The National Trust has been granted temporary planning permission to use one of its properties in Bath for offices in connection with the £17 million project to refurbish the Assembly Rooms.

Fishponds Cottage is on the Prior Park site in Widcombe | Photo © Bath Echo
The project aims to create a world-class visitor experience that tells the social story of Georgian Bath in the actual building in Bennett Street that was the social heart of the city in the late 18th century.
The National Trust (NT) told Bath & North East Somerset Council that as a result of the proposed works, there were no other suitable NT buildings in Bath it could use for alternative office accommodation other than Fishponds Cottage on the Prior Park estate at Widcombe.
The cottage was also used during the NT’s award-winning Prior Park Dams project as a temporary site office for contractors. Before then it had been vacant since July 2017.
Bath facilities manager for the NT, David Barnes, explained: “Regrettably, despite our long-term plan to convert Fishponds Cottage back to residential use, not least to provide an additional income stream, we are still not in a position to undertake this work at this juncture, due to a lack of sufficient resources through having to prioritise improvements to other buildings and existing visitor facilities on site post the delivery of the Prior Park Dams project.
“However, a situation has recently arisen regarding the impending capital works project to restore the Bath Assembly Rooms back to a visitor experience worthy of its historic significance, in that we will need to accommodate the operational and project teams while the capital works are carried throughout 2025 and 2026.
“These works will deliver demonstrable and substantial conservation benefits to a major heritage asset in the city, as well as associated economic and social benefits.”
He said that rather than Fishponds Cottage remaining vacant again it would be “highly beneficial” to the fabric of the building and to the operations to be able to use the cottage for office use in the short term, with the long-term ambition still being to convert the cottage back to residential use “as soon as the opportunity arises”.
B&NES Council planners agreed and the temporary change of use runs until the end of December 2026.