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.