Belgrave Cottage, Camden Road, Beacon Hill, Bath

Belgrave Cottage is a Grade II terraced dwelling, situated within the Bath City-Wide Conservation Area and World Heritage Site. Attributed to 1873, map progressions indicate this may be more accurately dated to the mid-19th century. It originally formed part of a small section of terrace around which the wider streetscape of Belgrave Place & Belgrave Terrace was constructed. Belgrave Cottage forms part of the indicative setting of a high concentration of Grade II listed buildings, including the adjoining Gay Cottage, 1-8 Belgrave Place, and 1-6 Camden Place further to the north of the property. The rear elevation and garden of Belgrave Cottage faces onto the unlisted late 19th/early 20th century terraced development at Belgrave Crescent; due to the steep north-south incline, the lower portion of the building and its associated garden setting are of restricted public visibility.

The existing rear extensions are indicated to be a mix of later 20th century additions and as such are of no historic value. Their demolition and replacement is therefore considered to be acceptable in principle.

BPT recognises the restrictions of the existing building as a family home with limited internal space and a layout that is indicated to perform poorly in relation to the need of the occupants. The rear space of the existing extensions is already curtailed due to the building’s intersection with the rear extension and boundary line at Gay’s Cottage. We therefore appreciate that there is a need to address consistent experienced issues with the property to ensure that a future of sustainable, long-term use is secured, whilst balancing this against sustaining the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building.

We are generally supportive of the proposed replacement extension where this would supersede the existing extensions and provide much-needed communal space at lower ground floor level, whilst allowing for some reorientation of the existing internal space (eg. moving the bathroom to the ground floor). The proposed extension would be of constrained visibility, restricted to close-range views from Belgrave Crescent but otherwise obscured by the steep slope of the site and obscured by the existing roadside garage.

We recommend that further details and samples are provided regarding the materials and finish of the extension. There is a general preference for the use of natural Bath stone rather than a cast stone coping where possible (note that the image of the proposed coping stone sample provided in the Material Proposal is a cast stone from Abbey Artstone).