Royal Crescent

Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent from a hot air balloon, contrasting its uniform public front façade against its more architecturally varied private rear.
Location	Bath, Somerset, England
Coordinates	51°23′13″N 2°22′06″W / 51.38694°N 2.36833°W / 51.38694; -2.36833
Built	1767–1774
Current use	Private residences
Architect	John Wood, the Younger
Architectural style(s)	Georgian
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name	Nos. 1–30, Royal Crescent
Designated	12 June 1950[1]
Reference no.	1394736
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Five lamp columns
Designated	15 October 2010[2]
Reference no.	1394739
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	1A, Royal Crescent
Designated	5 August 1975[3]
Reference no.	1394740
Location of Royal Crescent in Somerset

The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger, and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a Grade I listed building. Although some changes have been made to the various interiors over the years, the Georgian stone facade remains much as it was when first built.

The 500-foot-long (150 m) crescent has 114 Ionic columns on the first floor with an entablature in a Palladian style above. It was the first crescent of terraced houses to be built and an example of "rus in urbe" (the country in the city) with its views over the parkland opposite.

Many notable people have either lived or stayed in the Royal Crescent since it was built over 240 years ago, and some are commemorated on special plaques attached to the relevant buildings. Of the crescent's 30 townhouses, 10 are still full-size townhouses; 18 have been split into flats of various sizes; One is the No. 1 Royal Crescent museum, and The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, at the centre of the crescent, is made up of No. 16 and No.15.