The Old Crown, 1 Crown Hill, Upper Weston, Bath

1 Crown Hill is a Grade II early 18th century inn, now the Old Crown Public House, situated within the Upper Weston character area of the Bath conservation area and World Heritage Site. It forms part of a prominent corner frontage visible in mid-range views along Crown Hill on the main vehicular thoroughfare onto the Upper Weston high street. It forms part of the setting of a concentrated group of Grade II listed early and mid-19th century terraced buildings at 1-4 Lansdown Terrace and 3 and 5 Crown Hill.

Signage proposals including a new timber fascia and a timber hanging sign were previously granted consent in 2013 (see 13/04300/LBA) although this does not appear to have been implemented. The existing hanging sign and wall-mounted sign appear to be timber, but do not coincide with a valid listed building consent/advertisement consent with regard to their appearance and design.

Previously, application 13/04300/LBA proposed the use of aluminium signage; this was subsequently amended to proposed timber hand-lettered signage. The case officer concluded that “this traditional approach is considered to be sensitive to the historic and architectural interest of the protected building and preserves the character and appearance of the surrounding conservation area.”

We therefore oppose this application for the proposed installation of aluminium signage, which would be out of keeping with the traditional appearance and material integrity of the listed building, and would not preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area. Whilst we do not object to the principle of new signage or the proposed design approach, we maintain that signage should be hand-lettered timber to sustain the special architectural and historic interest of the listed building and reinforce its traditional public house character and function.

The use of an aluminium hanging sign with applied vinyl signage is considered inappropriate; hanging signage should be hand-painted timber.

We strongly discourage proposals for increased illumination across the pub’s frontage, which may further detract from the appearance of a listed building as well as harming the distinctive, low-illumination character and appearance of the wider Bath conservation area. We question whether there is adequate justification for a second wall-mounted lantern to the south-east elevation.

Where wall-mounted signage is proposed, new signage should endeavour to reuse existing signage fixing points to minimise the requirement for new holes to be drilled into the stonework and subsequent, cumulative harm to historic fabric.

This application would adversely impact the special architectural and historic interest of a listed building and would fail to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of the conservation area, contrary to the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, Section 16 of the NPPF, and Policies B1, B4, BD1, CP6, D1, D2, D9, and HE1 of the Core Strategy and Placemaking Plan, and should be refused or withdrawn.