Bath

Bath is a city in South West England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. The city was first documented as a Roman spa, although tradition suggests that it was founded earlier. The waters from its spring were believed to be a cure for many afflictions. From Elizabethan to Georgian times it was a resort city for the wealthy. As a result of its popularity during the latter period, the city contains many fine examples of Georgian architecture, most notably the Royal Crescent. The city has a population of over 90,000 and is a World Heritage Site.

Architecture

Of Bath's many notable buildings, the oldest is Bath Abbey, but in terms of Britain's many ancient Abbeys and cathedrals, even it is comparatively new. Originally a Norman church on earlier foundations, it began to be rebuilt in 1499, and transformed into a gothic fantasy of flying buttresses with crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenelated and pierced parapet. The style of architecture employed is known as late perpendicular. The interior contains fine fan vaulting by Robert and William Vertue, who designed similar vaulting in the Henry VII chapel at Westminster Abbey. The building is lit by 52 windows.

Related Topics:
Bath Abbey - Cathedral - Norman - 1499 - Gothic - Flying buttress - Pinnacle - Parapet - Perpendicular - Fan vault - Robert - William Vertue - Henry VII chapel - Westminster Abbey

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The most dominant style of architecture in Bath today is that of the Georgian period, the style often referred to as Georgian being, in fact, an evolution of the Palladian revival style which became popular in the early 18th century. Many of the most prominent architects of the day were employed in the development of the city, and as a result Bath has many fine terraces of what appear to be elegant townhouses. However, the original purpose of much of Bath's fine architecture is concealed by the honey-coloured classical facades; in an era before the advent of the luxury hotel, these apparently elegant residences were frequently purpose-built rooming or lodging houses, where visitors to the city could hire a room, a floor, or (according to their means) an entire house for the duration of their visit, and be waited on by the house's communal servants.

Related Topics:
Palladian - Townhouse - Era - Hotel - Servant

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"The Circus" is one of the most splendid examples of town planning in the city. Three long, curved terraces designed by the elder John Wood form a circular space or theatre intended for civic functions and games. The games give a clue to the design, the inspiration behind which was the Colosseum in Rome. Like the Colosseum, the three facades have a different order of architecture on each floor: Doric on the ground level, then Ionic on the piano nobile and finishing with Corinthian on the upper floor, the style of the building thus becoming progressively more ornate as it rises. Wood never lived to see his unique example of town planning completed, as he died 5 days after personally laying the foundation stone on May 18 1754.

Related Topics:
The Circus - John Wood - Colosseum - Rome - Doric - Ionic - Piano nobile - Corinthian - May 18 - 1754

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The most well known of Bath's terraces is the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774 and designed by the younger John Wood; however, here, again, all is not what it seems. While Wood designed the great curved facade of what appears to be about 30 houses with Ionic columns on a rusticated ground floor, that was the extent of Wood's input. Each contemporary purchaser bought a certain length of the facade, and then employed their own architect to build a house to their own specifications behind it; hence what appears to be two houses is sometimes one. This system of elegant town planning is betrayed at the rear of the crescent: while the front is completely uniform and symmetrical, the rear is a hodge-podge of differing roof heights, juxtapositions and fenestration. This "all to the front and no rear" architecture occurs repeatedly in Bath.

Related Topics:
Royal Crescent - 1767 - 1774 - John Wood - Column

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Circa 1770, the eminent neoclassical architect Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, using as the prototype for the three-arched bridge spanning the Avon an original, but unused, design by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Thus Pulteney Bridge became not just a means of crossing the river, but also a shopping arcade, and, along with the Rialto Bridge, is one of the very few surviving bridges in Europe to serve this dual purpose. It has been substantially altered since it was built. It was named after Frances and William Johnstone Pulteney, the owners of the Bathwick estate for which the bridge provided a link to the rest of Bath.

Related Topics:
1770 - Neoclassical - Robert Adam - Pulteney Bridge - Avon - Palladio - Rialto Bridge - Venice - William Johnstone Pulteney

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The heart of the Georgian city was the Pump Room, which, together with its associated Lower Assembly Rooms, was designed by Thomas Baldwin, a local builder who was responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street. Baldwin rose rapidly, becoming a leader in Bath's architectural history. In 1776 he was made the chief City Surveyor, and in 1780 became City Architect. In 1776 he designed the Bath Guildhall, where his design of the interior is reputed to be one of the finest neo-classical interiors in the country. However, it is Great Pulteney Street, where he himself eventually lived, which is one of his finest works: this wide boulevard, constructed circa 1789 and over 300m long and 30m wide, is one of England's most attractive thoroughfares, and is lined on both sides by Georgian terraces.

Related Topics:
Pump Room - Thomas Baldwin - Argyle Street - 1776 - 1780 - Guildhall - Great Pulteney Street - Boulevard - 1789

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Architecturally, Bath is one of the most balanced cities in England, and is an unusual example of coherent town planning combined with well-executed and diverse architectural styles.

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