» Working in partnership helped county companies to thrive Nostalgia
THE most striking feature of Cheltenham’s Montpellier quarter is the Rotunda. This great green copper tureen presides over the spa that J B Papworth designed for the entrepreneur Henry Thompson in 1825.
When Lloyd’s Bank bought the building for £14,000 in 1961, the place was in a sorry state. A survey revealed that the 160 feet diameter, 60 feet high dome had dropped three inches and was sagging on rotted roof beams.
Two tons of copper and another two of lead were removed in the restoration, along with more tons of ornate plasterwork. More excitingly, workmen discovered steps beneath the floor that led down to bricked up passages, while more tunnels were discovered from another subterranean stairway.
When the former ballroom beneath the rotunda was stripped, the walls were found to be mirror lined. A final find was a mid 19th century post card in the lantern at the top of the dome.
During the 1950s dances were staged in the Rotunda. The late Roger Crabtree, who was a well known local musician, told me that when local bands played the venue they called it the wall of death, partly because of its shape, but mostly because the acoustics were so dreadful.
The Rotunda is one of a number of notable landmarks Cheltenham would be missing were it not for J B Papworth (1775–1847). He was the architect who laid out the estates of Montpellier and Lansdown, designed Lansdown Crescent (though not in the form in which it eventually appeared) and was responsible for a number of the town’s better buildings.
He probably wasn’t the most self effacing of characters.
He did, after all, adopt Buonarotti (after Michelangelo) as his middle name because he felt their talents were comparable. But then he had no reason to be falsely modest either.
Besides buildings and landscapes, Papworth designed furniture, textiles, fireplaces and more.
His clients included Leopold King of the Belgians, Princess Charlotte Augusta, the daughter of George IV and he was adopted as official architect to the King of Württemberg, one of the German states.
Papworth designed the Egyptian Halls in Piccadilly, a theatre which in the 19th century became the home of magic in London when it was leased by John Maskelyne.
Born in Cheltenham (there’s a blue plaque to him in Montpellier Street) Maskelyne founded the Magic Circle and was the best known illusionist of his day.
But not all Papworth’s grand plans came to fruition. He was commissioned to plan a whole new town to be built on the bank of the River Ohio in the United States.
It would have been called Hygeia, but never got off the drawing board. Founder of the Institute of British Architects, Papworth also has the distinction of writing a publication titled “The Causes of Dry Rot in Timber”. Though never a best seller, this is still reckoned to be the definitive work on the subject.
Apart from all that, he had a wonderful way with names. He baptized his first son John Woody Papworth, which must have been an unusual choice at the time. Then in complete contrast his
» To share your pictures and memories of local people, places and events, please email them to nostechocit@gmail.com
second son was named Wyatt Angelicus van Sandau Papworth.
Both sons were architects, as was J B Papworth’s brother George who designed the cast-iron bridge that spans the River Liffey in Dublin to this day.
In the late 1970s and early 80s Montpellier staged street fairs and very popular these events were too.
Charity groups and traders set up their stalls in Montpellier Walk. Peter’s Bar, the Berni Inn and the Rotunda pub put tables and chairs out on the pavement.
Local shopkeepers dressed their windows and bunting fluttered, all of which combined to create the sort of atmosphere you find in French provincial towns on market day, but without the chickens in cramped crates.
Anyone who fancied a little sporting diversion could pop across into Montpellier Gardens and play nine holes on the putting green.
If even that was too strenuous, there was a giant chess board near the green keeper’s hut with pieces so large it took players both hands to move them.
Barnett’s wet fish shop, founded by Charlie Barnett who played cricket for Gloucestershire and England, was found behind Montpellier Exchange (now a tile showroom) and its well iced stone slab was always a visual feast of fishy wares.
Dappled plaice, gaping cod, shining mackerel and coiled huss. The shop also sold rabbits and hares, which were hung upside down each with their head in a bag so customers didn’t have to look them in the eye.