THE WORK OF WOOD AT BATH 



267 



FIG. 184. Pulteney Bridge, Bath. 



From an Aquatint by Thomas Malton. 



Town-planning on architectural lines can be studied at Bath better, 

 perhaps, than anywhere, but all towns are not equally fortunate in 

 preserving the original character of their buildings. Pulteney Street, 

 attributed to Thomas Baldwin, was laid out about 1780 with good 

 residences, and to close its vista there was a carefully designed house, 

 pleasant to look upon. Eventually, however, this house fell into decay, 

 the character of the street changed, and its general aspect, instead of 

 being fine, became depressing. Its very virtues emphasised its decline. 

 The house has now been restored, and the whole street has once more 

 become cheerful. But local enterprise is not everywhere so vigorous as 

 at Bath, and decay in a scheme of this kind cannot always be arrested. 

 Pulteney Bridge, which leads to the street of the same name, carries a 

 row of narrow shops on each side, and presents much the same appear- 

 ance as shown in Fig. 184. But the shops are necessarily small, low, and 

 shallow, and they can have no chance of expanding or of keeping pace 

 with other premises not thus restricted. Their relative importance is 

 therefore much smaller than it was at the time when they were built. An 



