Hanover House and 1 to 23 Montpellier Walk

Hanover House and 1 to 23 Montpellier Walk

A terrace of shops with flats over, now mainly used for storage. Built between circa 1836 and 1845, with caryatids added in 1840. The terrace was designed by WH Knight. At least three of the terracotta caryatids were created by Rossi of London, who provided them as models for others by WG Brown of Tivoli Street, Cheltenham. Hanover House was converted to a bank by Eric Cole around 1970, and was later converted to restaurant use in about 2000.

The building is constructed of ashlar over brick with a mansard slate roof and terracotta caryatids. It forms an L-shaped plan with an opening to the lower, shorter part.

The exterior presents two storeys with attics. Most units have one window each, though numbers 19 to 23 have two windows. The ashlar detailing includes pilasters with sunk panels to most party walls, and tooled eared architraves to the first floor two-window ranges. The cornice sweeps up to a balustraded parapet. The first floor features 6/6 and tripartite 6/6 sashes between 2/2 sashes where original. The mansard level has 8/8 and 6/6 sashes, with further attic dormers containing casements. Mainly 6/6 sashes are found throughout, with those to the bow curved on section; curved sashes also appear to roof dormers. The rear elevations to Montpellier Street form a substantial three-storey façade in ashlar, with first floor windows having pediments.

The interior is noted as retaining some original plasterwork and joinery.

Historically, although dated to 1836 at its southern end, evidence suggests this date is unreliable. The terrace does not appear on Griffith's map of 1838, and the earliest documented reference dates to 1841, mentioning "2 additional shops". By 1841, the northern end of the walk opposite Montpellier Arcade had been completed, forming a covered entrance to the tree-lined walk that led from the Old Well and Imperial Spa towards Montpellier. Contemporary accounts from 1850 describe shops on this side occupied by Mr Merrett, Cook and Confectioner; Mrs Hacker's Magasin of Modes; and Mr Draper, Tailor. The bow front at the entrance was noted for its two handsome shops with windows separated by caryatids, described as "elegant Grecian figures, representing Athenian virgins, dressed in their Panathenaic costume". Montpellier Walk was originally known as the Grand Promenade. This row of shops has been described as "a charming example of intimate Classical architecture" and represents an outstanding example of commercial architecture from the period and of nineteenth-century terracotta revival.