BATH POST OFFICE AND TELEPHONE EXCHANGE
27 Northgate Street
Old postcard view
Photograph © Humphrey Bolton via Geograph and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons licence
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Architect: Archibald Bulloch Year: 1927 Listed building status: Grade II Archive sources British Postal Museum and Archive: POST 91/868 National Archives: WORK 13/912 Selected bibliographical references Architect & Building News 7 Dec 1928, p. 734 (illustrated) Architects' Journal 6 Jan 1926, p. 69, 79 (illustrated) Bath Chronicle 5 Apr 1924, p. 10 (illustrated) Bath Chronicle and Herald 23 Jan 1926, p. 3; 2 Oct 1926, p. 3; 18 Dec 1926, p. 3; 14 May 1927, p. 3; 21 May 1927, p. 17 (tour of the building), 28 (illustrated) Western Daily Press 2 Apr 1924, p. 6; 22 Sep 1924, p. 6; 25 Sep 1926, p. 10; 17 May 1927, p. 8 (illustrated) History Opened: 16 May 1927 Current use: Shared use with retail outlets (with residential accommodation above the ground floor) following major remodelling of the building, including a home for the Bath Postal Museum The previous locations for the post office were: 1822-1854 8 Broad Street (1822-1854), from which premises the first stamp (a Penny Black) was sent by the postmaster in 1840) 1854-1927 2 York Buildings, George Street Neither of these buildings were purpose-built Building description From: Western Daily Press 17 May 1927, p. 12 The building sets a new note in the artistry of its design, and the noble frontage is in pleasing sympathy with Bath's beautiful buildings. The interior fittings and decorations are exceedingly handsome and even ornate. The public office, in its pleasing scheme of decoration, is surely the most beautiful in the country, and gives the luxurious impression of the interior of a modern bank. The rooms are heated by the panel system, Bath being the first post office in the country be so equipped. The medium used for the fittings is bronze, while the writing tables are hygienic and very well designed for privacy. There is special telephone room with five silence cabinets and special rooms for the postmaster and superintendent. It is the last word in up-to-date appointments. Downstairs are the special strong rooms for the housing of the thousand and one documents necessary for the "General" to take into possession. Later the automatic telephone exchange will be housed in the new block, when the girls will give place to the "Robot' of mechanical energy and efficiency. There are staff rooms, departmental offices, and even lounge a for the ladies the Civil Service. A small point, but an important one, is the fact that an elaborate apparatus enables all the clocks in the building synchronised with Greenwich time. The building in Bath stone, and is a credit to the city, to the Government architect, and to the local contractors. The architect was Mr C. Bullough [sic], of the Office of Works. |
