Laura Place

Michael Forsyth believes that Laura Place is ‘one of the most impressive of all Neoclassical urban set pieces in Britain’. It consists of four blocks of houses around an irregular quadrangle at the end of Pulteney Bridge and was built by Thomas Baldwin and John Eveleigh between 1788 and 1794. The quadrangle is named after Henrietta Laura Pulteney, daughter of Sir William Johnstone Pulteney and Frances Johnstone Pulteney.

The fountain at the center of the quadrangle was not part of the original plan; it was added in the late 19th century. After completion of the main street in 1877 local residents petitioned and successfully raised significant funds to build a grand column. However, as construction of the column started, the residents realised that the addition would tower over the area (it would be half as high again than the houses), and so they then petitioned for it to be cancelled. After some negotiations, the column was pulled down and the much smaller fountain added instead.