15-20, Cheap Street Bath, England

Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

CHEAP STREET (South side) Nos.15-20 (Consec) (Formerly Listed as: CHEAP STREET Nos 15-19 (consec). No.20) 12/06/50

GV II

Shops with accommodation over. 1790-1800 with late C19 and C20 alterations. By Thomas Baldwin, for the Improvement Commissioners following the Bath Improvement Act, 1789, but probably carried out by John Palmer. MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar, with Welsh slate roofs. PLAN: Single depth plan for Nos 15-18 (back-to-back with Nos 11-14 Abbey Church Yard qv), while Nos 19 and 20 are double depth. EXTERIOR: Three storeys and attics, three windows to each house, except for Nos 19 and 20 which have three bays over archway to Pump Room Passage, and further five windows to right. Ground floor originally built with shopfronts and Doric columns between shops remain framing Nos 17 and 18, plus archway and right hand end of No.20. Current shopfronts are 1976, by David Brain to No.15 (National Trust), early C20 to No.16, early C20 within late C18 columns and entablature to Nos 17 and 18, and mid C19 to Nos 19 and 20 (shown in a print of c1865). Double fronted shop with arched doorway flanked by four-light windows with narrow timber mullions and arched heads. Above, windows all sashes in plain reveals, Nos 15-17 have all six/six late C18 type, Nos 18-20 have late C19 plain plate glass sashes to first floor, and six/six ones above. No.19 has window over archway, flanked by blind recesses. Glass facia and gilded lettering covered over ¿TITLEY, SON & PRICE¿ (outfitters). Sill band to second floor, cornice, parapet, mansard roof, each house has two flat topped dormers, six/six sashes, Nos 19 and 20 have one single and three paired dormers. INTERIOR: Shops retain no features of interest, otherwise not inspected. HISTORY: Both sides of Cheap street, a very important shopping street, were re-developed to designs by Thomas Baldwin in c1790 when the street was widened. The development included shopfronts for the full length of both sides of the street. All the shopfronts have been replaced but some of the semi-engaged columns on the party lines of the south side survive (Nos 17 and 19-20), as does the archway leading to the Abbey Churchyard. A photograph of Cheap Street in 1933 reproduced in ¿Bath Past & Present¿ shows the fascia sign, also missing alternate mullions, now replaced. No.20 was listed on 11th August 1972. SOURCES: (Colvin H: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1660-1840: London: 1978-: 68; Lees-Milne J and Ford D: Images of Bath: London: 1982-: 900; Finch Graham: Shopfront Record, Bath City Council: 1992-; Bath History: Root J: Thomas Baldwin: Bath: 1994-: 80-103).

Listing NGR: ST7506264784