Description

ALFRED STREET
(South side)

No.14 and attached railings,
crane and overthrow
(Formerly Listed as: ALFRED STREET
(South side)
Nos. 8-15 (Consec))
12/06/50

GV II*

House, now flats. 1773-1775. Altered C19. Probably designed by John Wood the Younger.
MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar to front and rear; double pile parapeted mansard roof, Welsh slate to front and rear, with coped party walls with two ashlar stacks to left to rear with early clay pots.
PLAN: Double depth plan, with staircase to right rear, and a projecting canted bay to the rear elevation.
EXTERIOR: Three storeys, attic and basement; three-window front. First floor has three plate glass sashes in splayed cyma moulded architraves with friezes and cornices with moulded stone sills on console brackets with wrought iron balconettes. Second floor has three six/six sashes in cyma moulded architraves with stone sills. Ground floor has to left two plate glass sashes in splayed reveals with stone sills with continuous flat-arch lintel over both windows, to right six-panel door with flush beaded, fielded and glazed panels with one pennant step in enriched stone doorcase with enriched cyma moulded architrave in flat surround with carved console brackets to enriched moulded cornice and with swagged decoration to frieze; on cornice rests swept plinth with carved foliate decoration and incised lettering ALFRED REX supporting bust of King Alfred and flanked by fluted urns. Two steps to pennant paved crossover. Basement has two six/six sashes in plain reveals with stone sills, six-panel door under crossover, timber panel with overlight infilling now without door or glazing. Two single dormers with two/two and six/six horned sashes with moulded architraves. Band course over ground floor, modillion eaves cornice and coped parapet all continuous with Nos. 8-13 and No.15 Alfred Street (qv). Lead downpipe attached to right shared with No.15 Alfred Street (qv). Rear elevation partially visible; has full height canted bay.
INTERIOR: Not inspected. 1945 photographs in National Monuments Record show the presence of fine plaster ceilings and several chimneypieces with reeded surrounds and Siena marble slips, embellished with mythological relief ovals.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Attached wrought iron railings and two gates with shaped heads on limestone bases, with attached Crane serving the very deep area below, and overthrow with scrollwork decoration and two link-horns. This assembly of domestic architectural ironwork is an exceptional survival, testifying eloquently to street lighting and domestic service arrangements of the mid-Georgian period.
HISTORY: Part of the northward expansion of Bath, associated with the building of the Assembly Rooms across the street. The exceptional ironwork is notable, as is the bust of King Alfred: he was acquiring considerable stature at the time of building as a local hero and founder of the English nation (cf. Alfred¿s Tower at Stourhead, Wilts)
SOURCES: Walter Ison, The Georgian Buildings of Bath (2nd ed. 1980), 98-99.

Listing NGR: ST7486165253

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17531902

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

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)