The Empire Hotel in Bath,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England was built in 1901 and has been designated as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. It is situated on Orange Grove close to both

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th ...

and

Pulteney Bridge Pulteney Bridge is a bridge over the River Avon in Bath, England. It was completed by 1774, and connected the city with the land of the Pulteney family which it wished to develop. Designed by Robert Adam in a Palladian style, it is highly unu ...

. It was designed by the

Bath City Architect The prominent post of Bath City Architect was bestowed by the Corporation of Bath, England, on an architect who would be repeatedly chosen for civic projects. It is a form of council architect. * Thomas Warr Attwood (unofficially) 1733–1775 " ...

Major Charles Edward Davis for the hotelier Alfred Holland and built from

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of ...

, on the site of the Athenaeum. It was described by Sir

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

as a ‘monstrosity and an unbelievable piece of pompous architecture’. The building occupies a large L-shaped block. It is six storeys high plus the octagonal corner tower. The front of the building onto Orange Grove has eight bays and the side overlooking the River Avon has nine bays. The architecture of the roof shows the three classes of people, a castle on the corner for upper class, a house for the middle classes and a cottage for the lower classes. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was used by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

as a postal sorting office and remained in their possession until the 1990s. In 1996 it was then refurbished and became apartments and a restaurant.

References

{{reflist Hotel buildings completed in 1901 Grade II listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Buildings and structures in Bath, Somerset Hotels in Somerset Grade II listed hotels