The Georgian Delights of Bath

Bath’s splendour is difficult to put into mere words; this beautifully preserved Georgian city, reputedly Britain’s most visited other than London, is a bustling cornucopia of sights, sounds, and experiences quite unlike anywhere else in the country. In more recent years, the city has been appointed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

It has broad avenues, narrow alleyways, grand mansions, tiny cottages, museums, civic buildings, churches, libraries, shops, townhouses, and, of course, its majestic abbey, all constructed from the warm honey-coloured local stone that was quarried above the city at Combe Down.

It’s reminiscent of walking through a film set; indeed, Great Pulteney Street was recently used as a backdrop in the big-screen adaptation of "Vanity Fair." All the set designers had to do was to remove the TV antennae and the set was complete.

Bath, of course, is world famous as the site of Aquae Sulis, the Roman name for what was their most important town and garrison. Natural thermal springs bubble their way to the surface here, allowing countless generations to come to the city to "take the waters." Its sulphurous smell and high mineral content has apparently been prescribed as "curer of all ills," ranging from arthritis and rheumatism to all manner of skin diseases.

The streets are still paved with the original huge stone slabs that have been worn smooth from the endless traffic, human, equine, and mechanical. The skill of the masons who constructed the grand houses here is prodigious, the great slabs fitting together as if carved by laser.

The city arguably has more acres of parkland per capita than anywhere in the UK, huge arboreal expanses, beautifully tended and nurtured with blooms and shrubs lining the miles of footpaths.

Individual architectural delights include the Guildhall, Pulteney Bridge, the Abbey, the Circus, Queens Square, and, of course, the majestic sweep of The Royal Crescent, thirty 5-storied townhouses forming a grand arc fronted by verdant lawns.

Bath is a living, breathing time machine that effortlessly transports its visitors back more than two centuries to an era of magnificence, opulence, and splendour. All that’s needed to complete the imagery here would be a Georgian couple strolling arm in arm, he suited up in his best togs and she with a flowing dress and parasol.

Quick Tips:

Bath is always crowded, even in off season, as when I visited in mid-March. The city has an appalling traffic problem that has been somewhat exacerbated in recent years by the pedestrianisation of some major arteries. This has had the effect of increasing traffic even further on the remaining access roads.

Don’t even think about taking a car in to the city. There is a Park-and-Ride at Landsdown where you can leave your vehicle all day for just £1.70. This includes the return bus ride that collects at the Park-and-Ride and deposits you smack bang in the city centre. These run every 15 minutes and the ride takes 10 minutes.

There are many guides to the city, all much-of-a-muchness. Do buy a good street map, though, as the streets and alleyways form an impenetrable maze for the unwary visitor. All the major sights and landmarks are within a compact area that can be comfortably seen in a day.

The streets are full of entertainers and buskers, particularly in the broad square by the Pump Room and Abbey. Many of them are highly professional jugglers, magicians, mime artists, and musicians. I find it pays to have a few pounds in small change to give to them, and they are always polite and grateful.

Do beware of pickpockets; incidents are relatively rare, but in the high-season crush, they can take advantage of an unwary, preoccupied tourist. DON’T wear a waist bag; this merely tells the would-be thief that all they need to steal is right there in one place. Just exercise caution and common sense and your trip will be fine.

Best Way To Get Around:

Shanks’ Pony is without a doubt the best way to see the majority of Bath’s sights. The city bus service does however run two superb city tours. The first, the "high" tour, takes you up to Claverton Down and Combe Down, from where you have unrivalled views of the city. The "low" tour does a lengthy circuit of the inner city, taking in all major sights. The tours cost £9.50, but this covers both of them and the ticket is valid for 48 hours. Both depart from just behind the abbey, the "high" tour every hour and the "low" every 20 minutes. The "low" features audio commentary via headphones free of charge, whilst the "high" has a knowledgeable guide on board.

You may alight from the "low" tour at any of the scheduled 15 stops, take your pictures, and then catch the next one along in 20 minutes. The "high" tour has no scheduled stops, but the driver will slow down at various points of interest. The bus-tour ticket also allows you 10% discount at the Roman Baths and at most of the city museums. Similarly, if you take in the museums first, those tickets allow 10% discount for the bus tour. National Trust members automatically qualify for a 20% discount on production of their membership card.

Bath is situated on the main A4 arterial route from London to Bristol and is about 90 miles from the former and 12 miles from the latter. The Park-and-Ride is to be found just off the A420, Oxford-to-Bristol route at the top of Tog Hill. Turn left if coming from Chippenham and follow the clearly signposted route for about 4 miles. The Park-and-Ride is just past the Racecourse on the right. Bath has a main-line rail station with regular high-speed links to Paddington and Bristol via its InterCity 125 trains.

If you do decide to take the chance and bring your car into the city, parking spaces are hard to find, and costly if you should succeed. Parking all day will set you back at least £12. On-street parking is mostly strictly reserved for residents and chancing it will get you clamped with at least an £80 release charge or even a tow-away if you are really unfortunate.

A church has existed on this site since the 7th century, with the present day Abbey being generally regarded as Britain’s last great medieval church. The original Saxon church was rebuilt by the Normans around 1080AD as an abbey and this in turn was replaced by the present structure, with building commencing in 1499, overseen by Bishop King.

During the reformation, the abbey suffered greatly at the hands of Henry VIII and fell into a state of abject disrepair. Restorative work began in 1603 to make good the damage suffered. Further work, between 1860 and 1883, included the stone vaulting of the nave. The Abbey has wonderful large, stained-glass windows, characteristic of the Perpendicular style of construction. The entire structure is said to have 365 windows, one for each day of the year.

The beautiful fan vaulting, high up in the roof, was designed and built by William and Robert Vertue, who were also responsible for a similar design within the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey. The exterior is complemented with massive flying buttresses, crocketed pinnacles, and a castellated parapet.

Today, the Abbey has been carefully modified, resulting in a stunning interior which includes many monuments and memorials to residents of the city, as well as local benefactors and philanthropists. It sits within an elegant square, close to the city centre and other dominant buildings such as the Guild Hall and the Pump Room.

Beneath the Abbey are the Heritage Vaults, opened to the public in 1994. Displays and exhibits here outline the history of the Abbey, and the important part that religion played in the city’s past. Exhibits include Saxon and Norman sculpture, as well as the Abbey silver collection.

Entry to the Abbey is free, although a donation is expected towards the massive upkeep costs. Entrance to the vaults is £3 with a ramp in situ for wheelchair visitors. The vaults are open on Monday-Saturday, 10am–4pm.

The Abbey still plays a central role in the life of the city as one of it's parish churches with regular services, concerts, and recitals held inside. To view it at it's best, visit on a clear, spring day when the stonework will reflect the crisp light, adding a mystical warmth to the building.

This beautiful structure is one of the most recognisable in Bath. Lined with shops, there are just three similar bridges in the world. It is very alike the Pontes Vecchio and di Rialto in Italy, where Robert Adam, its builder, obviously found his inspiration.

Across the river from Bath was the sprawling estate of Bathwick. This was inherited by Frances Pulteney in 1767. Her husband, William, planned to develop her estate, linking it directly to the thriving city. Bath was already experiencing a building boom, although the only existing link between the city and Bathwick was by ferry.

Pulteney began negotiations with the council about constructing a new bridge, but after consulting with the Adam brothers in 1770, the plans took on a dramatic change.

Pulteney had approached the Adams with a view to developing the "new town" of Bathwick. Robert Adam, who was well travelled, suggested a beautiful design to rival bridges he’d seen in Florence and Venice. He favoured Andrea Palladio’s Rialto design, which had been dismissed by the Italian authorities as being too ornamented. Pulteney wanted to incorporate houses onto the bridge structure, but Bath council were aghast at the idea, seeing as how London had taken years to clear slum dwellings, public houses, and brothels from the bridges that crossed the Thames.

They protested vehemently to Pulteney, but his mind was set. He envisaged a row of 11 shops on each side with Venetian windows giving view to the river below and matching doorways facing the street.

Pulteney completed the bridge in 1773. Tenants for the shops were slow to come forward in light of the American War of Independence, which had shocked local development in the city to a virtual standstill. Therefore, although the bridge was finished, the plans to develop Bathwick were shelved, leaving the bridge leading from the city to meadows rather than the envisaged new town.

Development eventually started in 1788 under the plans of Thomas Baldwin, a local architect. In February 1792, Adam died leaving the bridge to Baldwin’s mercy. He and Pulteney immediately transformed the roof and windows to allow larger shops. Commercially, it made sense; architecturally, it was a disaster.

This was the first of many such "desecrations." In 1799, a pier collapsed after a flood followed by the remaining pier in 1800. The north-side houses were so badly damaged that Pulteney considered demolishing the entire structure, replacing it with an iron-span bridge, courtesy of one Thomas Telford.

Eventually, just the north side was rebuilt, reducing Adam’s design to a shambles. The 19th-century shopkeepers replaced windows and altered designs, and by the early 20th century, the bridge bore little resemblance to its original design.

The council intervened, as it already owned several of the shops on the bridge. It bought the remainder, and its surveyors designed a restored façade, installed for the Festival of Britain in 1951. Finally, in 1975, the Georgian Group restored the south side of the bridge to return it to its original splendour.

Widely regarded as the most elegant and longest boulevard in Europe, Great Pulteney Street is one of the principal thoroughfares in the city. The street was built by the celebrated architect Thomas Baldwin in 1889, who lined its sides with beautiful 5-storey townhouses. It’s said that the dimensions of the street are comparable with those of the Titanic, being approximately 1,100 feet long and 100 feet wide, although of course the Titanic came along several years after the street.

The street runs south-west to north-east and links Pulteney Bridge via Laura Place with Sydney Place to the north. It is built on former marshland that comprised part of the 600-acre Bathwick Estate, owned by the wife of William Pulteney. He negotiated with Bath council to develop the area as long as he was allowed to build Pulteney Bridge, which the council obviously viewed as a fitting trade-off.

Initially, just the facades were built to Baldwin’s design, with the houses themselves being developed by speculators who may have bought up to ten plots each. Baldwin split the street into two with an ornate fountain exactly halfway down its, length which acts as a roundabout today for the traffic using the street. Today, many of the houses are either flats, hotels, or businesses that have the distinction of having one of the swankiest addresses in Bath.

At the top end of Great Pulteney Street is the Holburne Museum of Art, another elegant columned building sitting in its own well-tended gardens. The museum contains a fine collection of 17th- and 18th-century art as well as silver, porcelain, glass, miniatures, sculptures, bronzes, and furniture. Old Masters’ works include those by Gainsborough, Stubbs, and Turner. The museum is open every day other than Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's Day, with entry costing £4.50 for adults and free admission for children.

At the lower end of Great Pulteney Street, in Bridge Street adjacent to the Bridge, is the magnificent Guild Hall, again built by Thomas Baldwin in the 1770s to great acclaim. Like every prominent building in the city, it was constructed from warm Bath stone that had been quarried locally at Combe Down in the pits owned by Ralph Allen. The building is beautifully symmetrical and features columns, arches, domes, and balustrades. The section above the main entrance is adorned with a wonderful be-crowned statue holding a sword and the scales of justice.

Most of the Guild Hall is not open to the public, except for the Banqueting Hall, which is available for private functions.

In the late 18th century, shopping arcades had become very fashionable in Paris. It took another 40 years for the fashion to reach Britain, with the first one being built in London in 1820. The fashion continued to spread and the concept was taken up by Henry Edmund Goodridge, who was the son of an acclaimed and respected builder in Bath.

Goodridge chose architecture for his profession and was picked by William Beckford, a well-known eccentric, to design a tower at Landsdown, from where Beckford could observe the countryside. This was Goodridge’s first commission, and the support he received allowed him to take on the building of The Corridor.

Goodridge opened The Corridor in 1825, and it was hailed as a great success, with more than 5,000 people attending the grand opening. Following Goodridge’s death in 1864, his heirs decided to update the structure. The low-pitched roof was replaced with a semi-circular glass roof. Polished Aberdeen columns replaced the old ones, and the Georgian-glazed shopfronts were replaced with plate glass.

Goodridge’s widow died in the early 1870s, and her will lead to a huge dispute within the family, which was eventually resolved by the Chancery Court. The judgement resulted in the sale of The Corridor in 1877. Many tenants purchased the freehold on their shops and a management committee was formed, along with the appointment of a constable whose role was to man the gates at opening and closing times and provide security for the businesses. The last constable retirede from his role as late as 1965.

In 1974, The Corridor was bombed by the IRA, forcing the biggest renovation programme in its then 150-year history.

Today, The Corridor is as bustling as ever, its shops and businesses ranging from pubs and cafes to hairdressers, antiques, music, and clothes. Amongst the pubs here is the charming and bijou "Coeur de Lion," situated in Union Passage, which bisects The Corridor halfway down its length.

Not that far away is the Guild Hall market, another domed glass-roofed-covered passageway full of permanent businesses such as florists, delicatessens, antiques, curios, and memorabilia. An interesting exhibit here is the Market Pillar, or "nail," which stood on this site during the 1760s. It was used for business transactions and for prompt payment in bargaining, leading to the modern-day phrases of "cash on the nail" and "pay on the nail."

The world-famous Roman Baths here were built between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. They took advantage of the natural hot springs that rise to the surface in the city, delivering a seemingly endless supply of hot mineral-enriched water at a constant temperature of 46C.

The baths were only rediscovered in 1879. They fell into ruin or were destroyed at some time between the departure of the Roman legions and the capture of Bath by the Saxons in 577AD. It was the Saxons who gave the city its name, but knowledge of the baths seems to have been lost during the medieval period and they were apparently built over and forgotten.

The waters rise up from around 3,000m at a daily rate of 1.17 million litres and come to the surface at three locations in the city, all of which have baths built over them. It is, of course, the Romans who seem synonymous with the waters here; the majestic bath-house buildings are a sight to behold and feature temples, shrines, and reservoirs as well as the bathing pools.

In the 1st century AD, the Romans constructed this reservoir to contain the spring and to supply water to the baths. The spring was not used for swimming in; it was a sacred site where worshippers would throw offerings to the patron deity Sulis Minerva. The Scared Spring was covered by a vaulted building between the temple and the baths.

There were several pools for bathing: the central Great Bath, surrounded by majestic columns and arches, and other smaller pools, including the Circular Bath, which acted as a kind of plunge pool to cool the bathers down after taking the steaming waters.

Much of the original paving remains to this day, along with examples of hypercausts, which were used to heat the buildings in the colder months. In the 12th century, the King’s Bath, named after Henry I, was built within the remains of the Roman building.

The Saxons and Normans were also aware of the curative qualities of the waters, and by the late 1500s, there were five baths to aid the poor and leprous who were drawn to the pools in search of healing and relief from the city’s hospitals and almshouses.

By the 17th century, members of the Royal Family regularly visited the city, making it fashionable to "take the waters" and establishing Bath as an upmarket city. By the mid-1700s, Bath had become the leading spa in Britain and brass rings visible on the walls record grateful bathers whose ailments were cured by the waters.

In 1704-1706, the first Pump Room was built, allowing spa water to be drawn up specifically for drinking. This was on the north side of the King’s Bath. The building we can see today was erected between 1790 and 1795 and is larger than its predecessor. Bathing continued here until 1939, when the floor was removed and the water level lowered. The orange stain running around the walls indicates the water level prior to 1939.

There are wonderful mosaics on display as well as sculpture and pottery, including a huge bust of Prince Bladud, legendary founder of Bath.

Entrance fee is a hefty £10; for this, you may wander at will and avail yourself of a free audio-visual handset that conveys the sights in several languages. Adjacent are the Pump Room tea rooms, frightfully expensive but exclusive and a fitting way to finish your experience with a pot of tea, a slice of cake, and a string quartet.

Bath has a wonderful architectural legacy with its broad avenues and elegant buildings. But it is the Squares, Circles, and Crescents that really lend the atmosphere to this lovely old city.

The three most famous examples of the above are Queen’s Square, The Circus, and, of course, the Royal Crescent. All are close to each other and can be walked to and explored within a couple of hours.

We’ll begin the walk at Queen’s Square, closest to the city centre and just up the hill from the Abbey. The Square was the first speculative development by Bath’s famous architect, John Wood the elder. The palatial north façade was designed to inject grandeur into the whole area, and its Palladian style set the mould for many future developments in the city.

It was built between 1729 and 1739 and was essentially the first piece of truly Georgian architecture constructed in Bath. Although in reality, it was just a row of houses, the blocks designed with huge Corinthian columns with a central pediment. Each property boasted five floors, including the cellar, and offered truly luxurious and roomy living space. Wood himself lived on the south side of the Square, from where he could view his work. In the centre of the gardens that the Square surrounds is an obelisk, placed there by Beau Nash in 1738 in recognition of honours conferred upon him received from Prince Frederick, the then Prince of Wales.

Leaving the Square by the north exit will lead us to The Circus, another building feat of John Wood the elder, although it was completed by his son, John Wood the younger. The Circus was finished in 1754 and consists of three crescents, based on the Coliseum in Rome. At its time, it was Britain’s first fully circular street and was viewed as a stunning achievement.

Each house has a frieze at first-floor level depicting various glorifications of inventions and discoveries of the time. This frieze runs the entire circumference of the Circus. The columns are also interesting in that three types of classical column are represented: Doric at street level, Ionic on the middle stories, and Corinthian at the top. Several famous residents have lived here, including the artist Thomas Gainsborough at number 17 and the politician William Pitt the elder at number 8.
It is a peaceful haven in an otherwise unrelenting city cacophony.

Leaving The Circus westwards via Brock Street will take us what is surely one of the most photographed architectural sites in the world, namely the Royal Crescent. Designed by John Wood the younger, work commenced in 1767 and is a classic example of elegant Georgian architecture.

The Crescent is in fact a semi-ellipse, consisting of thirty 5-storey townhouses supported on 114 columns. Plaques on some of the houses remember famous residents such as Elizabeth Linley and Isaac Pitman. In the centre of the Crescent is the very swish Royal Crescent Hotel, one of the plushest in the country, and number 1 is now restored with original Georgian fittings and furnishings.

To the front of the Crescent is the huge lawn, rare in a city where space has always been at a premium. The residents recently voted to ban the tour buses from driving along the Crescent, but it is open to walkers, and quite honestly, that’s the best way to view it.

The Crescent looks out across Royal Victoria Park, and like The Circle, it is a tranquil backwater to reflect upon times gone by.

There is so much to detail about this city that it becomes necessary to place some of the sights into a general entry.

First off is the Jane Austen Centre at 40 Gay St. This is a permanent exhibition telling the story of her Bath experiences and the effect those experiences had upon her writing. She is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath’s many famous residents. She paid two long visits here towards the end of the 18th century and lived here from 1801 until 1806.

Her intimate knowledge of the city is reflected in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both of which are largely set in Bath. The city is still much as she would have known it, preserving in its streets, buildings, and townscapes the elegant and well-ordered world she portrayed so well in her novels. The Georgian town house at number 40 has displays and features depicting life in Bath during her time and the importance of the city in her life and work.

Next is the William Herschel House & Museum at 19 New King St. It was from this house that that he discovered Uranus in 1781 using a telescope of his own design. Herschel pushed out the boundaries of astronomical knowledge during his time and particularly improved upon the building and design of telescopes.

The house was inaugurated as a museum in 1981, exactly 200 years after his planetary discovery. The property was fully restored in 1981 and then again in 2000.It is by no means grand but represents a middle-grade Georgian townhouse, typical of artisans and tradesmen of the epoch.

It is part of a terrace dating from 1764 and is laid out over five floors. Although Herschel was in fact an amateur astronomer, his discoveries were enormously significant. Apart from his discovery of Uranus, he also increased the dimensions of our own galaxy via his observations, discovered the satellites of Saturn, the rotation of that planet’s ring system, and the motions of binary stars.

The next object on the walk is what I call the "Hand Fountain." Although a blatant recent addition to the city’s sites, it is nevertheless a worthwhile detour. It is to be found in a tiny mews just by the Theatre Royal and is a small fountain. "Nothing much there you," may think, until you realise that it’s circumference is emblazoned with hand prints of famous stars who’ve trodden the boards at the theatre. "Hands" include Peter Ustinov, Susan Hampshire, and Hayley Mills.

My last "lesser-known" stop on this tour is at Raby Street, on the way up to Combe Down. At the lower end of the street, on the left as you ascend the hill, is a terrace of elegant, balconied townhouses. The last house in this terrace at the far end was once home to my hero, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The house is not open to the public, but it is a worthwhile sight to behold.

Most of Brunel’s life was indelibly linked to Bristol, where many of his engineering triumphs are to be found. However, the Great Western Railway, probably his biggest feat ever undertaken, runs through the centre of Bath, and he designed the station as well as the ornate, castellated viaduct that carries the lines into and out of the city.

The natural contours as you run both in to and out of Bath meant that the building of this section of the GWR facilitated many bridges and viaducts, all either designed or built by Brunel. This is because Bath sits in a relatively low valley, and to run the line right down to city level would have meant impossible gradients for the locomotives to cope with. Bath Spa station is as ornate a station as you will find anywhere on Britain’s rail network.