- Application Number
- 22/00597/LBA
- Application Date
- 04/02/2022
- Closing Date
- 17/03/2022
- Address
- 220 - 222 High Street, Batheaston
- Status
- Comment
Internal and external alterations for the reinstatement of window to front facade and reconfiguring of second floor bedroom to create new WC/shower.
Our Response
220-222 High Street are a pair of Grade II late 18th-early 19th century terraced dwellings, situated within the Batheaston conservation area and the indicative landscape setting of the World Heritage Site. Together, the dwellings present as a unified three storey façade in Bath stone ashlar (now painted over) with M-shaped roof set behind a parapet. The frontage is approximately balanced with a two bay window and front door at ground floor, rising to single tripartite sash windows at first floor level and three 6-over-6 sash windows at second floor level. The south-western second floor window is now blocked, introducing an asymmetrical element to the appearance of the listed building.
BPT is typically resistant to the unblocking of blind windows where these form part of the original design and layout of the building, or where the blocking up of the window forms a significant part of the building’s evidential narrative, such as in response to the Window Tax.
We therefore maintain that appropriate details pertaining to the age of the blocked window are provided to better inform the assessment and justification of the proposed works. The Heritage Statement indicates that the “ashlar infill was discontinuous with the adjacent masonry”, suggesting later infill rather than as part of the original design and construction, but the D&A Statement only suggests that the window was blocked in by around 1900 and was painted with a faux window. This matches up with later 1920s photographs on Bath in Time, but does not adequately dismiss the possibility of historic infill and the associated evidential value as part of a “narrative of change”. We maintain that further assessment is required to better assess the significance of the blocked window, and consequently justify reopening works.
We maintain that proposed window sections should be provided to ensure that the details of the new window appropriately match the existing windows.
BPT is typically resistant to the unblocking of blind windows where these form part of the original design and layout of the building, or where the blocking up of the window forms a significant part of the building’s evidential narrative, such as in response to the Window Tax.
We therefore maintain that appropriate details pertaining to the age of the blocked window are provided to better inform the assessment and justification of the proposed works. The Heritage Statement indicates that the “ashlar infill was discontinuous with the adjacent masonry”, suggesting later infill rather than as part of the original design and construction, but the D&A Statement only suggests that the window was blocked in by around 1900 and was painted with a faux window. This matches up with later 1920s photographs on Bath in Time, but does not adequately dismiss the possibility of historic infill and the associated evidential value as part of a “narrative of change”. We maintain that further assessment is required to better assess the significance of the blocked window, and consequently justify reopening works.
We maintain that proposed window sections should be provided to ensure that the details of the new window appropriately match the existing windows.