The Corridor, Bath
The Corridor is one of the world's earliest retail arcades, designed by architect Henry Goodridge and built in 1825, in Bath, Somerset, England.
The Corridor | |
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Location | Bath, Somerset, England |
Coordinates | 51°22′56″N 2°21′33″W |
Built | 1825 |
Architect | Henry Goodridge |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | The Corridor |
Designated | 12 June, 1950[1] |
Reference no. | 442459 |
![]() ![]() Location of The Corridor in Somerset |
The fashion for arranging shops in arcades arose in Paris in the late 18th Century. The Corridor followed the trend set by London's Burlington Arcade.
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The Grade II listed arcade has a glass roof. The High Street end has a Doric colonnade. Each end has marble columns.[1]
A musicians gallery, with a wrought iron balustrade and gilt lions heads and garlands, is in the centre of the arcade.[2]
Number 7 was the photographic studio of William Friese-Greene.[2]
Bombing
On 9 December 1974, a telephone warning alerted police in Bath that a bomb was shortly to explode in the Corridor. The subsequent blast at 9.10pm from a 5 lb bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army[3][4] caused huge damage and forced the Corridor to undergo a major renovation programme. No one was hurt in the blast.[5]
References
- "The Corridor". Images of England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
- Haddon, John (1982). Portrait of Bath. London: Robert Hale Ltd. p. 57. ISBN 0-7091-9883-3.
- Britten, Elise (15 December 2019). "Looking back on the day an IRA bomb exploded in Bath city centre". SomersetLive. Reach. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
- "The Corridor in Bath". Archived from the original on 14 December 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- Wainwright, Martin (1981). The Bath Blitz (Second ed.). Bath: Kingston Press. p. 81. ISBN 0955055202.