. Different Bath builders implemented Wood's overall design. Numerous builders were responsible for constructing the street. The property is documented in building leases and rate books; further details are provided in Walter Ison’s “The Georgian Buildings of Bath.”