Bath grew around a sacred hot spring that the Romans turned into Britain’s most elaborate bathing complex, then reinvented itself in the eighteenth century as a fashionable Georgian resort of honey-coloured stone crescents. Few English cities let visitors walk between a Roman bath house, a Gothic abbey and the streets Jane Austen once knew within a single afternoon.
At a glance
Bath sits in a bend of the River Avon in Somerset, built around a thermal spring that has supplied hot water for thousands of years. The Romans developed the site as Aquae Sulis, dedicating it to the goddess Sulis and constructing a bathing complex that grew over three centuries. After the Roman withdrawal the town shrank to a modest medieval settlement, only to be transformed again in the eighteenth century into one of Georgian England’s most fashionable spa resorts, its terraces built from the golden Bath stone quarried nearby.
Key facts
- Roman origins: construction of the bath complex began under the Roman governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola around 60–70 CE and expanded over some three hundred years.
- The sacred spring: the Romans named it Aquae Sulis, waters of Sulis, after the goddess to whom the spring was dedicated; a gilt-bronze head of Sulis Minerva was found during excavations in 1727.
- Curse tablets: the Roman Baths Museum holds over 130 lead curse tablets, thrown into the spring by petitioners seeking justice or revenge.
- Georgian architecture: John Wood the Younger designed the Royal Crescent, thirty houses behind a single curved Ionic façade, built 1767–1775; his father, John Wood the Elder, designed the circular Circus nearby in 1754, said to have drawn on Stonehenge for its plan.
- Jane Austen: the novelist lived in Bath between 1801 and 1806 and set Northanger Abbey and Persuasion in the city, though she is said to have disliked it personally.
- Heritage status: the City of Bath was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
History
Long before the Romans arrived, the Celts are said to have venerated the hot spring as sacred to the goddess Sulis. The Romans built their bathing complex from around 60–70 CE, expanding it over the following centuries, but as Roman Britain weakened in the late fourth century the baths fell into disrepair and the stone vault over the Great Bath eventually collapsed into the pool.
For roughly twelve centuries afterwards Bath remained a modest town; Bath Abbey was later built directly over part of the abandoned Roman site. Its fortunes changed in the early eighteenth century when Richard ‘Beau’ Nash became Master of Ceremonies in 1705 and set the rules of fashionable social conduct that turned Bath into England’s most sought-after resort, prompting the construction of the Circus, the Royal Crescent and the wider Georgian city seen today. The City of Bath was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
What you see
The Roman Baths preserve the remains of the bathing complex around the sacred spring, with the Great Bath itself as the centrepiece, alongside the museum’s collection of curse tablets and the gilt-bronze head of Sulis Minerva. Bath Abbey stands next door, its fan-vaulted ceiling regarded as one of the finest examples of English Gothic craftsmanship.
The Georgian city unfolds around the Circus, with its ring of thirty-three houses now shaded by mature plane trees, and the Royal Crescent, part of which now houses the No. 1 Royal Crescent Museum, a restored Georgian interior open to visitors. Pulteney Bridge, lined with shops on both sides and overlooking a curved weir, links the old town to Bathwick. Thermae Bath Spa, fed by the original Roman spring water, offers a rooftop pool looking out over the city’s rooftops.
Practical information
- Roman Baths: allow a couple of hours for the visit; booking ahead through the official Roman Baths website is advisable.
- Thermae Bath Spa: the only spa in Britain fed directly by the original Roman spring water, including an outdoor rooftop pool and the smaller Cross Bath.
- On foot: the Roman and Georgian city is compact and best explored walking; current opening times and any charges are published on the official Roman Baths and Bath Abbey websites.
Getting there
Bath is served by direct Great Western Railway trains from London Paddington and from Bristol Temple Meads, with current timetables and fares available through the operator’s official channels. Drivers from London generally approach via the M4 motorway; several park-and-ride services operate from the outskirts, since the historic centre is far more enjoyable explored on foot.
Nearby
- Glastonbury — around 25 km south-west, traditionally associated with King Arthur and Avalon, with the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and the Glastonbury Tor.
- Wells — around 30 km south-west, England’s smallest cathedral city, known for the medieval sculpture on Wells Cathedral’s west front.
- Bristol — around 24 km west, home to Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge of 1864 and his ship the SS Great Britain, and to the old city from which John Cabot sailed to North America in 1497.
- Stonehenge and Avebury — around 40 km east, a separately inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, combining the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge with the large stone circle at Avebury.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Bath, Somerset
- Wikipedia, Roman Baths, Bath
- Wikipedia, Royal Crescent
- Wikipedia, Jane Austen
- UNESCO, City of Bath, World Heritage Site reference 428
- Barry Cunliffe, The Roman Baths: A View over 2000 Years, Bath Archaeological Trust, 1993
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →
📷 Become a Cultural Heritage Online photographer
Share your photos of places: they stay published under your name as the author. The more they're seen, the more you get noticed — and soon a contest will reward the most appreciated photos.
Log in or sign up free to add a photo