Ralph Allen's Town House is a grade I listed

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

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.

Ralph Allen Ralph Allen (1693 – 29 June 1764) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. Allen was born in Cornwall but moved to Bath to work in the post office, becoming the postmaster at ...

commenced building it in or shortly after 1727, although it is unlikely he ever lived there. At the time Allen was living in Lilliput Alley, in a house of some 15 rooms, then known as "Lease 7 on the Kingston rental (Countess of Kingston on Hull)", which is now 1 and 2 North Parade Passage. In 1745, Allen moved to

Prior Park Prior Park is a Neo-Palladian house that was designed by John Wood, the Elder, and built in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was bu ...

. His brother Phillip took over the Kingston Lease and continued to run the Postal business. Opinion is divided as to whether John Wood the Elder designed the "Town House", however the ostentatious decoration is not a style he uses elsewhere in Bath.

Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork, (25 April 1694 – 4 December 1753) was a British architect and noble often called the "Apollo of the Arts" and the "Architect Earl". The son of the 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Ea ...

, has also been suggested as the architect. The enhanced decoration with rustication,

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

pillars and decorated

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

may have been incorporated purely to demonstrate the fine carving qualities of Bath Stone. John Wood the Elder, in his 1742 writing in his ''Essay towards the future of Bath'' he says: Because of the modern use of "magnificent" it is often thought that in this passage Wood is referring to the Town House. But elsewhere in his Essay, Wood explains that his use of magnificence refers to size. He refers to decoration as "ornament" or "dress". A closer examination of Wood's words and the number of floors in the Town House reveal that he was not referring to this building. A 6th rate house is the largest in Wood's list. The Town House does not comply with his description. Wood was talking about the House in Lilliput Alley where Allen was then living.

North wing

A drawing by Henry Venn Lansdown in 1855 shows a "North Wing" – a mirror image of the original house in Lilliput alley. No such building exists today and commentators have claimed that it was demolished. viz: The north wing was removed in the 19th century to make way for the construction of York Street. The survey of old Bath has found that Ralph Allen may have tried to buy, but never owned the land to the North of the Town House. Its history is well documented in the Papers of the Kingston Estate held at the British Library. Venn Lansdown's drawing is the only evidence that a "North Wing" existed. Venn Lansdown is reputed to have idealised many of his scenes to please his patrons and it is worth noting the following: To view the perspective of the scene as he has drawn it, Venn Lansdown would have necessarily seated himself on a scaffold some 20 feet high where the Friends Meeting House now stands. This was built in 1819 – thirty years before Venn Lansdown's Picture.

References

{{reflist Lansdown Grade I listed residential buildings Houses in Somerset