The Lions House on West Quay in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England was built around 1725 and has been designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It was built between 1720 and 1730 in a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style by Benjamin Holloway, as his house and was later occupied by several Mayors of Bridgwater. Holloway was employed by the

Duke of Chandos The Dukedom of Chandos was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, named for a fief in Normandy. The Chandos peerage was first created as a barony by Edward III in 1337; its second creation in 1554 was due to the Brydges family's service to Mar ...

to build and possibly design the houses in nearby Castle Street. Lions House Blue Plaque

The two-storey house is of five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

with single storey wings on either side of front door which is approached via a flight of steps. It is built of Flemish-bond brick of alternate red and yellow, beneath a double-pitched pantile roof. At the front of the house are 20th-century low panelled and corniced gatepiers which carry Chinese-style dogs (The Lions). The building is now known as Benjamin Holloway House. Parts of the building have been converted for commercial use and include a dentists and a professional services firm. The Lion statues have been used as the inspiration for an exhibit by artist Rebecca Moss as part of Somerset Art Week. They are made in concrete to link to the local industrial heritage and the nearby Castle House, which was one of the first buildings to make extensive use of

Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world as a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar (masonry), mortar, stucco, and non-specialty grout. It was developed from other types of hydraulic lime in England in th ...

for pre-cast

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

References

{{reflist Houses completed in 1727 Grade I listed buildings in Sedgemoor Bridgwater Grade I listed houses in Somerset

See also

References