403 AND 404 THE SPA

Nos 403 and 404 The Spa are a pair of attached houses built in the early 19th century. They feature an ashlar front and sides, with rubblestone at the rear, and a Welsh slate hipped roof that has central stone and brick stacks. The houses are four storeys tall and have four windows. The entrance doors, located to the left and right, are accessed by stone steps leading up to first-floor rusticated porches. No 403 has a 20th-century door beneath a fanlight, while No 404 features six fielded-panel double doors with a fanlight above.

The basement includes two 8-pane sash windows and French windows. The first floor is rusticated and has four 8-pane sashes set in semi-elliptical arched panels. A plat band with key decoration is present on the second floor, which has four tall 8-pane sashes with wrought iron balconies. The third floor contains smaller 8-pane sashes, and the windows on the second and third floors are separated by grooved pilasters that extend up to the cornice, which is topped with a panelled frieze. A blocking course is also visible. The left and right returns of the building have blind windows on the second and third floors, and the first floor of the porch features rusticated blind semi-circular arches.

The interior of No 403 has not been inspected, but the interior of No 404 includes grooved door cases and a second-floor drawing room with a plaster cornice and a marble fireplace. There are large six-panel double doors connecting the rear and front rooms, while the first-floor rooms have less elaborate plaster cornices. Additionally, No 404 has a two-storey gabled mid-19th century wing at the rear, which contains two sash windows. This pair of houses is part of a spa development in Melksham from around 1815, although the spa's success was short-lived.