Numbers 47 To 55 Including Playhouse Theatre (Numbers 49-53) Playhouse Theatre

Numbers 47 to 55, including the Playhouse Theatre (Numbers 49-53), date from around 1800 to 1810, with later additions and alterations. Originally built as Montpellier Baths for Henry Thompson, they were altered in 1869 for Edward Holmes.

The main range is a single storey with three recessed entrances framed by Doric columns and pilasters. It has a ten-window range, with a shop integrated into the left side, two first-floor windows, and a three-storey wing to the right with one first-floor window. The entrances have double doors, panelled pilasters, a frieze (mostly missing except on the left), a continuous cornice, and a low parapet topped by a central upshot with acroteria and a coat of arms. The central three windows are now blocked but retain tooled architraves, with original 6/6 sash windows where present, otherwise blocked or partly blocked. The right-hand wing has 6/6 sashes on the ground and first floors and a 3/3 sash on the second floor, all in plain reveals, alongside continuous sill bands on the first and second floors. A four-panel door is located at the left-hand entrance. The crowning blocking course and copings form gable end ramps leading upwards to a stack on the right. The left-hand range has pilaster strips between windows, a first-floor band, a plate glass shop window, a blind opening and a replacement window on the first floor. An entrance at the angle features a plate glass door and a blind window above.

The left return is two storeys with five first-floor windows. It has a plinth and 2/2 horizontal-pane sash windows with lugs within plain reveals. A central entrance features a six-panel door with a fanlight and arch on consoles. A segmental-arched carriage opening is present with double plank doors.

An inscription stating ‘Laboratory for the real Cheltenham Salts’ was noted in the interior during a 1983 inspection, although it is no longer visible. The interior has not otherwise been inspected.

This building offers a remarkably early and complete example of its type, and is historically significant as Henry Thompson also built Hygeia House, now Vittoria House, in the nearby Vittoria Walk, where he started the original Montpellier Spa.