Description

LANSDOWN CRESCENT
(North side)
Archway
12/06/50

GV
I

Bridge connecting No.20 Lansdown Crescent and No.1 Lansdown Place West (qqv). Between c1824 and c1830 (see below). By Henry Edmund Goodridge, for William Beckford.
MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar, roof unseen.
EXTERIOR: Balustraded parapet articulated by four-panelled piers crowned by green oxidized copper palms in gadrooned urns, two to centre are larger. Cornice coincides with first floor stringcourse of No.20, as does ground floor platband, between them are three C20 windows in eared and shouldered architraves. Keystone of semi-elliptical arch dies into platband, moulded archivolt to front, impost band continues through the arch to the rear which is similar but plain and of painted ashlar.
INTERIOR: Not inspected.
HISTORY: Arch was built to connect two houses in which William Beckford resided when he moved to Bath after the financial crisis which necessitated the sale of Fonthill Abbey in 1822. He initially moved to , No.66 Great Pulteney Street (qv), but before very long bought No.20 Lansdown Crescent and No.1 Lansdown Place West. It is uncertain whether he bought both together, or added No.1 Lansdown Place West, which would then have necessitated the bridge. He is believed to have bought it in order to house his large library. No.1 Lansdown Place West was sold in c1832; he subsequently bought Nos 18 and 19 Lansdown Crescent (qqv) in 1836. He continued to live there until just before his death in 1844. HE Goodridge is the assumed architect because he was building Lansdown Tower for Beckford in 1825-1826. The metal palms are inspired by Beckford's time in Portugal. Listed Grade I as part of an outstanding architectural set piece, with considerable historic interest.
SOURCES: (James Lees-Milne, `William Beckford' (1976), 7-79).

Listing NGR: ST7455966018

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17524604

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

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
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  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2