Description

BRISTOL

ST5773SE RICHMOND HILL, Clifton
901-1/9/985 (North side)
20/03/74 Nos.22 AND 23
Widcombe House (22), Bedford House
(23) and attached railings, walls
and piers
(Formerly Listed as:
RICHMOND HILL
(North side)
Nos.22 AND 23)

GV II

Pair of attached houses. Deeds dated 1831. By Charles Dyer.
Limestone ashlar, lateral and party wall stacks and a slate
hipped roof. Double-depth plan. Neoclassical style with Greek
Revival details. Each of 2 storeys, attic and basement;
4-window range.
A fine symmetrical pair with 4 elevations; that to the front
has a broad central pilaster, with a pedimented die over the
parapet above; outer sections broken forward with doorways 1
window in from the ends, frieze, cornice and coped attic
storey. Good open porticos with fluted Ionic columns to an
entablature and cornice, plate-glass overlights and 6-panel
doors. Architraves to windows, with a pediment to the
first-floor window over the porches, narrow outer blind
windows, to 6/6-pane sashes; 2-light plate-glass attic
casements.
The rendered return has a symmetrical 3-window range, the
middle broken forward, giant pilasters to a cornice, parapet
with blind outer balustrades and middle with flanking stacks
and balustrade between. A small porch has a segmental-arched
doorway, an overlight with glazing bars and half-glazed door;
above is a large stair window with fine glazing bars, blind
windows to the right and grilles to basement windows.
Symmetrical rear elevation has a 4-window range, the ends
broken forward with paired pilasters to a deep frieze, central
pilaster to frieze forming sunken first-floor panels.
Balustrade in 2 sections to the middle, and outer attic
storeys with flanking paired panels with pediments. Inner
shallow bays have tripartite windows with panelled heads,
tripartite windows above, architraves to outer windows;
6/6-pane sashes, and 3/3-pane attic sashes.
INTERIOR: entrance hall, a semicircular arch with Greek key
soffit to a large stair hall with a lateral open dogleg stair,
cast-iron balusters with palmettes, and a wreathed rail to
curtail; panelled reveals, panelled shutters, 6-panel doors,
cornices with guilloche, and marble fireplaces.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached cast-iron front basement area
railings with diagonal bars, and low panelled piers and walls
to the porticos; panelled, round-topped entrance piers and
squared, coursed front rubble walls extending between.
Part of a fine group of three 4-sided villas to the N side of
Richmond Hill which "..set a new standard for suburban
aspirations" (Mowl).
(Mowl T: To Build The Second City: Bristol: 1991-: 159; Gomme
A, Jenner M and Little B: Bristol, An Architectural History:
Bristol: 1979-: 275).

Listing NGR: ST5762173364

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26498098

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]