Thomas Warr Atwood - the Monument in the Graveyard at Weston, Bath.

 

to be continued ...............

If an opinion is expressed here it is my own!

 The monument to the architect/builder/ Plumber, glazier and property developer, Thomas Warr Atwood, (Sometimes spelt Attwood) died 1775, in Weston churchyard, Bath, almost certainly designed by Thomas Baldwin and carved by The Parsons workshop of Widcombe.

Not dissimilar to the Weston monument is the Chest tomb at St Nicholas Church Winsley surmounted with a classical urn, c1810, ashlar, elongated hexagon plan with reeded strips at angles and oval south plaque with rosettes in spandrels. Husk drop in canted sections. High raised concave curved and fluted top with urn. 

South side is the inscription to Richard Atwood of Turleigh Manor, died 1808. T.W. Atwood was younger brother.

The Urn and therefore the monument were almost certainly carved in the Yard of the parsons at Claverton Street, Widcombe.

The Urn is no. 96 from the Parsons Book of Drawings - Bath Central Library, ref. B731.7 PAR 38:18

In the preface it is described as Baldwin along with 93, 94, 95, and 97.

 I am very grateful to the archivists at Bath Archives for allowing me access and to take the photograph here of this manuscript.

 I have posted previously at some length on the 18th Century stone carvers of Widcombe, Bath, Somerset - see my illustrated essay:

 https://english18thcenturyportraitsculpture.blogspot.com/2018/07/parsons-and-greenway-sculptors-of-bath.html

 For an article on the Journal of Thomas Parsons see:  An Artisan in Polite Culture: Thomas Parsons, Stone Carver, of Bath, 1744–1813 Lawrence E. Klein, Huntington Library Quarterly Vol. 75, No. 1 (March 2012), pp. 27-51 (see link above).

See my previous posts for the complete illustrated contents of Thomas Parsons illustrated manuscript-

https://bathartandarchitecture.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-parsons-of-bath-18th-century-stone.html

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Thomas Warr Atwood was first elected a Common Councillor at a meeting of the Corporation on 20th September 1760. 

The office of Mayor was held by an Atwood for twelve of the years between 1724 and 1769, twice by Thomas Warr Atwood. 

For many years four Atwoods were on the Council: Thomas, his son Thomas Warr, Henry and James. 

One or more Atwoods were usually Mayor, Chamberlain and a Justice at this period and if they worked together (which is the Bath way) they would have been a force to be reckoned with.

His career was terminated when he fell thrugh the floor of a building in the Market Place which was in the process of being demolished for the developement of the Guild Hall.

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Some known Atwood Buildings in Bath

The Paragon (1768). 

It is one of the finest set pieces of Bath but tends to be ignored as it on a main road taking much through traffic through the city.

Twenty one houses on a slight curve but not a deliberate crescent following the lie of the land 1768-75 by Thomas Warr Atwood. They are three storey, with pediments to the middle first floor windows. The principal rooms within the row were to the rear of the properties, with the staircase at the front, as a result of the views from and orientation of the houses. 

They have large foundations built on three storey stone vaults at the back (south east side) which were used as stables and storage and into the hillside at the front and a steep drop to Walcot Street at the rear.

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Oxford Row.

The two terraces on the West side of Lansdown Road broken by Alfred Street. (1773).

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The New Gaol, Bathwick (1772-3).

Built on the flood plane of the River Avon.

https://historyofbath.org/images/BathHistory/Vol%2009%20-%2003.%20Noble%20-%20The%20New%20Gaol%20in%20Bathwick,%201772-1842.pdf

Walcot Parade.

This terrace has been attributed to Atwood but it does not have a cohesive design - certainly Thomas Jelly was involved with some of the houses but it appears to be a piecemeal development albeit very picturesque and must have been a fine place to live, the pavement is built on vaults into the hillside and the terrace is elevated above the London Road. when it was built the views across the Avon valley must have been spectacular before the terraces of London street were built

The Guildhall, Bath.

There is a minute book containing a record of the activities of the Committee for finishing the Markets and rebuilding the Guildhall from 13 December 1774 to 13 March 1779, making it clear that Thomas Baldwin was supervising much of the work on the Markets and had designed the present Guildhall well before Atwood was killed on 15 November 1775.

Other works.

It appears that he was also in partnership with Thomas Jelly or with Wood the Younger, Milsom Street (west side), and was involved with Bladud Buildings, Rivers Street, and Axford Buildings (east end of the Paragon.

This needs to be checked.