Bath, Part One

For almost two millennia, the city of Bath has welcomed visitors of all kinds: the sick, seeking a cure from the healing waters, the wealthy seeking entertainment and today’s visitors, drawn by the legacy of the past. This includes some of the most spectacular Roman Remains in Britain and a city unique in being almost exclusively Georgian. Bath is one of the best-preserved eighteenth-century cities in the world, the only World Heritage Site in Britain.

Bath owes its existence to its hot springs. Long before the Roman invasion in AD 43, the Celtic population revered this miracle of nature, seeing in it the power of the Goddess Sulis. But it was a Roman technology that created a bathing establishment known throughout Europe. Work began on the baths and temple around the 60s and 70s of the first century. The great complex beneath the present day Pump Room formed the nucleus of the Roman religious and spa town of Aquae Sulis. Much of this urban development lies hidden forever beneath the later city, but every year new excavations by the Bath Archaeological Trust reveal more about Bath’s Roman past.

The Roman town flourished for as long as the great empire could support it. But by the early fifth century, Aquae Sulis was in decline. With the collapse of Roman rule, the great bathing complex fell into ruin. Emphasis shifted to the formation of a Saxon monastery, probably close to where the present Abbey now stands. Roman buildings were robbed to their foundations to provide building materials for the growing Christian settlement. It was to become one of the most important monasteries in England. In 973 King Edgar, the first king of England, was crowned in the Abbey Church in the presence of the Archbishops of York and Canterbury. A special service was devised for the occasion and this is still used, little changed, for the coronation of British monarchs.

With the coming of the Normans, Bath gained a new dignity. It 1091 it became a cathedral city. The present Abbey Church (rebuilt 1499 – 1610) occupies only the nave area of the vast Normal cathedral. Also around this time new baths were built at the three hot springs: the King’s, Hot and Cross Baths.

During the Middle Ages, Bath was well-known for its cloth-making. But as the wool trade slumped in the mid-16th century, the hot springs reclaimed their status as the chief attraction of the town. The visit of Queen Elizabeth in 1574 set the seal of royal approval on Bath as a spa. The baths were enlarged and improved and the nobility and gentry flocked to the city. Fine inns and lodging houses sprang up to accommodate them and by the 17th century, Bath was considered one of the loveliest cities in the country.

In the 18th century Bath burst out of the cramped confines of its medieval walls in a great spurt of new building. As the spacious Georgian streets spread out around it, the tightly packed ancient core of the city became a bottleneck. The new broad colonnaded Bath Street linked the rebuilt Cross Bath and Grand Pump Room in an impressive ensemble.

After 1800, seaside resorts gained in popularity and Bath entered a quieter phase. Today the city attracts visitors from all over the globe.

Bath's history is visible on every street in the harmony of its 18th-century architecture, and the city center has been called a museum in itself. But that glorious history has also left the city with a legacy of museum collections unrivalled in the west of England. The most famous, and a must for every visitor is the Roman Baths and Museum, one of the finest Roman sites in Europe. The Museum of Costume also has an international reputation. Other smaller collections in the city reflect the pioneering and sometimes eccentric spirit of the city's residents. The celebrated astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus from his back garden in Bath, and his home and instruments are preserved there. The Bath Postal Museum records and illustrates the development of the postal system since the days of Henry VIII.