Description

RIVERS STREET
656-1/30/1417 (South side)
12/06/50Nos. 44 AND 45
and attached railings

(Formerly Listed as:
RIVERS STREET (South side)
Nos.38-47 (Consecutive))

GV II

Two houses, now united. 1770-1775.
Part of the Rivers Street development by John Wood the Younger.
MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar to front, rubble below basement windows, ashlar and rubble to rear of No.45, rubble to rear of No.44, double pile parapeted mansard roofs, artificial slate to front and rear, each house with coped party wall to right with two ashlar stacks with some early clay pots.
EXTERIOR: Each house has three storeys, attic and basement, and a three-window front. First floor to No.44, to left, has three two/two horned sashes in splayed ovolo moulded architraves with friezes and cornices and lowered stone sills on cut down console brackets; first floor to No.45, to right, has three similar windows. Second floor No.44 has three plate glass horned sashes in ovolo moulded architraves with stone sills, three similar windows to 45. Ground floor to No.44 has, to right, two plate glass horned sashes in splayed reveals with stone sills; to left, a six-panel door with flush beaded, fielded and single-glazed panel with Pennant step in pedimented Doric doorcase, three steps to Pennant paved crossover, small six-pane window in plain reveal with stone sill to left of door. Ground floor to No.45 has, to right, two windows similar to No.44; to left, a six-panel door with flush beaded, fielded and glazed panels with one pennant step in pedimented Doric doorcase with two steps to Pennant paved crossover. Each house has two plate glass horned sashes in plain reveals with stone sills to basement, C20 door under crossover, C20 area steps to No.45 only. Each house has double dormer with plate glass horned sashes. Band courses over ground floor, modillion eaves cornices and coped parapets, lead hopperhead and downpipe to centre shared between houses. Rear elevations partially visible: No.44 has three grouped plate glass horned sashes, narrower to left and right, to second floor, plate glass horned sashes to double and single dormer; No.45 has full height bow with plate glass horned sash to second floor, plate glass horned sashes to double and single dormers.
INTERIORS: Not inspected.
Staircase to No.44 originally to front, now removed except to basement, staircase to No.45 originally to rear, now rebuilt C20.
HISTORY: Rivers Street was developed by John Wood the Younger on three parcels of land: Nos. 1-11 constructed in conjunction with Catharine Place on ground conveyed on perpetual leasehold from Sir Benet Garrard to Wood and Brock as his trustee 19/20 December 1766. Nos. 16-28 and 36-47 Rivers Street with areas behind Nos. 46 and 47 on ground conveyed from Rivers Estate (owned by Sir Peter Rivers Gay) to Wood 5 March 1768 for 99 years. Nos. 28-35 Rivers Street were constructed in conjunction with Russell Street on ground bought by John Wood and Andrew Sproule as his trustee from Thomas and Daniel Omer 30 December 1768 on perpetual freehold rents. The strip of ground on which Nos 12-15 and 48-50 Rivers Street were constructed was probably never acquired by Wood. The sites of Nos. 12-15 were conveyed from the Rivers Estate to Thomas and James Beale on 30 December 1774 and 16 October 1776 on perpetual freehold rents.
A number of different Bath builders were responsible for implementing Wood's overall design, re Ison. These houses have been used in recent years as a hostel.
SOURCES: Building leases and rate books; Walter Ison, `The Georgian Buildings of Bath¿ (2nd ed. 1980), 233.

Listing NGR: ST7473665434

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26673770

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)