Bath in General

...me when we left Bath after our "girls' weekend " there; we're already considering going back to do our Christmas shopping. We had never been before and were hooked!

HISTORY

Imagine the ancient Celtic Britons, roaming the cold, misty countryside, when suddenly one of them sees a strange, ethereal white mist rising from a pool. They draw closer........ not only mist but bubbles are emanating from the water. ...
...by the Middle Ages Bath had a monastery and even its own mint, and had a thriving woollen cloth dyeing industry. Bath Abbey was rebuilt in its present form at the end of the 15th century
but was left to go to ruin following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry 8th. Although the wool trade declined, the waters were still taken for medicinal reasons, popularised a bit more when Anne of Denmark, wife of James 1st, took the waters in an ... more

Full marks if you got the reference in the title (Jane Austen, "Northanger Abbey")! This was the sentiment of my friend and me when we left Bath after our "girls' weekend " there; we're already considering going back to do our Christmas shopping. We had never been before and were hooked!

HISTORY

Imagine the ancient Celtic Britons, roaming the cold, misty countryside, when suddenly one of them sees a strange, ethereal white mist rising from a pool. They draw closer........ not only mist but bubbles are emanating from the water. They call the others to look, and someone tentatively puts a hand in and exclaims in astonishment; the water is warm! A miracle, or so it seems. This must be a sacred place, favoured by the gods.. The ancient people worship the goddess of the spring and call her Sulis.

Later, the Romans invade Britain. Anyone who's been to Mediterranean lands can understand them feeling miserable, cold and isolated in the chill of a British winter. So when they came upon the sacred spring, of warm, almost living water, they must have thought it was a little piece of Heaven given them by the gods to sustain them in this benighted realm. They took over the spring of Sulis, naming it "Aquae Sulis"- "Waters of Sulis"- and dedicated it to a combination of the local goddess Sulis and their own goddess Minerva; hence it became the spring of Minerva Sulis.

Baths were a huge part of Roman social life; it was far more than a wash, it was a ceremony and a place to socialise, relax, transact business deals; a kind of cross between the pub and the sauna! Hardly surprising then that a settlement grew up around the hot springs and Aquae Sulis became one of the main centres of Roman Britain.

However when the Roman empire fell, their settlement declined. It was probably still occupied during the Dark Ages and by the Middle Ages Bath had a monastery and even its own mint, and had a thriving woollen cloth dyeing industry. Bath Abbey was rebuilt in its present form at the end of the 15th century
but was left to go to ruin following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry 8th. Although the wool trade declined, the waters were still taken for medicinal reasons, popularised a bit more when Anne of Denmark, wife of James 1st, took the waters in an attempt to be cured of dropsy. (I don't know whether the cure worked!)

Bath 's heyday really came in the mid 18th century when it suddenly took off as "the " fashionable place to go, after London. Much of its popularity was attributed to "Beau" Nash , the Master of Ceremonies at the Assembly Rooms who sounds to have virtually ruled the lives of his fashionable visitors; he gave them rules which must be followed or they risked being social outcasts, not seen at the right place at the right time!

Much building took place in Bath to cater for this influx of " beautiful people" and this is a great part of Bath's charm today. John Wood the Elder and his son, John Wood the Younger, were the main architects of the wonderful buildings of this period; the Elder designed Queen Square and the Circus, while his son was responsible for the Assembly Rooms and Royal Crescent. Pulteney Bridge, with its quaint little shops built into its walls, was designed by Robert Adam in the 1770s and still spans the River Avon.

By 1800, Bath was losing its popularity to some extent and becoming more a place of genteel retirement. It was unable to keep pace with more industrial cities and became more of a backwater, although it did double its size during the 19th century. Obtaining rail links to Bristol and London probably helped with its expansion.

In the 20th century Bath suffered an air raid in 1942 which destroyed a number of its old buildings, but it still grew in popularity as a tourist centre with museums opening at a considerable rate. Now it is primarily a tourist city, with many attractions and so much to see it's hard to fit everything in!

ATTRACTIONS

THE ROMAN BATHS

One of the major places to visit in the city, the Roman Baths are just stunning. Situated right in the centre, they are enclosed in a modern, informative Visitors' Centre where you are given a useful audio guide.

Once through the foyer, your first view of the Baths is through long windows, where you look down onto the original Roman swimming pool. It looks approximately the size of a tennis court and the water in it looks green (apparently due to algae as it is actually clear.) Steps go all the way round leading down from a stone walkway, and the bottom of the Roman wall is still there. The Victorians built a balcony from which to view the pool and this is what you walk round. It gives a wonderful view all the way round the bath, and is adorned with Victorian reproductions of Roman statues.

From here the tour takes you into the indoor part of the visitor centre where there is plenty of explanation of how the baths used to look, including a model and various tableaux. Carved stones which have been excavated are also on display with explanations of how they fitted into the buildings. One of the most impressive is a male face surrounded by leaves and other images; the theory is that it is based on a combination of Celtic and Roman gods. It's certainly clear and unweathered and it seems incredible to think the Romans would have looked at it almost 2,000 years ago and seeing what we see today.

The centre cleverly combines the original remains with modern reconstructions of how they might have looked. There are the remains of the temple steps, and also the original entrance to the baths along with part of the Roman courtyard and the altar. The water from the baths is still carried away by the drains built in Roman times which you can see from certain viewpoints.

My favourite part apart from the pool has to be the Sacred Spring. This is where the water actually rises from more than 2700 metres below the earth's surface; apparently it fell as rain approximately 10,000 years ago! It's been built up like a mini version of the pool but still the mystery and wonder of this phenomenon is there. Watching the mist swirling over the water's surface, and bubbles intermittently breaking through, even in this technological age when we understand what is happening there is a magic to it. To our ancestors it must have been supernatural.

The collection of objects found in or near the baths is very interesting. One rather endearing custom was the throwing into the water of curses! A Roman would write down his/her curse on a bit of lead or metal, roll it up and throw it in to ask for Minerva Sulis's help. One seems to be listing the possible culprits who stole from him and asking the goddess to punish the right one. There are numerous other Roman finds, one of the most impressive being a life sized bronze head of Minerva.

A quick mention if you are taking children; the centre is very well planned and information is easy to access with the auto guides, I think children would enjoy it. There is a dedicated activity room where they can dress up and make Roman items; I don't know if this was just because of half term or whether it's always there, but the children in it seemed to be very happy.

The tour ends in the Pump Room, which dates from the 18th century. It's now a very expensive restaurant but your admission to the Baths includes a free glass of "Bath water" which you obtain there. This is drawn from the fountain and handed over by a steward; many glasses were handed back full but I quite liked it. It was slightly minerally but not as bad as some you can buy in bottles,and apart from the strangeness of its being warm (like bath water!!) it was fine. I drained the glass anyway so maybe it did me good!

There are some steps to go down but I think there may be a lift for disabled people.

The Baths are right in the city centre, by the Abbey, and are open every day apart from Dec 25th and 26th . Prices for 2005 are £9.50 for adults, £8.50 for students and pensioners and £5.30 for children. However you can get a good deal on a joint ticket for the Baths and the Assembly Rooms at £12.50 for both, and because we took the open top bus tour we got 10% off with our ticket. Prices include audio guides.

THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS AND COSTUME MUSEUM

Mentioned in Jane Austen's "Bath" novels, "Persuasion" and "Northanger Abbey", the Assembly Rooms were "The" place to go for the fashionable visitors to Bath. The famous MC, Richard "Beau" Nash, disapproved of private gatherings and encouraged visitors to attend public events in the Rooms, as well as just going to talk and meet people and according to Jane Austen to cast a critical eye over people's clothes!

Opened in 1771, the Rooms were built by John Wood the Younger and incorporated a ballroom, a card room, a tea room and the "Octagon" which was the original card room before the extension was built. There was originally another set of Assembly Rooms down by the river known as the Lower Rooms, so Wood's was known as the Upper Rooms in Jane Austen's day. Now, they are a wonderfully restored snapshot of how the beautiful people enjoyed themselves in Bath during the Georgian period.

Once the heyday of Bath was over though, the Assembly Rooms fell out of use and ended up as a cinema in the early 20th century. Bath was bombed in WW2 and the Assembly Rooms were badly damaged, but great care has been taken to restore them as authentically as possible and they really do give you the sense of opulence and space which their original visitors must have felt. Nowadays it is pretty much a case of wander through and admire the rooms, although there is a tea room and when we went it was school half term so there were activities for children going on as well.

The real gem here, for us anyway, is the Costume Museum which is situated in the basement. The museum owns a vast collection of garments and accessories dating from the 1500s, but they can only display a limited amount at any one time so you could probably keep on going back and see different things each time. The layout is basically chronological and begins with the "Silver Tissue Dress", a fairy-tale gown of shimmering gauzey cloth dating from the 1660s. You move on through the Jane Austen Regency style through the extravagances of Victorian dress to the 20th century and clothes that we could actually remember. There are also richly embroidered gloves from the 15 and 1600s, and all the paraphernalia of muslin sleeves etc required to embellish the outfits. Most of the clothes on display seemed to be for women but there were examples of men's clothing too.

There is an exhibition area which changes from time to time. When my mother in law visited a year or two ago it contained an exhibition of the Queen's dresses, but on our visit we were delighted to find an exhibition of costume from the films of Jane Austen's books. (You may have guessed by now that we are something of Jane Austen fans!) This was fascinating. There were one or two items from each film, with photos from the films of people wearing them, and an explanation of how that fabric, pattern etc had been arrived at, and the item itself displayed on a model among genuine contemporary garments from the museum's collection. One area I found particularly interesting was a bit from "Sense and Sensibility" saying that they had chosen plain, stripey type fabric for Elinor's dresses and more flowery, feminine ones for Marianne to reflect the "sense" and "sensibility" of each personality. Also with the gentlemen; they had selected a slightly outmoded style of coat for the older Colonel Brandon and the more modern, flowing one for Willoughby so he made an impact dashing up on his horse to rescue Marianne. There is even an area where you can dress up in reproduction costumes and parade a Georgian street in Bath!

The Museum is situated in Bennett St, near the Royal Crescent at the top of the hill. It is open every day except Dec 25th and 26th and unless the Assembly Rooms are in use for booked functions, you can view them as well. Prices without the Saver ticket are £6.25 for adults, £5.25 for students and senior citizens and £4.25 for children aged 6-16, with various offers on family tickets. These include audio guides.
There are two flights of stairs to go up and down, which could be a problem for the disabled, but my mother in law is disabled with arthritis and manages so I assume there is a lift.

THE JANE AUSTEN CENTRE

Well, how did you guess we'd go here?! Situated in Gay Street, about 10 doors down from a house where Jane lived for a while, this is an interesting place to find out more about her Bath connections and her life in general.

The tour begins with a talk and these take place at quarter to and quarter past the hour. We went to the shop for tickets and were told the next talk was in about 20 mins, so we browsed the shop which had a few interesting books and some Regency style souvenirs, then went up to the waiting room. This had good seating and magazines with relevant articles in, and also pictures of the Austens, newspaper items etc on the walls. When the talk was to start, we were shown into a small lecture room next door and had a very lively and interesting account of her life from a girl who obviously knew her stuff; her enthusiasm brought it alive for me.

The exhibition itself was downstairs and this was the only part that seemed a bit badly organised. There were probably about 12 people in the talk and we were all in a narrow corridor trying to read the display items, but if you finished before the person in front you couldn't move past them. However the displays themselves were interesting and provided information about Jane herself and also about the period and the expectations of society. There was a small video cabin where we sat and watched Amanda Root (Anne Eliot in the film of "Persuasion") take us on a tour of places round Bath which were important in Jane's life and her novels, so that was very informative and helped us to identify places as we walked round Bath. There was even an interview with one of Jane's distant descendants.

Although this was quite a small place, it was really interesting to anyone wanting to find out and understand more about Jane's life and novels. I'm not sure how disabled people would go on with the stairs, I didn't see a lift though there might have been one. I also think it's probably aimed more at adults than children, especially the talk, although children might enjoy looking round in less detail.

The Centre is situated in Gay St, just up from the city centre, and is open all year with shorter hours in winter. The current admission price (Feb 05) is £4.65 for adults, £3.95 for senior/student and £2.45 for a child, under 6s are free and a family ticket (2 adults, up to 4 children) is £12.50.

ROYAL CRESCENT

This has to be one of the most famous sights of Bath. In the upper part of town with great views, it was built by John Wood the Younger in the 1760s and with its sweep of columns it is as impressive in the flesh as its pictures suggest. There are 30 houses and an added bonus is that Number One is open to visitors. It is a faithfully restored Georgian house and with informative guides, it provides another insight into how Bath's visitors would live when they were there for the Season. There are only 4 rooms to view, the dining room, study, drawing room and bedroom, but they are so well done with furniture of the period, some from houses in the Crescent itself, faithfully reproduced wallpaper and carpets, blinds etc. The kitchens have been incorporated into a house next door, but the basement has been converted into a simulated Georgian kitchen so you have some idea of what it could have been like.

The house is only open certain times which I'm struggling to remember, but you can phone for info on 01225 428126. Admission was £4 each for us, I assume there are concessions but not having an up to date leaflet I can't quote these accurately.

THE CIRCUS

Linked to the Crescent by the deliberately plain Brock St is the Circus, designed by John Wood the Elder although he died before more than the first house was built. It is a wonderful example of Georgian architecture, a circle composed of 4 arcs of elegant town houses with amazing individual carvings on like you get in cathedrals. If only we could wear some of those costumes from the museum and parade round here, it would be just like stepping back in time! This is definitely worth a walk to look at, and just off Brock St on the way to the Crescent from here there is a small street which I think is called St Margaret's buidings, and which has a fascinating collection of small shops including a German one with a strudel bar in the basement, hot chocolate etc if you need refreshment!

BATH ABBEY

Back down in the centre, the Abbey is worth a visit. They don't officially charge for admission but request a donation of £2.50 per adult, and a man sits in the foyer with a collection plate and a beady eye, so whether you could get in without donating I'm not sure. However the architecture is stunning, it's a huge church and the high ceiling with its vaulted roof is truly impressive. There are virtually no remains of the abbey except the church, but you can visit an exhibition if you arrive before 4pm; we didn;t so I can't comment on that. We just enjoyed walking round and seeing the various monuments etc, which include one to Beau Nash. The Abbey is right in the centre of Bath and is much the tallest building so you can't miss it.

SALLY LUNN'S

This purports to be the oldest house in Bath dating from the 1480s. It certainly looks very old, and its other main claim to fame is Sally herself. She was a Huguenot refugee who arrived in Bath via La Rochelle and Bristol in the 1600s and used her knowledge of brioche baking to set up a business making bread buns from local butter, eggs, milk and flour. The resulting creation, the Sally Lunn bun, certainly makes great toasted sandwiches and cinnamon buns as we can testify! Apparently the original recipe was discovered bricked up in a wall, and that is what they use today.

The house is a tea room with an upstairs and a downstairs room, both quite crowded with tables but pleasantly atmospheric with old maps etc on the walls, and the low beamed ceilings typical of a medieval house. We went for lunch and had to queue for about 10 mins, this is Feb half term, but someone was saying that in the summer you would queue way down the street.
Lunch was reasonable, about £5.25 for a toasted sandwich with salad and crisps; the sandwich was delicious, roasted veg and sun-dried tomato! Morning coffee with a cinnamon or chocolate buttered bun was about the same, but be warned; we ordered one each and they were about the size of a side plate! The people on the next table were obviously wise to this and had 1 bun between 3!

If you have time, there is a Kitchen Museum in the basement which we hadn't time to visit, but if you eat in the cafe you get free admission. I'm told it looks at how people used to cook but beyond that I don't know how much is there. You can buy the Sally Lunn buns from it, they currently cost about £1.45 each and it's buy 3 get 1 free.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

We had 2 and a bit days to explore Bath and there are many other things we would have liked to see. We did the open top bus tour to begin with to help us get our bearings. It went from outside the Abbey roughly hourly and cost £9.00 for an adult, but this included the museum discount and 10%off in various tea rooms. My friend got it half price as a National Trust member. The tour lasted about 45 mins and took in virtually all of Bath, with the option of a free "Skyline Tour" round the outskirts but we just hadn't time for it. The commentary was in several languages of which you picked one, and was informative and helpful.

Other attractions in Bath itself include the Postal Museum, walking tours, eventually they are opening the Thermae Baths which will be a spa using the spring water, the Holbourne Museum of Art, the Herschel Museum, the Theatre Royal, the Museum of Bath at work... I could go on,and there are many more outside the city itself, but you can get plenty of information by visiting the Visit Bath website (www.visitbath.co.uk) which is excellent.

Bath is so lovely with its elegant sweeps of Georgian buildings made form the local Bath stone (which apparently starts off white but mellows to the beautiful honey colour we see today) that just walking round it is a pleasure and it doesn't cost you anything. Across Pulteney Bridge you get to Laura Place, a breathtaking diamond-shaped square (if you see what I mean!) built in Bath's heyday, and leading off it is Great Pulteney St which is a long straight road of Georgian houses, making you feel as if you've stepped back in time. Go down the steps by the bridge and you get down to the river and a lovely cafe which does wonderful lunches; sitting there with a glass of wine was a truly relaxing experience, even in February! You can walk along by the river, or up the hills on which Bath is built.

SHOPPING

We found Bath a great mix of High St stores, slightly more exclusive chains like East and Monsoon (and Lush!) and small individual shops selling designer jewellery, chocolates, clothes, glassware etc. Down near the station is rather a horrible 60s type precinct with the noisy yobs you get in most cities, but higher up it gets much nicer. Milsom St is one of the main shopping ones with a good choice of stores, and below and off it are many tiny streets with the small shops in. The Podium centre is modern but in keeping and has Waitrose supermarket side by side with small jewellers etc.

GETTING THERE AND ACCOMMODATION

Bath is on the London to Bristol railway line (12 mins from Bristol) and Bristol is on the Virgin route down from Dundee and Edinburgh to Devon. The station is about 10-15 mins walk from the centre.

I believe National Express coaches go to Bath but am not sure of details.

There are many hotels in Bath and the website mentioned has an accommodation section which might help, including special offers. There are also many good restaurants and cafes, with a really wide choice.

CONCLUSION

I've finally got to it!! If you are still awake, you might have got the message that we had a fabulous time in Bath and really loved it. It is beautiful and offers something for everyone, though if history and/or Jane Austen is your thing, you might be especially happy here. For a mixture of history, culture and shopping it's hard to beat, and despite being a bit off the beaten track to get to it is so worth it. It isn't that cheap but you could make it so by not eating out . Oh and I think going off season was a good move, as it wasn't very crowded. I certainly hope to go back.

I hope this takes you less time to read than it took me to write! Thanks.

 

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