Flat 1, Bridport House, 48 Great Pulteney Street, Bathwick, Bath

48 Great Pulteney Street forms part of a Grade I series of late 18th century terraced townhouses, a number of which have since been subdivided to provide residential apartments, situated within the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It forms part of the wider streetscape setting of numerous clusters of Grade I terraced buildings along Great Pulteney Street to form a cohesive architectural whole that creates an intentional visual thoroughfare between Pulteney Bridge and the Holburne Museum as part of an unfinished mid-18th century aspirations to extend the city to the east of the River Avon. It is therefore a significant evidential aspect of Bath’s Georgian Town Planning OUV as a World Heritage Site.

BPT previously commented in response to application 22/00431/LBA, with concerns regarding the proposed removal of a section of what appeared to be the internal spine wall at lower ground floor level. This aspect of the scheme was subsequently omitted, but it was later indicated that unauthorised works went ahead to create an opening between the living room and kitchen area.

We are concerned that unauthorised works have gone ahead to a high significance Grade I listed building, with resulting irreversible loss of historic fabric, and we maintain that the appropriate consent should be secured before any works are allowed to progress.

We continue to highlight our concerns with proposals as previous: “Considering the Grade I status of the building, we emphasise the need for further assessment of the existing interior and any historic features or detailing, as well as consideration of the possible historic and evidential value of historic fabric. Whilst the area of wall proposed for removal is slightly recessed and could indicate later infill, this is not clarified or confirmed as part of the Heritage Statement. We therefore strongly encourage further details are provided to adequately justify the proposed works.”

The installation of doors within the opening would not be considered to appropriately sustain the historic plan form and layout of the building, where these doors would clearly indicate an opening and route of movement between rooms, and would remain a notable addition to this internal space.