History
The Palladian mansion which now houses Prior Park College was originally designed and built chiefly by John Wood, the Elder in 1742. He was commissioned to build on the hill overlooking Bath by Ralph Allen: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see"
Bishop Baines purchased the mansion in 1828 for £22,000 and used it as a seminary. Renovations were made according to designs by H. E. Goodridge in 1834. The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire in 1836 that resulted in extensive damage and renovation and brought about financial insolvency. It was later bought by Bishop Clifford who founded a Roman Catholic Grammar School in the mansion.
The church was designed by J. J. Scoles in 1844 but not completed until 1863, following 18th-century French models such as Chalgrin's St. Philippe-du-Roule in Paris. Pevsner describes it as "without any doubt the most impressive church interior of its date in the county".
The grammar school closed in 1904 and the site was occupied by the army during the First World War and afterwards by a series of tenants until, in 1921, the Christian Brothers took it over and founded a boys' boarding school in 1924. Prior Park College has continued to occupy the house, but, in 1993, 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of the park and pleasure grounds were acquired by the National Trust and have since been the subject of a detailed restoration programme.
Prior Park Landscape Garden, now owned by the National Trust was first started in 1734 to 1744 with the Allens benefiting during the first phase from the advice of their friend Alexander Pope. The Palladian bridge and lake that it spans were added in 1755; the final phase with the green slopes from the house to the lake are thought to have been planned by Capability Brown in the 1760s.
The main building (Mansion) has been badly burnt twice. The 1836 fire left visible damage to some stonework. The 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement. Rebuilding took approximately three years. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards.
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