Post under construction.
This post is part of a series about sculpture in Bath in the 18th Century.
It was in part prompted by a visit to All Saints Church at Weston on the western outskirts of Bath.
All Saints' Church is a Church of England parish church which stands on a hill at the centre of Weston, a small village on the outskirts of Bath, England.
The current Gothic church was designed by Bath architect
John Pinch the Elder and completed in 1832, although it retains the
15th-century tower of its predecessor, All Hallows Church.
The many monuments which must have covered the walls of the old Church, were all carefully taken down and later refitted in the new Church, the cost of this operation being £51. 16s. 0d.
The Church has recently been refurbished and reopened in 2024
Ralph Allen (1693 - 1764).
The Marble Busts from the workshop of Prince Hoare (1711 - 69).
Life Size.
I have posted previously on the two other versions of busts of Ralph Allen.
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/08/bust-of-ralph-allen-by-prince-hoare.html
https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2018/08/bust-of-ralph-allen-by-prince-hoare_14.html
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The Marble Bust of Ralph Allen recently acquired by the Hoborne Museum.
It is inscribed at the back across the top of the dress on the shoulders R. Allen.
It is also curiously inscribed at the base on the side of the integral prop P I Sculp.
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The Bath Guildhall Bust of Ralph Allen.
The Mineral Water Hospital Marble Bust of Ralph Allen
Signed and dated Hoare Sculp:t. 1757.
Life size.
Until recently situated in the main reception room of the Mineral Water Hospital, Upper Borough Walls, Bath.
Bibliography -
B. Boyce, The Benevolent Man. A Life of Ralph Allen of Bath, Cambridge, Mass., 1967, p 242, citing hospital minute and inscription on bust; also R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, 1953, pp 176, 204.
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Ralph Allen's Town House.
Much has been written about his mansion Prior Park but there are many questions that remain unanswered regarding Ralph Allen's Town House.
Ralph Allen became a sub-tenant of No. 2 North Parade Passage (formerly Lilliput Alley) in 1718.
He acquired the building's lease in 1727 and subsequently carried out a series of alterations.
It has been assumed that John Wood I was responsible for the design of the extension however there is no firm evidence It has three narrow bays, a rusticated ground floor and four giant three-quarter Corinthian columns beneath a richly decorated pediment.
To the first floor is a large arched central window with a carved keystone located between two much narrower windows.
In 1745 Allen moved to his new residence in Prior Park and the
Townhouse became his offices.
What is now number 2, North Parade Passage dates to the 17th century, the building was refronted in the 18th century.
It features 17th - and 18th-century panelling
inside. Ralph Allen was a sub tenant from 1727.
In 1727, Ralph Allen's private residence was enlarged by William Killigrew to allow accommodation for the conduct of the cross posts branch of
the Post Service. The height of the central portion was raised, the right wing
enlarged for Allen's private use, and the left wing (forming the N side of
Lilliput Alley) forming the office for the clerks and secretaries employed in
the cross posts business. A sloping terraced walk led down from the centre to
Harrison's Walks and commanded a view of Hampton Down.
Ref. Peach - The Life and Times of Ralph Allen of Prior Park, Bath, introduced by a short account of Lyncombe and Widcombe, with notices of his contemporaries, including Bishop Warburton, Bennet of Widcombe House, Beau Nash, etc.. (1895), 68, 70-71 London: D Nutt, Strand Available online.
The post office business was conducted from here by Ralph
Allen until his death in 1764 and by his nephew, Philip Allen, until his death
in 1785. It became neglected after this time.
In 1733 the Kingston rental lists 7 as ‘‘Mr Ralph Allen his
Heirs’. By 1750 Philip Allen is listed for the property. In the 1760’s it is
given as being in the occupation of the sculptor Prince Hoare.
John Wood the Elder, in his 1742 Essay towards the Future of Bath says:
While Mr. Allen was making the Addition to the North Part of his House in Lilliput Alley he new fronted and raised the old Building a full Story higher; it consists of a Basement Story sustaining a double Story under the Crowning; and this is surmounted by an Attick, which created a sixth Rate House, and a Sample for the greatest Magnificence that was ever proposed by me for our City Houses.
https://bathnewseum.com/2025/10/01/what-future-for-ralph-allens-town-house/
https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/property/ralph-allens-town-house-york-street-bath-ba1-1ng
https://www.facebook.com/reel/858784743222906
https://bathabbeyquarter.com/Ralph%20Allen%60s%20Town%20House.html
https://archive.org/details/cu31924015704285/page/n133/mode/2up?q=Ralph+Allen
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https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/globalassets/marshal-wades-house-history-album.pdf
An architectural study of the building known as Marshall Wades house in the Abbey Churchyard - the house in Abbey Churchyard is not the work of a purist. It is more likely to be by a local builder/mason working from Plate 50, Volume I of Vitruvius Britannicus, of which the list of subscribers includes the name Thomas Greenway.
Greenway An architect as well as mason practising from c l704 until c1727, he built a number of small-scale Palladian essays including the Cold Bath House at Widcombe, an Assembly Room and General Wolfe's House in Trim Street, as well as 13, Abbey Churchyard next door to Wades House.
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