070702.Sion Hill, Gothic Cottage
July 2, 2007 at 4:18 AM | Posted in Architecture, Bath, bricks, somerset | 11 Comments
On the northside of Sion Hill road is No. 27, “Gothic Cottage.” “A pretty cottage orné of 1797, is unusual for its eclectic mix of Gothick and classical, and its Flemish bond brick construction. A later hip-roofed len-to runs across the entire front. James Dredge, engineer and designer of the Victoria Bridge, lived here in the” mid-nineteenth century.
–Michael Forsyth, Bath (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 169.
posted by JosyC
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Bath Daily Photo 
j’aime bien les bâtiments en brique (Evry est la ville reine des immeubles en brique, surtout dans le centre ville).
I like the brick buildings (Evry is the queen city of the brick buildings, especially in the centre town).
Comment by Olivier— July 2, 2007 #
they’ll never sell it tho without a bit more detail about the bathrooms
Comment by lettuce— July 3, 2007 #
I think the green wall is just splendid
Comment by Aigars— July 3, 2007 #
Please can anyone tell me any more about James Dredge and his family?
Comment by Brenda— February 21, 2008 #
Brenda, I don’t know anything about him except his list of works in Bath but am as curious as you. Hopefully someone will enlighten us both.
The Victoria Bridge is quite a bridge, near the supermarket. I’ll try and make it a post once I get back online.
Comment by Bath DP Host— March 20, 2008 #
Thank you.
I’ve now discovered via the National Archives that the younger James Dredge (born 1839) divorced his wife Eliza Theresa in 1863, after five years of marriage, but can find no other reference to it. There were 2 daughtes but I don’t know what happened to them either. My curiosity continues…
Comment by Brenda— April 24, 2008 #
For any who as still interested,
James Dredge the bridge designer (1794-1863), started out as a brewer, owning a brewery on Upper Bristol Road. His first bridge was the Victoria Bridge in Bath, which he probably built to help access his brewery. He patented the design of the bridge which he then used in around 50 bridges he later built in England, Scotland and India. (For those interested in bridges, his patented design reduced the volume of iron required, by improving the structural efficiency of the cables). He moved into Gothic Cottage in the early 1850’s when his bridge building business was at its peak, quite a nice house seeing he was declared bankrupt in 1848 after troubles with a bridge in Weston-Super-Mare. His first son William also became a Civil Engineer, who also built patented Dredge bridges for his father.
All of this information came from: The Proceedings of The Institute Of Civil Engineers: Vol 102: Issue 1: pp. 34-42 ‘From Brewer To Bridge Builder, Reflections On The Life And Work Of James Dredge’ McQuillan, Don (1994)
I have been researching Dredge and his Victoria Bridge for a conference paper on the bridge. If anyone would like to read ‘From Brewer To Bridge Builder, Reflections On The Life And Work Of James Dredge’ I have a digital copy. Or if anyone has any interesting information about Dredge, or Victoria Bridge feel free to email me at: rag24@bath.ac.uk
Regards,
Comment by Robin— May 27, 2008 #
[…] Architecture, Bath, Bridges, Light and Shadow, Towers, people, somerset | Tags: Add new tag In the comments section for Gothic Cottage, Brenda and Robin both investigated the house’s occupants, and Robin in particular reported its connection with […]
Pingback by 080528.Westmoreland, Victoria Bridge « Bath Daily Photo— May 28, 2008 #
Hi. I believe my Grandmother worked at Gothic Cottages for a Mrs Mabel Halford-Adcock sometime during the 1940/50/60s.Does this name appear in your investigations? any details would be gratefully received.
Regards Nicky
Comment by nicky delamore— August 24, 2012 #
I have no knowledge of James Dredge but I believe I am a descendent of his brother Abel. My grandfather Francis Dredge worked in wrought iron in Edinburgh, having moved from Frome, Somerset, in the 1920s. His father,moved to Frome from Chapmanslade, Wiltshire and I believe the family previously lived in Crossley, Wiltshire, where Abel was a blacksmith.
Stewart Dredge stewartdredge@hotmail.com
Comment by Stewart Dredge— December 13, 2008 #
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Comment by Shen-Zhi1903— December 3, 2011 #