Company Offices, No. 13 Bath Road, Wallbridge, including railings to canal towpath

A canal company headquarters formerly incorporating a board room, offices and a clerk's residence, built 1795/6, by William Franklin for the Company of Proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation.

MATERIALS: the building is constructed from coursed local limestone, with an ashlar façade, quoins and dressings. The north-west flank wall is of red brick. The main roof is covered in clay tile.

PLAN: the building is largely rectangular on plan, with the north corner shortened in line with the adjacent canal towpath, and a projecting wing to the south corner.

EXTERIOR: the building is of two storeys plus attic below a pitched roof. The five-bay façade has a central three-bay section that breaks forward under a steep pediment with an oval window in the typanum. The single-bay wings either side stand under stone parapets with a simple cornice and blocking course, ramping up towards the central pediment. The windows are timber sashes, evenly-spaced, although the opening in the upper right bay is blind. The doorway is left of centre, set above three stone steps, and incorporating rectangular transom light. The lowest step, along with the two cellar windows to the right, is partially concealed by the raised ground level.

The south-east elevation shows the single-storey rear of the south wing, under a pitched roof. The connected main range extends further back, by two bays, and has a C20 fire escape with a timber porch to a first-floor doorway. The rear of the building is rubble stone and the window openings have stone mullions and architraves. The north-west elevation is mainly constructed of brick with sash windows facing the canal, with stone keystones and voussoirs. Late-C18 iron railings line the canal towpath, with urn finials at intervals, set in a low cement wall. The attached buildings to the north-east are later, although they appear to incorporate a late-C18 garden wall.

INTERIOR: the narrow central hallway has a stair with a later balustrade. The principal rooms to either side of the hallway retain some rebated window shutters and other late-C18 joinery. The interior to each floor has been adapted for later uses but retains a number of late-C18/ early-C19 fittings including simple Regency fireplaces, ceiling roses, cornices and further window shutters. The pegged roof structure is visible in the attic floor.