City of Bath

Bath has Britain’s only natural hot spring that has attracted people for thousands of years to bathe in and drink the water for medicinal and spiritual purposes. The Romans utilised the spring and developed a town as a place of rest, recreation and worship. The Roman Baths are the main attraction which is highly recommended. With the introduction of Christianity in the dark ages, an Abbey was built very close to the spring. The present abbey was completed in the mid 16th Century.

In the 18th Century, the town was redeveloped, with large townhouses built of locally quarried stone in the Palladian syle of classical architecture. It was very popular to ‘take the water’ in the 18th and into the 19th Centuries and many famous people lived in the city including Prime Minister William Pitt and portrait artist Thomas Gainsborough. The 18th Century social scene focused on the Pump Room and the Assembly rooms, both mentioned in novels of another Bath resident, Jane Austen – to whom there is a small museum.

The home of 18th Century astronomer William Herschel, famous for discovering the planet Uranus is now a museum. Another museum which gives you more insight into life in 18th Century Bath is housed in the Royal Crescent.

You may want to spend a couple of hours in the hot spring!. You cannot bathe in the Roman Baths anymore but you can enjoy the same waters at the modern Thermae Bath Spa. Don’t forget your bathing costume!