Empire Hotel, Bath

The Empire Hotel in Bath, Somerset, England was built in 1901 and has been designated as a Grade II listed building.[1] It is situated on Orange Grove close to both Bath Abbey and Pulteney Bridge.

Hotel frontage
Empire Hotel
From the south showing Pulteney Bridge
LocationBath, Somerset, England
Coordinates51°22′56″N 2°21′28″W
Built1901
Built forAlfred Holland
ArchitectMajor C E Davis
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameEmpire Hotel
Designated17 July 1989[1]
Reference no.1394205
Location of Empire Hotel in Somerset

It was designed by the Bath City Architect Major Charles Edward Davis for the hotelier Alfred Holland and built from Bath Stone,[1] on the site of the Athenaeum. It was described by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as a ‘monstrosity and an unbelievable piece of pompous architecture’.[2]

The building occupies a large L-shaped block. It is six storeys high plus the octagonal corner tower. The front of the building onto Orange Grove has eight bays and the side overlooking the River Avon has nine bays.[1]

The architecture of the roof shows the three classes of people, a castle on the corner for upper class, a house for the middle classes and a cottage for the lower classes.[2]

During World War II it was used by the Royal Navy as a postal sorting office and remained in their possession until the 1990s.[3] It was then refurbished and became apartments and a restaurant.[4][5]

References
  1. "Empire Hotel". Images of England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  2. "Heritage Impact Assessment Garfunkel's Restaurant, The Empire, Bath" (PDF). Planning Heritage Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  3. "Empire Hotel". Bath Heritage. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  4. "The Empire Hotel in Bath". Madison Oakley. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  5. "The Empire". Retirement Housing. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
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