Bath's Georgian sedan chair 'garages' sell for £159k

The two sedan chair garages in Bath were sold at auction for £159,000

The last remaining Georgian sedan chair garages in the UK have been sold for £159,000 at auction.

The Grade II listed buildings in Bath city centre were listed with a guide price of £25,000 each.

East and West Sedan Chair House, on Queen's Parade Place, were built in 1734 by architect John Wood the Elder, famed for designing The Circus in the city.

They originally stored sedan chairs, used as taxis by the wealthy.

The limestone buildings were sold for commercial use by Bath and North East Somerset Council.

A council spokesman said "although these are unusual and historic buildings, they had only a very low rental income and are not easily lettable because of their size and lack of essential facilities".

He said the money made from this sale will be re-invested into the authority's building portfolio.

The Georgian buildings are believed to the only two remaining properties of their kind in Britain

Sedan chairs were used like taxis to carry wealthy people around in the 18th Century

Architect John Wood the Elder designed some of Bath's most famous buildings including The Circus

Sedan chairs were carried on long poles placed through brackets at either side of the chair