Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) Council is currently spending substantial funds each year to maintain an empty mansion located at Number 4, The Circus — one of Bath’s most historic and iconic streets. This impressive Georgian townhouse, featured recently in the BBC documentary Empire with David Olusoga, has remained vacant for several years due to the unique legal and administrative circumstances surrounding its ownership.
The property belongs to a charity established to preserve Number 4 as a Georgian house open to the public. However, the charity is effectively defunct, lacking trustees and other assets. Consequently, B&NES Council, responsible for administering the charity, has been covering the maintenance costs, which totaled approximately £18,600 in the last year, with further expenses estimated at £6,500 in the current year.
In addition to these ongoing maintenance payments, the council owes the charity an undetermined sum related to dilapidations dating back to when the building was leased between 1973 and 2019. A 2017 survey valued these repair costs at nearly £300,000, though a fresh assessment is required to update this figure.
READ MORE: £5m Investment to Provide Affordable Housing for Older Adults
READ MORE: Dozens of Homes Lose Power Across Somerset and Gloucestershire
Number 4 The Circus holds significant historical importance. Constructed between 1754 and 1768 by the renowned architects John Wood the Elder and the Younger, it stands alongside other Bath landmarks such as the Royal Crescent. Notably, the house’s original owner, James Plunkett, accrued wealth through plantations reliant on enslaved labor, a fact highlighted during the BBC series.
In the 1960s, the property’s last private owners, Charles and Frances Cooke, bequeathed the mansion to a charity with the intention of preserving it as an exhibition of Georgian heritage. Despite public aspirations, the home has only been accessible one day a year during local heritage open days. Instead, since 1973, the house has been leased to the council and used variously as an overflow space for Bath’s Museum of Costume and later by Bath Spa University’s Fashion Research Centre. However, with the Fashion Museum currently lacking a permanent site, there are no plans to reactivate Number 4 for museum purposes.
To resolve the situation, a B&NES council committee recently voted unanimously to appoint four new trustees to the charity—the first in many years. These trustees, likely selected from among councillors to limit personal liability, will oversee the potential dissolution of the charity, settling debts and managing the future of the property.
Community groups such as the Avon and Gloucestershire Gardens Trust have emphasized the importance of preserving the Georgian garden at the rear of the property. This garden, restored in the 1980s after being rediscovered beneath clay, remains open to the public.
Looking ahead, the council plans to open a new, purpose-built Bath Fashion Museum at the Old Post Office on New Bond Street by 2030. Council cabinet member Paul Roper confirmed that while Number 4 The Circus is architecturally significant, it is not suitable to meet the space or programming needs for the museum’s ambitions. The new venue aims to provide a world-class, accessible home for Bath’s fashion heritage, promising a major cultural asset for the city and visitors alike.