Oh, what a Circus!

Five B&NES councillors were due to gather in the Guildhall next Tuesday to decide the fate of a Grade 1 listed house that forms part of the earliest segment of The Circus.

However, l note from the minutes that two are already sending apologies for absence.

This amazing mid-18th-century ’roundabout’ and architectural masterpiece was designed and built by the Woods, both father and son.

The house in question is number 4, which has been empty for some years. Though at its rear is what was, in its heyday, one of the most accurate recreations of a Georgian town garden in the country.

Its restoration was carried out after an archaeological dig found enough of the remains of the real thing to redo it!

It was the state of the garden – open to the public every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day – that drew local resident Peter Scott’s attention to the building.

Having lived in Bath for some time, he’d never been in the garden until overhearing some visitors saying how disappointed they were with its condition.

Peter started looking into the history of the house and garden and told me about his concerns for their future.

On December 9th at 2 pm, our councillors – who make up what is known as the Charitable Trust Board – will have the job of appointing trustees to wind up the Frances Georgina Cooke Trust that manages the building and decide how to dispose of the property.

B&NES – and Bath City Council before it – appear to have had two 21-year leases of number 4 over the last 50 years – and at a peppercorn rent of one pound per annum – but it seems the aims of its former owners have never been completely fulfilled.

The intention of the previous owner, Frances Georgina Cooke, and her husband, prior to the creation of the charity, was that the house should be passed to Bath Preservation Trust. However, 50 years ago, when this was being discussed, BPT was busily involved in acquiring Number 1 Royal Crescent and turned down the offer.

Frances Cooke still wanted it to be exhibited to the public as a place of historic and architectural interest. After her death, the Charity Commission created a charitable trust in her name to manage number 4.

The house was once open one day a year, with accompanied viewings, on National Heritage Open Days starting in 1994 but stopping in 2018.

Over the years of the council’s involvement, it would appear the building has had many uses. Items from the Fashion Museum have been stored there, Heritage Services had offices within it, and Bath Spa University’s textile department was resident for some time.

The amazing thing is that the Trust currently has no trustees and has never had a bank account! Just as well then that there is no evidence of any major attempt to generate income, though the university must have paid some form of rent.

Peter told me he had heard that the intention was to wind up or transfer the charity to possibly the Landmark Trust to turn the building into holiday lets or explore its conversion into flats for a housing association. What would that mean for the future of the Georgian Garden?

Peter said: “It must be considered unfortunate that during the 50 years that council-appointed trustees of the Charity have been in place, they have apparently done nothing at all to raise any money for the charity or consider how its objective of creating a building open to the public could have been achieved.”

“It now appears that the council intend for the new trustees, when appointed, to sell off the garden and building without further discussion or debate.  

The garden has been open to the public since 1992, when it won a Civic Trust Environmental award and was one of the first examples of an archaeologically researched urban Georgian garden.   

The planting plan that was put together by the Garden History Society was a meticulous recreation of what the original garden may have looked like.

Sadly, the Charity’s Trustees seem to have abandoned the garden in recent years.   It will be a great shame if any transaction of sale now leads to the loss of this garden to Bath and its visitors”

I have approached B&NES for comment.

Meanwhile, to quote from a report that will be presented at the meeting next Tuesday:

“The Trust has operated minimally to date, and the Trust is not fulfilling its charitable objects. The inability of the Trust to finance the maintenance of the property makes it unlikely that the Trustees would ever be able to fulfil the objects of the Trust.

The (newly appointed) Trustees would look to dispose of the property either to an organisation that will better fulfil the Charitable objectives of the trust or to sell the property on the open market.

Once the property has been sold, the Trustees would seek to pay the funds to an organisation with similar objects.”

Maybe Bath Preservation Trust would be a worthy recipient?