7 And 8, Terrace Walk

The Terrace Walk buildings at Nos. 7 and 8 are shops with accommodation above, dating to around 1730, with alterations in the late 18th and late 19th centuries. They were designed by John Wood the Elder. The buildings are constructed of limestone ashlar with a Welsh slate roof. Originally a single house, the building was later divided into two.

The two-storey buildings have a full-height attic and a three-bay front, divided one bay to two. The shopfronts at ground-floor level are similar in design to No. 6, with the one at No. 7 having a surround dating to around 1830, and a later 20th-century infill. The shopfront at No. 8 is a reproduction. The first and second floors of No. 7 feature late 18th-century tripartite sashes, with six/six panes flanked by four/four panes, mirroring the design of No. 6. Nos. 7 and 8 share a continuous cornice band at the second-floor level, characteristic of Nos. 3-9 on the Terrace Walk. A parapet hides the roof, which is visible from the rear. An ashlar ridge stack is present, without pots. The rear elevation is also ashlar, with a continuous second-floor band, three windows to No. 7, and a full-height semicircular bay to No. 8. The rear of No. 8 has three six/six sashes to the ground floor, three nine/six sashes above, and three six/six sashes in the attic space; its roof is conical. The window arrangement on the south side of No. 8’s bow demonstrates the presence of adjacent houses in Orange Grove at the time of construction. The interior of No. 7 is reported to contain a fine, coved ceiling.

These buildings were among the four constructed by John Wood the Elder in Terrace Walk shortly after 1728, with a lease granted for No. 8 on 18th October 1733. They appear on a plan of the city of Bath from 1735 and in Wood’s plan in his ‘Essay towards the Description of Bath’ from 1749. The layout was altered and partially refronted in the late 18th century, and possibly again in 1816 when Terrace Walk was widened. No. 8 housed James Leake’s bookshop and circulating library in the mid-18th century, described in 1738 as “one of the finest bookseller's shops in Europe”. Speculation exists that Samuel Richardson may have written Clarissa here, and Leake was also John Wood’s publisher and assisted him in his development undertakings.