John Wood, the Elder was commissioned by Ralph Allen to build on the hill overlooking Bath: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see". Wood was born in Bath and is known for designing many of the streets and buildings of the city, such as The Circus (1754–68), St John's Hospital, (1727–28), Queen Square (1728–36), the North (1740) and South Parades (1743–48), the Mineral Water Hospital (1738–42) and other notable houses, many of which are Grade I listed buildings. Queen Square was his first speculative development. Wood lived in a house on the square, which was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the finest Palladian compositions in England before 1730".