Post under construction
Ralph Allen (1693 - 1764).
Marble Bust 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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Ralph Allen's Town House.
Ralph Allen became a sub-tenant of No. 2 North Parade Passage in 1718. He acquired the building's lease in 1727 and carried out a series of alterations.
It has been assumed that John Wood I was responsible for the design of this 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.
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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