PRIOR PARK, BATH 



265 



FlG. 183. Prior Park, near Bath, 1736. 



the excellence of Bath stone ; if true, it was a noble form of advertise- 

 ment. The house stands high up on a hillside, and is flanked at a 

 distance by stables and other buildings to which it is joined by low 

 rusticated arcades of the same height as the basement story (Fig. 

 183). The whole facade is slightly curved concavely in order to follow 

 the conformation of the ground. From the terrace on which the 

 house stands a fine flight of steps, partly straight and partly curved, 

 leads down to a lower level, but this is a later addition, carried out by 

 H. E. Goodridge, of Bath, in the year 1825. 



It is interesting to find so splendid a house built for a self-made 

 man, but as Allen left no family, it has not acquired the intimate 

 charm of most great houses ; it was for many years a Roman Catholic 

 college, but has now been taken over for purposes connected with the 

 war. The interior has suffered from fire, but the great hall retains its 

 imposing appearance (Fig. 182). Like most halls of the period, it is, 

 perhaps, too grand to be home-like, but it is admirably suited for the 

 present uses of the house. If, as is said, Allen was the prototype of 



