Undertaking private tours of London can bring you close to some of the best and often most well-kept secrets of the capital, but there are so many wonderful places within a day-trip’s reach that it would be a shame not to see at least some of them.
This is certainly true when you head along the M4 to see some of the wonders of the West Country. Wiltshire has its stone circles and white horses, but one of the most beautiful and historic cities in England, if not the world, lies a little further west – Bath.
As the name suggests, the city has a lot to do with the business of bathing, specifically because it has warm thermal springs that made it a great attraction for the Romans. In later centuries, it became a popular Georgian spa town. These two factors have combined to make Bath into the wonderful city it is. Small wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Roman Bath
Founded as the Roman town of Aquae Sulis around 70 AD, the city’s mineral springs, which produce water at around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), were already used by the Britons who lived in the area. Indeed, they were dedicated to the Goddess Sulis, after whom the Romans named the settlement.
However, the bath house they built was dedicated to the Roman Goddess Minerva. Consisting of one grand warm pool and a cold plunge pool, it was able to rely on a constant supply of warm water, whereas elsewhere it had to be heated through the innovation of the hypocaust, a form of underfloor heating using hot air channelled from furnaces.
In addition, the mineral content added to the attraction, due to the belief it had healing properties.
The complex stayed in use until the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, but fell into disuse thereafter as the Anglo-Saxons took over the area in the early medieval period. However, the baths were to be fully excavated in the 1870s, becoming a great visitor attraction today.
Bath Abbey
In the intervening centuries, Bath found a different role as an important centre of the wool trade. The Medieval period also saw the founding of a monastery that was to become Bath Abbey, with the Mercian King Offa claiming ownership in 781 and the Saxon King Edgar being crowned there in 973.
After the Norman Conquest, John of Tours became Bishop of Bath and Wells and ordered the rebuilding in 1081. But this larger abbey, given cathedral status in 1244, had fallen into disrepair before work started on another rebuild in 1499.
Like other abbeys, the building was closed in the Reformation, but the crumbling ruin was given new life when it was made a parish church in 1572. It was restored between 1573 and 1620, with a further restoration project starting in the 1830s to produce most of the grand buildings you can visit today, although some elements date from the 20th century.
The Georgian Spa Town
By this time, Bath had changed again, as the leisure possibilities and attributed healing properties of the warm springs took centre stage in the Georgian era of the early 18th century.
This period saw many spa towns arising across England. All of them contain some fine buildings, but it is difficult to argue that any of them compares to Bath.
Under the influence of a succession of architects committed to the vision of building a city in Palladian style, Bath was to develop as a beautiful place, built from blonde sandstone and featuring such architectural treasures as the spectacular Lansdown Crescent and Royal Crescent.
Another notable architectural feature of Bath is the Pulteney Bridge, which crosses the River Avon. Built between 1769 and 1744 for the Pulteney family, it is one of only four bridges in the world with shops across the entire span on both sides.
Jane Austen’s Bath
Bath is not just famous for its architecture and hot springs, but some of its people too. Arguably, the most famous resident of the city was the novelist Jane Austen, who produced classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park.
She lived in Bath between 1801 and 1809, with two of her novels – Northanger Abbey and Persuasion – being set in the city. Today, you can explore more of her life and times at the Jane Austen Centre, which occupies a fine Georgian building close to the Abbey and Roman baths, complete with its own Regency tea room.
From the days of Ancient Rome, through the times of the Saxons, Normans, Reformation, and Georgian ambition to the early 19th century authorship of one of England’s most celebrated writers, Bath is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but also among the most historic.
