Bath

Background

Bath lies in the Avon valley in Somerset, England, about 156 kilometres west of London and about 18 kilometres south-east of Bristol. The Roman Baths preserve four main elements: the Sacred Spring, the Roman temple, the Roman bathing buildings and the museum holding the finds from Aquae Sulis. Its treasures include the gilded bronze head of Sulis Minerva, found nearby in 1727; more than 12,000 denarii, the largest known collective votive deposit in Britain; and 130 curse tablets found in the Sacred Spring in 1979–1980, most of them concerning clothes stolen while bathing. The city's Georgian highlights include the Royal Crescent, the Circus, the Pump Room and the Assembly Rooms, and Bath Abbey is another city landmark. The temple was built in AD 60–70, in the first decades of Roman Britain, and the small Roman town of Aquae Sulis grew up around it. The baths were built for public bathing and remained in use until the end of Roman rule in the 5th century; according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the original Roman baths were in ruins a century later. The area around the spring was rebuilt several times in the early and late Middle Ages, and all the buildings above street level today date from the 19th century. The spring water begins as rain on the Mendip Hills, percolates through limestone aquifers to depths of 2,700–4,300 metres, is heated by geothermal energy to 69–96 °C, and rises along the Pennyquick fault, emerging at 46 °C at a rate of 1,170,000 litres a day. In 1982 a new spa-water borehole was sunk to provide a clean and safe supply of drinking water for the Pump Room. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century claims were made for the healing powers of the springs, and in the Georgian era Bath became a spa town, with Beau Nash presiding over its social life from 1705 until his death in 1761; Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. The city of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, and again in 2021 as part of the transnational Great Spa Towns of Europe.

Local customs

• Follow the Roman Baths route through the Great Bath, the Sacred Spring, the temple remains and the museum
• taste the spa water in the Pump Room
• admire the Royal Crescent and the Circus from outside
• visit Bath Abbey
• and stroll along the River Avon. Together the Roman Baths and the Pump Room receive more than 1 million visitors a year, so expect queues at busy times.

Travel tips

• Visiting arrangements and tickets for the Roman Baths and the Pump Room are as officially announced
• the spa-water tasting point is separate from the baths visit, and its arrangements are also as officially announced. The centre is compact and easy to explore on foot
• allow time for queues at busy times.
• Trains run direct from London Paddington to Bath Spa, and both buses and trains run from the Bristol direction, with services as officially announced. Bath can be visited all year: winter suits the spa theme best, summer is busy, and the mild spring and autumn are good for walking.