Yellow Door

Forty years ago this year the redoubtable and formidable Miss Amabel Wellesley-Colley took on the might of Bath Corporation and the Bath Preservation Trust and dared to put a blot on a world-famous Georgian architectural masterpiece. This little lady – a direct descendant of the Duke of Wellington – lived at number 22 Royal Crescent and found herself tripping over the toes of propriety when she decided to brighten up her front door and sash windows with some Primrose Yellow paint and matching blinds.

Never did a hue cause such a hue (and cry) as this colourful front entrance standing out as sore as a thumb amongst the various shades of more agreeable white and natural wood doors fronting the other 29 units which make up this Grade 1 listed, John Wood Junior-built world-famous crescent.
Bravely digging in to fight two Enforcement Orders insisting she restored the door to its original colour and removed the yellow blinds. The Council said both substantially altered the appearance of an historic building of great importance. The yellow door detracted from the appearance of the Royal Crescent and there had been complaints. Another salvo was fired off from the Preservation Trust – near neighbours at Number 1 – who thought her choice of paint ‘most regrettable’.

Minor legal skirmishes turned into one final major battle. Miss Wellesley-Colley’s Waterloo was her appearance before a public inquiry and a ruling from the Secretary of State for the Environment. Seven hundred pounds lighter and several weeks later her appeal against the Council’s order was upheld. The door stayed yellow.
[Richard Wyatt the Virtual Museum of Bath]