Montpellier Rotunda is a Grade I

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 ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, England.

History

In 1809, Henry Thompson constructed a wooden pavilion with a colonnade as part of the wider development of the "Montpellier Spa" on land previously known as Trafalgar Field. By 1817 it had been rebuilt in stone as the Montpellier Spa became increasingly popular. Thompson employed the architect

George Allen Underwood George Allen Underwood (1793 – 1 November 1829, Bath) was an architect in Cheltenham. He was a pupil of Sir John Soane from 1807 to 1815 and then started his own practice in Cheltenham. He was Surveyor for Somerset, Dorset and the Dean an ...

, who completed the building with a statue of a crouching lion on the parapet. In 1826, Henry Thompson's son

Pearson Thompson Pearson Thompson (14 April 1794 – 22 November 1872) was an English solicitor and property developer who was responsible for the layout of a great part of Cheltenham, and of the Ladbroke Estate in London. He subsequently emigrated to Australi ...

asked

John Buonarotti Papworth John Buonarotti Papworth (24 January 1775 – 16 June 1847) was a British architect, artist and a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He adopted the middle name "Buonarotti" in around 1815. As well as being active in ...

to oversee the project and it was during this period that the dome was erected. The dome is inspired by Rome's

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...

and has almost identical proportions. The building was used as a pumproom, with water from local wells, and ballroom with an additional billiard room and reading room. Concerts were held in the building including

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

in 1848 and the first performance of a ''Scherzo'' by local composer

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

in 1891. The Spa and surrounding gardens were purchased by the Cheltenham Borough Council in 1893. The building was designated as a Grade I

in 1955. During the 1960s the council and

Lloyds Bank Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail banking, retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four (banking), Big Four" clearing house (finance), clearing banks. Lloyds B ...

undertook restoration work. Montpellier Spa - geograph

Since 2017 it has housed a restaurant belonging to the Ivy Collection, a group of UK restaurants, who undertook restoration work.

Architecture

The building has

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

walls with a copper roof. The front of the building has a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns, a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

of alternating square and rectangular panels and a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

. The central wooden dome in the assembly room is

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also c ...

ed internally and has light entering via the lantern in the centre. The room is high and across.

References

{{Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Buildings and structures in Cheltenham Grade I listed buildings in Gloucestershire Colonnades John Buonarotti Papworth buildings and structures Neoclassical architecture in England Regency architecture in England Rotundas in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Gloucestershire