The Paragon in the Walcot area of 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 is a street of

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

houses which have been designated as

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 ...

s. It was designed by

Thomas Warr Attwood Thomas Warr Attwood (1733 – 15 November 1775) was an English builder, architect and local politician in Bath. Life He was a member of a prominent local family and a member of the city Council from 1760. Although he held no formal appointment, ...

. It now forms part of the A4. Numbers 1 to 21 are 3 storey houses with mansard roofs. Each building has matching doors and windows with central

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 ...

s and flat entablatures either side of the 1st floor windows and Tuscan

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s and

s to the doorways. Numbers 22 to 37 continue the theme from numbers 1 to 21 and were completed in 1775 by Joseph Axford, a local mason. Numbers 28 to 32 were damaged by bombing 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 opposing ...

but have since been restored.

History

The Paragon, Bath, aerial view from balloon

The Paragon is possibly a Roman road, leading north from ''

Aquae Sulis Aquae Sulis (Latin for ''Waters of Sulis'') was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is the English city of Bath, Somerset. The Antonine Itinerary register of Roman roads lists the town as ''Aquis Sulis.'' Ptolemy records t ...

'' and linking with the '' Fosse Way'', although mapping evidence indicates it is likely medieval in origin.Pevsner Architectural Guides: Bath (2007) Forsyth, M - p. 11 Nonetheless, Walcot originally grew as a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

residential area in the 1st to 3rd centuries. St Swithin's Church was built between 1779 and 1790 by

John Palmer John Palmer may refer to: People Politicians * John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician * Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician * John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York * John Palmer (1842–19 ...

. On 30 May 1797 the abolitionist

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and Barbara Spooner Wilberforce were married in the church. In 1805 it was the burial place of the writer and poet

Christopher Anstey Christopher Anstey (31 October 1724 – 3 August 1805) was an English poet who also wrote in Latin. After a period managing his family's estates, he moved permanently to Bath and died after a long public life there. His poem, ''The New Bath Gui ...

and, in 1831 of Rear Admiral Sir

Edward Berry Rear Admiral Sir Edward Berry, 1st Baronet, KCB (17 April 1768 – 13 February 1831) was an officer in Britain's Royal Navy primarily known for his role as flag captain of Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson's ship HMS ''Vanguard'' at the Battle of ...

. The church house which forms number 38 The Paragon was built in the early 18th century. The adjoining cemetery has gates with a rusticated base and panels with inverted torches between pilasters. There is an entablature with metopes and

triglyph Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...

s. The Museum of Bath Architecture lies just off the Paragon in a courtyard, in a building which was built in 1765 as the Trinity

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church. It is also known as the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel, as she lived in the attached house from 1707–1791. During the

Bath Blitz The term Bath Blitz refers to the air raids by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on the British city of Bath, Somerset, during World War II. The city was bombed in April 1942 as part of the so-called " Baedeker raids", in which targets were chosen for ...

of 25/26 April 1942, one of the retailitory raids on England by the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, inclu ...

following the RAF's raid on

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

, a bomb fell into The Paragon, demolishing several of the houses. These have since been reconstructed in the original style.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paragon, Bath Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Grade II listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Streets in Bath, Somerset Houses completed in the 18th century Georgian architecture in England

History

See also

References