Montpellier was developed early in the 19th century with attractive villas and terraces surrounding spacious ornamental gardens, today known as Montpellier Gardens. In the 1830s and 1840s specialist shops were built to serve visitors, and luxury items prevailed - glass and china warehouses and high class outfitters. This quarter of town has retained precisely that character to the present day. Montpellier is described as having a continental flavour, with its café culture, chic bars and bistros. It offers specialist boutiques, gift shops and established antique dealers.

Caryatids in Montpellier

Most picturesque is Montpellier Walk, where properties are separated by caryatids. The figures are based on the classical models on the Erechtheion in Athens. There are 32 of them and they are not all the same. Only two of them are dated from 1840, made by the original London sculptor Rossi from terracota. The remainder were created by a local man from Tivoli Street. Two of them, located on the extension of the bank, were added in the 1970s. Montpellier Walk, which is said to be the nicest shopping street in the country, was designed by W. H. Knight, the architect of the monumental Cheltenham Public Library.

THE COURTYARD The Courtyard is a stylish place to shop in Cheltenham. It is a two level shopping arcade with a central sunken piazza, and is home to an upmarket range of shops and outlets. Opened in 1985 for the cost of £3 mil it is the most recent addition to Montpellier's specialty shops.

THE ROTUNDA One of the features of Montpellier is the Rotunda, today home to Lloyds TSB, originally building of the Montpellier Spa, designed by London architect John Buonarotti Papworth, which opened in 1809.

LIST OF SHOPS

and many more