RIVERSIDE
Some Recent History

Crest Nicholson Regeneration began building in Western Riverside on the site of the Stothert & Pitt crane factory (Victoria Works) in 2011. The first homes were occupied at the end of that year. Their plan (see map at right) was for over 2000 homes to be built, but only a fraction of these have materialised and Crest has now ceased building at Bath Western Riverside. No development has yet taken place west of the Destructor Bridge (#5 0n map) and the next scheduled development will be the redevelopment of  Bath Recycling Centre (#12 on map) which will be carried out by B&NES Council's own development company. The recycling centre is due to close in 2022. 
Riverside Community Voice (RCV) is an independent self-funding body which aims to speak for all who live in Riverside, and which intends to work closely with all the key stakeholders in the area, We have already worked with Crest Nicholson Regeneration, Pinnacle Property Management, B&NES, Curo, Canal and River Trust, Community Policing and FoBRA (Federation of Bath Residents’ Associations). These have all responded positively and are keen to work with us. 

Elizabeth Park - A Great Amenity

Elizabeth Park - between Royal View to the east and Sovereign Point to the west is a great amenity for all Riversiders.


The sofa sculpture in the centre of the Park celebrates the work of Bath naturalist the Rev Leonard Jenyns, and is the work of artist Patrick Haines,  Haines also created the Herschel Chairs installation by Victoria Bridge - a tribute to the astronomers William and Caroline Herschel who lived in Bath (you can visit the Herschel Museum - the house in which they lived - not far away) 


The brightly-painted cast iron scrolls in the Park once adorned the original Destructor Bridge to the west which was built in the 1870's. See Richard Wyatt's excellent illustrated article on the bridge and the scrolls here.


As the Park is open to the public, the question arises - who pays for upkeep?  Is it Riverside residents or is it the Council? The answer is neither, as explained by RCV Chair Jane Brown:


"As I understand it [developer] Crest Nicholson (CN) are currently responsible for management of all the open spaces in the development. The intention is that this responsibility will transfer to Pinnacle Property Management when the spaces have been brought up to a satisfactory standard. CN will be required to provide a dowry for future management of Elizabeth Park and the other spaces so that residents will not foot the bill. But the quantum will need to be negotiated.


B&NES will not take on responsibility for the Park – this was the original proposal but they have higher priorities for their restricted budget."


...and some less recent history -  Stothert & Pitt Crane works seen in 1986

Victoria Bridge can be seen in the centre foreground  (#1 on map above)

The History of Riverside - in a new book

The Bath Western Riverside residential area started to be planned seriously in October 2003 and was eventually developed over the period between 2011 and 2018.

 

Bronze Age artefacts, now in the Alnwick Collection, were discovered on the gasworks site and a Roman route was confirmed when excavations in 1997 uncovered evidence leading to a position around the site now occupied by the Victoria Bridge.

 

Until 1850, the land comprised mainly meadows and allotments with few buildings. On his death in 1858, the estate of Horatio Davis, Esquire, was sold off by auction at Georges Railway Hotel in Twerton and development started from that time.

 

In 1890, Stothert and Pitt, the world renowned engineering company, extended its premises from the Newark Works to occupy almost all of the current Bath Western Riverside residential area with its Victoria Works.

 

Bath City Association Football Club was established in 1889 on a site now occupied by Royal View and part of Elizabeth Park.

 

When an outbreak of cholera took place in the city in 1849, the corporation was forced to address the state of sewage handling. In 1914, a new pumping station was built in Midland Road – part of those buildings now contains the E-ON energy centre serving 800 + homes in Riverside.

 

Now you can read more about these stories and the modern regeneration of the neighbourhood and much more of the rich history of the district in a new book produced locally entitled East Twerton Revisited.   Author David Knight will be pleased to deliver a copy (signed, if you would like). This 5oo page volume is packed with past and present photographs and costs £20. To order a copy contact David Knight at etrevisited@outlook.com 

Author of 'EastTwerton Revisited' David Knight pictured at Moorland Rd Bookshop

Maid of the Bridge

The serenely lovely Maid of the Bridge was unveiled on 23rd November 2018. Standing as she does at the intersection of Percy Terrace and Elizabeth Parade in Bath Riverside, the Maid is visible from many perspectives as she overlooks Elizabeth Park in a gesture that suggests she is bidding the River Avon to flow onwards towards the sea.


Riverside’s new and very welcome visitor is the creation of local artist Anna Gillespie, with Bath engineers Buro Happold advising on structural detail and the finished work being fabricated by IronArt of Bath. The metal for the installation comes from strips that were left over following the refurbishment of Victoria Bridge, hence the work’s title. 2500 bolts were used to bolt the creation together.


The statue will be illuminated at night so that it is visible from the towpath on the north side of the River. The maid plays a prominent role in Crest Nicholson’s art policy for the Riverside development, overseen by artist Peter Dickinson.


Photos show the Maid's arrival and installation on 21st Nov (artist Anna sitting at right side) the official unveiling, and Anna Gillespie and the IronArt and Buro Happold  players being interviewed by the BBC's Ali Vowles.(click to enlarge)
Here's sculptor Anna Gillespie's view of her work 'Maid of the Bridge': 

"Maid of the Bridge takes the form of an abstract figure overlooking the new park. The original idea came from my 'Blown Away' series of figurative sculptures but rather than modelling it in a traditional way, the brief was to make it out of the ‘slats’ of cast iron that had to be removed from Victoria Bridge as part of its conservation and reconstruction." 

“My main hope for the sculpture is that it will create connections. Between the past and the present, between the land and the river, between one bank and the other. I hope too that in time, the people who are making their homes in this newly opened up area of Bath will enjoy the sculpture and find their own connections to it."

Watch Bath Newseum's video of the unveiling

And more on design and construction from Buro Happold
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