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History
What
If? Those plans for Bath that thankfully never
made it.
Click on the bookmarks below to read some
fascinating plans
A Victorian Folly and Nightmare
- extracted from
"Images of Bath"
by
James Lees-Milne, David Ford
A Victorian scheme to 'improve' the Royal
Crescent: wood‑engraving, 1850
The wood engraving from the Bath and Cheltenham
Gazette of 5 June 1850 is one indication of how
the Victorians could seldom leave well alone. An
accompanying article explained that fountains
were proposed for St James's Square, Victoria
Park, the Circus, Laura Place, Queen Square and
the Royal Crescent. And not only two fountains
for the Crescent. In the forefront the Georgian
railings were to be replaced by a heavy pierced
balustrade. Niggling little shrubs and borders
were to usurp the naked expanse of lawn. A
central pathway with monstrous curbs and hideous
gates was to cut straight from the
 central
house of the Crescent into infinity. Some
merciful hitch prevented this particular scheme
from eventuating. An anonymous wag, inspired by
the prevalent craze for 'improvements' on the
part of the Corporation, mooted another proposal
for the west front of the Abbey which one cannot
but regret was abandoned. The lithograph of c.
1855 was entitled 'A Rejected Design for a
Fountain'. Holding a patent German umbrella.
from which the water dripped, the nude but
bespectacled figure of the irrepressible Bladud
was made to stand on a pedestal surrounded by
two Bath chairs and his favourite sow.
A proposed fountain in honour of Bladud:
lithograph, c. 1855.
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An Office on the Crescent Would be Nice! -
extracted from
"A Plan for Bath: Report for the Bath and
District Joint Planning Committee" by Sir
Patrick Abercrombie, 1945
....Something has been said of the central
area, especially as regards precincts protected
from other than local traffic. The plan of the
centre may be described as a combination of
careful conservation in certain areas combined
with extreme boldness in others. In the two
principal precincts of old buildings into which
central Bath is divided (the old Roman and
medieval town, and what has been called " Wood's
Town ") it is not proposed to make any marked
change, although the route of the inner traffic
ring will lead to some remodelling of frontages
and one diagonal cut near the line of the
original City walls parallel with Orchard Street
; but even here Wood's front to North Parade is
preserved intact.
The marked proposal made in these two
precincts is one of transfer of activity and not
change of building, at any rate exteriorly. This
is the suggestion to move the civic offices
including the Council Chamber and Mayor's
Parlour from the Guildhall to the Royal
Crescent. The Guildhall block with a new front
to the river and Orange Grove and a fine
courtyard (cleared of the retail market) would
be used for central cultural purposes (library,
art gallery, etc.). This, with the addition
proposed to the Pump Room (which could be built
without displacing for the time being the shops
facing Stall Street) and the new Concert Hall,
would provide Bath with sufficient expansion for
its dominant activities as a Spa and town for
recreation and leisure, to serve not only the
region but the whole country.
To change the position of the civic
activities of a town must always appear as
something startling; there is much to be said
for a freedom from historic prejudice in a
matter of this sort. Many factors change; means
of locomotion diminish distance; and an old
central site, suitable in the past, becomes
congested. A similar move is contemplated in
other towns; here the move would solve the
problem of the Royal Crescent use. At the same
time it may be pointed out that if this proposal
is not adopted the structure of the Plan is not
destroyed; both Guildhall and Royal Crescent can
remain in their present use, the latter if
necessary remodelled as proposed by the Society
for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. In one
of these schemes it is shown how a block of four
typical houses could be treated as one unit,
only one staircase being retained. This method
of conversion somewhat. resembles the office
treatment suitable for a municipal building.
This precinct contains the Guildhall block,
also the properties in Bridge Street and
Northgate Street up to a point nearly opposite
the General Post Office entrance ; these
properties are removed and replaced by an open
space. Bridge Street is closed and becomes a
spacious pavement between the open space and the
existing Library and Art Gallery building. It is
proposed to develop the Guildhall block as a
cultural centre, the General Market being
removed and also the other buildings abutting
Grand Parade. Room is provided for the much
needed extension of Library, Art Gallery and
Police Station; a small hotel would complete the
south cast corner and the Art School could be
appropriately contained within the block. A
spacious internal car park is provided and the
entrance to the Old East Gate would be opened
up. The development of this block is linked with
our proposal to utilise a substantial portion of
the Royal Crescent as a centre of civic
administration. The existing accommodation at
the Guildhall is inadequate and the building is
situated in the centre of bustle and noise from
traffic, which is often accompanied by musical
trains from the gardens close by. Recent
Government pronouncements have given an
indication of the extended scope and
responsibilities of local authorities in post
War years, and adequate accommodation will have
to be found. We have carefully estimated the
space required for centralised office
accommodation for all departments of the
Corporation (except Medical Officer and
Electrical Engineer) and have found that ample
room would be provided by converting the central
portion of the Royal Crescent (16 houses) is a
first stage of this civic move; the houses
completing the Crescent on either side could
remain for residential purposes, either in the
form of flats or private residential hotels or
as private schools; a few might be adapted as
offices for professional men. There would be
room also in this first stage of adaptation for
a certain number of committee rooms. We commend
this scheme for careful consideration on the
basis of properly prepared plans for the
development of the site as a whole for a Centre
of Civic Administration. The dilapidated Mews
which fringe the sides and rear of the site do
injustice to this finest creation of Wood. The
sweeping away of these would provide a site for
the ultimate erection of a Council Chamber and
ancillary rooms as an annexe appropriately
linked with the Crescent ; this would be set
within spacious gardens (see Plan facing page 57
above) abutting upon the new east and
west through route, but with no direct vehicular
access thereto. The perspective drawing on the
same page shows the proposed new building viewed
from the north east. The existing front and end
elevations of the Crescent would remain and the
un balanced and unsightly appendages which
during the process of time have been added to
the rear could he replaced by properly grouped
and positioned sanitary annexes as required to
serve the needs of those occupying the offices.
At the same time the main cornices etc. lines
and fenestration of the rear elevation could be
restored in such a manner as to fit in and
harmonise with the buildings comprising the new
Council
The spacious lawn in front of the Crescent
would remain and would, when needed, be
available for use on civic occasions when space
is required for great public assemblies. It
seems hardly necessary to draw attention to the
limitations of the existing Guildhall site in
this respect, and to the undesirability of
perpetuating for all time the present practice
of closing High Street on every civic occasion
which calls for public demonstration or
assembly. The Banqueting Room at the Guildhall,
together with an appropriate suite of rooms,
would remain for the extended social activities
of the spa. The Petty Sessional Court would
remain; and for the convenience of ratepayers a
single office, representative of every
Corporation department, would be established; at
this all purpose office enquiries or complaints
could be made, rates and other accounts paid,
and attached to it there would be an Information
Bureau where enquiries could be made as to road,
rail or air travel, also spa and other
activities of the City. The transfer of civic
administration to the Crescent could be very
conveniently accomplished in two or three
stages, and the development of this great.
Crescent as a Centre of Local Government would
create one of the finest civic centres in the
country. It would be a bold scheme calling for
wisdom and great courage ....
Click here to read the Society's own archive
article "The Day the bombs fell on Bath" which
covers both the destruction of the war and the
rebuilding of Bath post war.
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Who needs a bypass, we can go one better -
from
"A Plan for Bath: Report for the Bath and
District Joint Planning Committee" by Sir
Patrick Abercrombie, 1945
The report details a proposed "parkway" through
the city this artist impression shows what the
Julian Road and Lansdown Road current
intersection would have looked like. Obviously
the plans were heavily intertwined with the
proposed move of the Council administration to
the Crescent.
Below are plans from the report which show (a)
the war damage to Bath (b) the impact of the
plan on the city and clearly the planned
building at the back of the Crescent and the
East West Parkway and (c) building deemed to be
in a state of serious disrepair.
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