Parade House

Built in around 1720 for the wealthy cloth merchant Robert Houlton, Parade House has an elegant and symmetrical façade typical of the Georgian period.

An article in the Gloucester Record newspaper published around 25 years later said that Parade House "consists of five large lofty rooms on the first [or ground] floor, viz.

a spacious hall and two very good parlours in the front neatly wainscoted, a drawing-room, a servants-hall, and two stair-cases behind; a proportionable number of lodging-rooms on the second and third floors with closets and other conveniences, the front freestone carved and sash'd; a court before the house with iron gates, and a large paved court behind; the kitchen, cellars, and offices under ground, exceeding convenient and well-supplied with water; a pleasant garden behind with a good wall.

Administration was granted to his nephew Joseph Houlton III, but Robert appears to have been heavily indebted, and most of the estate was eventually divided between his creditors.

These included John Cooper, the owner of 64 Fore Street, who took control not only of Parade House but also Robert's mills and other estates.

Green too let out the building, on this occasion to another tradesman, Thomas Turner, who had recently married Joanna Cook, one of the founders of Trowbridge's Tabernacle Church.

A few years later he was obliged to surrender the property to the Tabernacle minister John Clark after defaulting on debts, and it was eventually purchased by Thomas Timbrell, of a local family of lawyers and bankers.

These included the dentist and chemist William Honey Hayward until 1880, and subsequently the drapers and dressmakers Arthur and Sarah Heathcote, who lived and traded from the property until 1901.

At the 1911 Census, Parade House was occupied by Miss Kate Morris, an unmarried dressmaker, together with her assistant Sophia Pearson.

In 2021, application was made to Wiltshire Council to redevelop Parade House for multiple occupation, with the individual rooms converted to bedsits.

That year it was purchased by new owners who abandoned the conversion plan and instead relaunched the building as a venue for public and private events.