Description

SYDNEY GARDENS
656-1/32/1645
Pavilion

(Formerly Listed as:
SYDNEY GARDENS
Pavilion and Cloak Room)
05/08/75

GV II

A former gardener's cottage or lodge, later a cloakroom and pavilion, dating from c.1840.

MATERIALS: The building is constructed from limestone ashlar with a shallow pitched roof with wide bracketed eaves.

PLAN: The building is rectangular on plan with a projecting porch to the front and an outshut to the rear.

EXTERIOR: The pavilion is a single-storey, Neo-classical building, set on a slightly projecting limestone plinth. To the main elevation is a central porch with open sides carried on square columns, with an arched opening with central keystone. The roof has broad eaves supported on brackets, with insets over the recessed corners, and a central stack. There is a single window opening to either side of the porch. A plat band at lintel level supports large paired stone brackets to the corners of the main block. To the returns, the platband becomes an impost band to large semi-circular arched, panelled recesses above eight-over-eight sash windows, with panelled aprons.

INTERIOR: The interior is altered though the living quarters to the rear retains a contemporary fireplace.

HISTORY: Sydney Gardens were laid out as commercial pleasure grounds between 1792 and 1794; the initial design was by the architect Thomas Baldwin, who, after he went bankrupt, was replaced by Charles Harcourt Masters in 1794. They were opened on 11 May 1795 as Sydney Gardens Vauxhall, and rapidly became a popular place of entertainment, hosting public breakfasts, promenades and galas. The main building was the Sydney Tavern (now the Holburne of Menstrie Museum), which stood at the western end of the central walk, and housed tea and card rooms, a ballroom, coffee room and a public house. In 1799, a section of the Kennet and Avon Canal was cut through the gardens, with the addition of decorative bridges and tunnels, which added to the picturesque appeal of the pleasure grounds. During the early C19, additional features and structures were introduced, adding variety and surprise in accordance with landscape design principles of the period. From c.1839, a section of the Great Western Railway was constructed, cutting through the gardens. Later in the C19, further ornamental structures were introduced, but these were largely cleared away after World War Two. In 1891, when the original 99-year lease of the Gardens expired, the entire site, including the Tavern, by then in use as a college, was sold, with the intention of replacing the former Tavern with a large hotel, and remodelling the grounds. The plan was abandoned and in 1908, the site was purchased by Bath City Council; the gardens were opened to the public as a municipal park in 1913, while the Tavern was remodelled by Sir Reginald Blomfield into the Holburne of Menstrie Museum. The gardens remain in use as a public park. This building was erected c. 1840 as a gardener's store with living quarters to the rear, and was occupied until c.1900. It was later used as a pavilion and cloakroom for visitors to the pleasure gardens. It is currently used as an occasional education room for the nearby museum.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION:
The pavilion at Sydney Gardens is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The structure is a good example of a garden building dating from the early C19, forming part of the C18 and C19 pleasure grounds at Sydney Gardens
* It is of good quality in its materials, craftsmanship and its Neo-classical and Italianate detailing
* Group value with the other listed buildings and structures within Sydney Gardens

Listing NGR: ST7567865319

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26674291

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)