Bath is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths. In 2011, the population was 88,859.[2] Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London
London and 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site in 1987. The city became a spa with the Latin
Latin name Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") c.60  AD  when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although hot springs were known even before then. Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs, and Bath became popular as a spa town in the Georgian era. Georgian architecture, crafted from Bath stone, includes the Royal Crescent, Circus, Pump Room and Assembly Rooms where Beau Nash presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761. Many of the streets and squares were laid out by John Wood, the Elder, and in the 18th century the city became fashionable and the population grew. Jane Austen
Jane Austen lived in Bath in the early 19th century. Further building was undertaken in the 19th century and following the Bath Blitz
Bath Blitz in World War II. The city has software, publishing and service-oriented industries. Theatres, museums and other cultural and sporting venues have helped make it a major centre for tourism, with more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. There are several museums including the Museum of Bath Architecture, the Victoria Art Gallery, the Museum of East Asian Art, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy and the Holburne Museum. The city has two universities – the University of Bath
University of Bath and Bath Spa
Spa University – with Bath College
Bath College providing further education. Sporting clubs include Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby and Bath City F.C.
Bath City F.C. while TeamBath
TeamBath is the umbrella name for all of the University of Bath
University of Bath sports teams. Bath became part of the county of Avon in 1974, and, following Avon's abolition in 1996, has been the principal centre of Bath and North East Somerset.

Contents

1 History

1.1 Iron Age
Iron Age and Roman 1.2 Post-Roman and Medieval 1.3 Early Modern 1.4 Late Modern

2 Government

2.1 Historical development 2.2 Charter trustees 2.3 Coat of Arms 2.4 Bath City Forum 2.5 Parliamentary elections 2.6 Electoral wards

3 Geography and environment

3.1 Physical geography 3.2 Climate 3.3 Green belt

4 Demography 5 Economy

5.1 Industry 5.2 Tourism

6 Architecture 7 Culture

7.1 Bath in the arts 7.2 Parks 7.3 Bath and Queen Victoria 7.4 Food 7.5 Twinning

7.5.1 Formal twinning

8 Education 9 Sport 10 Transport 11 Media 12 See also 13 References 14 Bibliography 15 External links

History[edit] See also: Timeline of Bath, Somerset Iron Age
Iron Age and Roman[edit] Main article: Aquae Sulis

19th century Photochrom
Photochrom of the Great Bath at the Roman Baths. The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is a later construction and was not a feature of the building in Roman days.

The hills in the locality such as Bathampton Down
Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic
Mesolithic period.[3][4] Several Bronze Age
Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century.[5] Solsbury Hill overlooking the current city was an Iron Age
Iron Age hill fort, and the adjacent Bathampton
Bathampton Camp may also have been one.[6][7] A long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people was flattened to make way for RAF Charmy Down.[8][9] Archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman baths' main spring may have been treated as a shrine by the Britons,[10][11] and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva; the name Sulis
Sulis continued to be used after the Roman invasion, appearing in the town's Roman name, Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis (literally, "the waters of Sulis").[12] Messages to her scratched onto metal, known as curse tablets, have been recovered from the sacred spring by archaeologists.[13] The tablets were written in Latin, and cursed people whom the writers felt had wronged them. For example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the baths, he might write a curse, naming the suspects, on a tablet to be read by the goddess. A temple was constructed in AD 60–70, and a bathing complex was built up over the next 300 years.[14] Engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation, and surrounded the spring with an irregular stone chamber lined with lead. In the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted structure that housed the caldarium (hot bath), tepidarium (warm bath), and frigidarium (cold bath).[15] The town was later given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century.[16] After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually lost as a result of rising water levels and silting.[17] In March 2012 a hoard of 30,000 silver Roman coins, one of the largest discovered in Britain, was unearthed in an archaeological dig. The coins, believed to date from the 3rd century, were found about 150 m (450 ft) from the Roman baths.[18] Post-Roman and Medieval[edit]

Bath Abbey

Bath may have been the site of the Battle of Badon (c.500  AD ), in which King Arthur
King Arthur is said to have defeated the Anglo-Saxons.[19] The town was captured by the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham;[20][20] the Anglo-Saxon poem The Ruin
The Ruin may describe the appearance of the Roman site about this time.[21] A monastery was founded at an early date – reputedly by Saint David although more probably in 675 by Osric, King of the Hwicce,[22] perhaps using the walled area as its precinct.[23][24] Nennius, a 9th-century historian, mentions a "Hot Lake" in the land of the Hwicce along the River Severn, and adds "It is surrounded by a wall, made of brick and stone, and men may go there to bathe at any time, and every man can have the kind of bath he likes. If he wants, it will be a cold bath; and if he wants a hot bath, it will be hot". Bede
Bede described hot baths in the geographical introduction to the Ecclesiastical History in terms very similar to those of Nennius.[25] King Offa of Mercia gained control of the monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter.[26]

Map of Bath by John Speed
John Speed published in 1610

By the 9th century the old Roman street pattern was lost and Bath was a royal possession. King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct.[16] In the Burghal Hidage, Bath is recorded as a burh (borough) and is described as having walls of 1,375 yards (1,257 m) and was allocated 1000 men for defence.[27] During the reign of Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder coins were minted in Bath based on a design from the Winchester
Winchester mint but with 'BAD' on the obverse relating to the Anglo-Saxon name for the town, Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths",[28] and this was the source of the present name. Edgar of England
England was crowned king of England
England in Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey in 973, in a ceremony that formed the basis of all future English coronations.[29] William Rufus granted the town, abbey and mint to a royal physician, John of Tours, who became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath,[30][31] following the sacking of the town during the Rebellion of 1088.[32] It was papal policy for bishops to move to more urban seats, and John of Tours translated his own from Wells to Bath.[33] The bishop planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it.[34] New baths were built around the three springs. Later bishops returned the episcopal seat to Wells while retaining the name Bath in the title, Bishop of Bath and Wells. St John's Hospital was founded around 1180 by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin and is among the oldest almshouses in England.[35] The 'hospital of the baths' was built beside the hot springs of the Cross Bath, for their health-giving properties and to provide shelter for the poor infirm.[36] Administrative systems fell within the hundreds. The Bath Hundred had various names including the Hundred of Le Buri. The Bath Foreign Hundred or Forinsecum covered the area outside the city and was later combined into the Bath Forum Hundred. Wealthy merchants had no status within the hundred courts and formed guilds to gain influence. They built the first guildhall probably in the 13th century. Around 1200 the first mayor was appointed.[37] Early Modern[edit]

The Circus

By the 15th century, Bath's abbey church was dilapidated[38] and Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, decided to rebuild it on a smaller scale in 1500. The new church was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539 by Henry VIII.[39] The abbey church became derelict before being restored as the city's parish church in the Elizabethan era, when the city experienced a revival as a spa. The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. A Royal charter
Royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590 confirmed city status.[40] During the English Civil War, the city was garrisoned for Charles I. Seven thousand pounds was spent on fortifications, but on the appearance of parliamentary forces the gates were thrown open and the city surrendered. It became a significant post for the New Model Army under William Waller.[41] Bath was retaken by royalists following the Battle of Lansdowne
Battle of Lansdowne fought on the northern outskirts of the city on 5 July 1643.[42] Thomas Guidott, a student of chemistry and medicine at Wadham College, Oxford, set up a practice in the city in 1668. He was interested in the curative properties of the waters, and he wrote A discourse of Bathe, and the hot waters there. Also, Some Enquiries into the Nature of the water in 1676. It brought the health-giving properties of the hot mineral waters to the attention of the country, and the aristocracy arrived to partake in them.[43]

Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent and Circus from the air (connected by link road, thus creating the famous "question mark" formation). Georgian taste favoured the regularity of Bath's streets and squares and the contrast with adjacent rural nature.

Several areas of the city were developed in the Stuart period, and more building took place during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors who required accommodation.[44] Architects John Wood the Elder and his son laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical façades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum.[45] Much of the creamy gold Bath stone, a type of limestone used for construction in the city, was obtained from the Combe Down
Combe Down and Bathampton Down
Bathampton Down Mines owned by Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen (1694–1764).[46] Allen, to advertise the quality of his quarried limestone, commissioned the elder John Wood to build a country house on his Prior Park
Prior Park estate between the city and the mines.[46] Allen was responsible for improving and expanding the postal service in western England, for which he held the contract for more than forty years.[46] Although not fond of politics, Allen was a civic-minded man and a member of Bath Corporation for many years. He was elected mayor for a single term in 1742.[46] In the early 18th century, Bath acquired its first purpose-built theatre, the Old Orchard Street Theatre. It was rebuilt as the Theatre Royal, along with the Grand Pump Room attached to the Roman Baths and assembly rooms. Master of ceremonies
Master of ceremonies Beau Nash, who presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761, drew up a code of behaviour for public entertainments.[47] Bath had become perhaps the most fashionable of the rapidly developing British spa towns, attracting many notable visitors such as the wealthy London
London bookseller Andrew Millar and his wife, who both made long visits.[48] In 1816 it was described as "a seat of amusement and dissipation", where "scenes of extravagance in this receptacle of the wealthy and the idle, the weak and designing" were habitual.[49]

Late Modern[edit]

An 1850s photograph of Green Street

Looking north-west from Bathwick
Bathwick Hill towards the northern suburbs, showing the variety of housing typical of Bath

The population of the city was 40,020 at the 1801 census, making it one of the largest cities in Britain.[50] William Thomas Beckford bought a house in Lansdown Crescent in 1822, and subsequently two adjacent houses to form his residence. Having acquired all the land between his home and the top of Lansdown Hill, he created a garden more than 1⁄2 mile (800 m) in length and built Beckford's Tower at the top.[51] Emperor Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie of Ethiopia spent the four years in exile, from 1936 to 1940, at Fairfield House in Bath.[52] During World War II, between the evening of 25 April and the early morning of 27 April 1942, Bath suffered three air raids in reprisal for RAF raids on the German cities of Lübeck
Lübeck and Rostock, part of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the Baedeker Blitz. During the Bath Blitz, more than 400 people were killed, and more than 19,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.[53] Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were burnt out along with the Assembly Rooms.[54][55] A 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) high explosive bomb landed on the east side of Queen Square, resulting in houses on the south side being damaged and the Francis Hotel losing 24 metres (79 ft) of its frontage.[54] The buildings have all been restored although there are still signs of the bombing.[54][55] A postwar review of inadequate housing led to the clearance and redevelopment of areas of the city in a postwar style, often at variance with the local Georgian style. In the 1950s the nearby villages of Combe Down, Twerton
Twerton and Weston were incorporated into the city to enable the development of housing, much of it council housing. In the 1970s and 1980s it was recognised that conservation of historic buildings was inadequate, leading to more care and reuse of buildings and open spaces.[56] In 1987 the city was selected by UNESCO
UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, recognising its international cultural significance.[57] Since 2000, major developments have included the Thermae
Thermae Bath Spa, the SouthGate shopping centre, the residential Western Riverside project on the Stothert & Pitt factory site, and the riverside Bath Quays office and business development.[58][59] Government[edit] See also: Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council Historical development[edit] Bath had long been an ancient borough, having that status since 878 when it became a royal borough (burh) of Alfred the Great, and was reformed into a municipal borough in 1835. It has formed part of the county of Somerset
Somerset since 878, when ceded to Wessex, having previously been in Mercia
Mercia (the River Avon had acted as the border between the two kingdoms since 628).[60] However, Bath was made a county borough in 1889, independent of the newly created administrative county and Somerset
Somerset County Council.[61] Bath became part of Avon when the non-metropolitan county was created in 1974, resulting in its abolition as a county borough, and instead became a non-metropolitan district with borough status. With the abolition of Avon in 1996, the non-metropolitan district and borough were abolished too, and Bath has since been part of the unitary authority district of Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset (B&NES).[62] Bath was returned to the ceremonial county of Somerset
Somerset in 1996, though as B&NES is a unitary authority, it is not part of the area covered by Somerset
Somerset County Council. Charter trustees[edit]

Coat of arms
Coat of arms of the City of Bath

Because Bath is unparished, there is no longer a city council (or parish council) — Bath City Council having ended in 1996 with the abolition of the district of Bath. The City of Bath's ceremonial functions, including its formal status as a city, its twinning arrangements,[63] the mayoralty of Bath – which can be traced back to 1230 – and control of the city's coat of arms, are maintained by the charter trustees of the City of Bath. The councillors elected by the electoral wards that cover Bath (see below) are the trustees, and they elect one of their number as mayor.[64] Coat of Arms[edit] The coat of arms includes a depiction of the city wall, and two silver strips representing the River Avon and the hot springs. The sword of St. Paul is a link to Bath Abbey. The supporters, a lion and a bear, stand on a bed of acorns, a link to Bladud, the subject of the Legend of Bath. The knight's helmet indicates a municipality and the crown is that of King Edgar (referencing his coronation at the Abbey).[65] A mural crown, indicating a city, is alternatively used instead of the helmet and Edgar's crown.[66] Bath City Forum[edit] Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset (B&NES) Council has established the Bath City Forum, compising 12 nominated B&NES councillors representing wards in Bath (and representing a cross-section of political parties), 1 cabinet member of B&NES Council, and up to 13 co-opted members drawn from the communities of the city. The first meeting of the Forum was held on 13 October 2015, at the Guildhall, where the first Chair and Vice-Chair were elected.[67] Parliamentary elections[edit] See also: Bath (UK Parliament constituency) Bath is one of the oldest extant parliamentary constituencies in the United Kingdom, being in continuous existence since the Model Parliament of 1295. Before the Reform Act 1832, Bath elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons, as an ancient parliamentary borough.[68] From 1832 until 1918 it elected two MPs and then was reduced to one. Historically the constituency covered only the city of Bath, however it was enlarged into some outlying areas between 1997 and 2010. The constituency since 2010 once again covers exactly the city of Bath (it is co-extensive with the unparished area), and is currently represented by Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse
Wera Hobhouse who beat Conservative Ben Howlett at the 2017 general election. Howlett had replaced the retiring Liberal Democrat Don Foster at the 2015 general election. Foster's election was a notable result of the 1992 general election, as Chris Patten, the previous Member (and Cabinet Minister) played a major part, as Chairman of the Conservative Party, in re-electing the government of John Major, but failed to defend his marginal seat.[69] Electoral wards[edit] The sixteen electoral wards of the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority within Bath (which are co-extensive with the unparished area) are: Abbey, Bathwick, Combe Down, Kingsmead, Lambridge, Lansdown, Lyncombe, Newbridge, Odd Down, Oldfield, Southdown, Twerton, Walcot, Westmoreland, Weston and Widcombe.[70] Geography and environment[edit] Physical geography[edit]

View over Bath city centre from Alexandra Park

Bath is in the Avon Valley near the southern edge of the Cotswolds, a range of limestone hills designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hills that surround and make up the city have a maximum altitude of 781 feet (238 metres) on the Lansdown plateau. Bath has an area of 11 square miles (28 square kilometres).[71]

Cleveland House and the cast iron bridges of Sydney Gardens
Sydney Gardens over the Kennet and Avon Canal

The floodplain of the Avon, on which the city centre is built, has an altitude of about 59 ft (18 m) above sea level.[72] The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel. Periodic flooding, which shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city, was normal until major flood control works were completed in the 1970s.[73] Kensington Meadows is an area of mixed woodland and open meadow next to the river which has been designated as a local nature reserve.[74] Water bubbling up from the ground as geothermal springs originates as rain on the Mendip
Mendip Hills. The rain percolates through limestone aquifers to a depth of between 9,000 to 14,000 ft (2,700 to 4,300 m) where geothermal energy raises the water's temperature to between 64 and 96 °C (approximately 147–205 °F). Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone. Hot water at a temperature of 46 °C (115 °F) rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 litres (257,364 imp gal) daily,[75] from a geological fault (the Pennyquick fault). In 1983, a new spa-water bore-hole was sunk, providing a clean and safe supply for drinking in the Pump Room.[76] There is no universal definition to distinguish a hot spring from a geothermal spring although, by several definitions, the Bath springs can be considered the only hot springs in the UK. Three of the springs feed the thermal baths.[77] Climate[edit] See also: Climate of south-west England Along with the rest of South West England, Bath has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country.[78] The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest, with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter, mean minimum temperatures of 1 or 2 °C (33.8 or 35.6 °F) are common.[78] In the summer the Azores
Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England
England bringing fair weather; however, convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600 hours.[78] In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground, leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.[78]

Climate data for Bath Average maximum and minimum temperatures, and average rainfall recorded between 1981 and 2010 by the Met Office.

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high °C (°F) 15.7 (60.3) 16.4 (61.5) 22.2 (72) 26.5 (79.7) 30.1 (86.2) 33.4 (92.1) 34.2 (93.6) 35.3 (95.5) 31.2 (88.2) 26.3 (79.3) 18.2 (64.8) 16.0 (60.8) 35.3 (95.5)

Average high °C (°F) 7.6 (45.7) 7.9 (46.2) 10.5 (50.9) 13.3 (55.9) 16.7 (62.1) 19.7 (67.5) 21.7 (71.1) 21.5 (70.7) 18.8 (65.8) 14.6 (58.3) 10.7 (51.3) 8.0 (46.4) 14.3 (57.7)

Average low °C (°F) 1.9 (35.4) 1.7 (35.1) 3.5 (38.3) 4.6 (40.3) 7.5 (45.5) 10.4 (50.7) 12.5 (54.5) 12.4 (54.3) 10.3 (50.5) 7.6 (45.7) 4.5 (40.1) 2.3 (36.1) 6.6 (43.9)

Record low °C (°F) −13.7 (7.3) −12.3 (9.9) −8.8 (16.2) −3.2 (26.2) 0.3 (32.5) 2.5 (36.5) 5.2 (41.4) 3.1 (37.6) −0.6 (30.9) −4.2 (24.4) −9.2 (15.4) −11.6 (11.1) −13.7 (7.3)

Average rainfall mm (inches) 82.5 (3.248) 53.2 (2.094) 63.7 (2.508) 56.9 (2.24) 59.7 (2.35) 51.9 (2.043) 55.8 (2.197) 65.7 (2.587) 66.6 (2.622) 88.5 (3.484) 82.7 (3.256) 87.1 (3.429) 814.1 (32.051)

Mean monthly sunshine hours 40.8 66.5 118.9 157.0 190.9 188.8 211.9 202.7 143.9 82.1 51.7 37.7 1,492.7

Source: Met Office

Green belt[edit] Further information: Avon Green Belt Bath is fully enclosed by green belt as a part of a wider environmental and planning policy first designated in the late 1950s,[79] and this extends into much of the surrounding district and beyond, helping to maintain local green space, prevent further urban sprawl and unplanned expansion towards Bristol
Bristol and Bradford-on-Avon, as well as protecting smaller villages in between.[79] Suburbs of the city bordering the green belt include Batheaston, Bathford, Bathampton, the University of Bath
University of Bath campus, Ensleigh, Twerton, Upper Weston, Odd Down, and Combe Down. Parts of the Cotswolds
Cotswolds AONB
AONB southern extent overlaps the green belt north of the city, with other nearby landscape features and facilities within the green belt including the River Avon, Kennet and Avon Canal, Bath Racecourse, Bath Golf Club, Bathampton
Bathampton Down, Bathampton
Bathampton Meadow Nature Reserve, Bristol
Bristol and Bath Railway Path, the Cotswold Way, Limestone
Limestone Link route, Pennyquick Park, Little Solsbury Hill, and Primrose Hill.[79] Demography[edit]

Christadelphian Hall, New King Street

The 2011 census recorded a population of 94,782 for the Bath urban area and 88,859 for the unparished area.[80] According to the 2011 census, Bath, together with North East Somerset, which includes areas around Bath as far as the Chew Valley, had a population of 176,015. Demography
Demography shows according to the same statistics, the district is overwhelmingly populated by people of a white background at 94.6% – significantly higher than the national average of 87.17%. Other ethnic groups in the district, in order of population size, are multiracial at 1.6%, Asian at 2.6% and black at 0.8% (the national averages are 1.98%, 6.92% and 3.01%, respectively).[81] The district is largely Christian
Christian at 56.5%, with no other religion reaching more than 0.7%. These figures generally compare with the national averages, though the non-religious, at 32.7%, are significantly more prevalent than the national 25.67%. 83.9% of residents rated their health as good or very good, higher than the national level (81.40%). Nationally, 18% of people describe themselves as having a long-term illness; in Bath it is 16.10%.[81] An inhabitant of Bath is known as a Bathonian.[82] Nowadays Bath is an ethnically diverse city, like nearby Bristol. Here is a table comparing Bath with the surrounding borough and South West England.

Ethnic Groups 2011 Bath Bath UA Bath and North East Somerset South West England

White British 85.0% 85.5% 90.1% 91.8%

Asian 4.2% 4.0% 2.5% 2.0%

Black 1.2% 1.2% 0.7% 0.9%

[83][84][85] The largest ethnic minority group in Bath is 'Other White' and 15% of the city's population was non-White British. The Bathavon North ward, that covers some of Bath's north-eastern suburban areas, is omitted from the Bath constituency due to the fact its largely rural. Economy[edit] Industry[edit] Bath once had an important manufacturing sector, particularly in crane manufacture, furniture manufacture, printing, brass foundries, quarries, dye works and Plasticine
Plasticine manufacture, as well as many mills.[86] Significant Bath companies included Stothert & Pitt, Bath Cabinet Makers
Bath Cabinet Makers and Bath & Portland Stone. Nowadays, manufacturing is in decline, but the city boasts strong software, publishing and service-oriented industries, being home to companies such as Future plc
Future plc and London
London & Country mortgage brokers. The city's attraction to tourists has also led to a significant number of jobs in tourism-related industries. Important economic sectors in Bath include education and health (30,000 jobs), retail, tourism and leisure (14,000 jobs) and business and professional services (10,000 jobs).[87] Major employers are the National Health Service, the city's two universities, and the Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council, as well as the Ministry of Defence although a number of MOD offices formerly in Bath have recently moved to Bristol. Growing employment sectors include information and communication technologies and creative and cultural industries where Bath is one of the recognised national centres for publishing,[87] with the magazine and digital publisher Future plc
Future plc employing around 650 people. Others include Buro Happold (400) and IPL Information Processing Limited (250).[88] The city boasts over 400 retail shops, half of which are run by independent specialist retailers, and around 100 restaurants and cafes primarily supported by tourism.[87] Tourism[edit] See also: List of places of interest in Bath, Somerset

Bath is popular with tourists all year round. An entertainer is performing in front of Bath Abbey; the Roman Baths are to the right.

One of Bath's principal industries is tourism, with annually more than one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors.[87] The visits mainly fall into the categories of heritage tourism and cultural tourism, aided by the city's selection in 1987 as a World Heritage Site in recognition of its international cultural importance.[56] All significant stages of the history of England
England are represented within the city, from the Roman Baths (including their significant Celtic presence), to Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey and the Royal Crescent, to the more recent Thermae
Thermae Bath Spa. The size of the tourist industry is reflected in the almost 300 places of accommodation – including more than 80 hotels, two of which have 'five-star' ratings,[89] over 180 bed and breakfasts – many of which are located in Georgian buildings, and two campsites located on the western edge of the city. The city also has about 100 restaurants and a similar number of pubs and bars. Several companies offer open top bus tours around the city, as well as tours on foot and on the river. Since the opening of Thermae
Thermae Bath Spa
Spa in 2006, the city has attempted to recapture its historical position as the only town or city in the United Kingdom offering visitors the opportunity to bathe in naturally heated spring waters.[90] In the 2010 Google Street View
Google Street View Best Streets Awards, the Royal Crescent took second place in the "Britain's Most Picturesque Street" award, first place being given to The Shambles
The Shambles in York. Milsom Street was also awarded "Britain's Best Fashion Street" in the 11,000-strong vote.[91][92] Architecture[edit] Main article: Buildings and architecture of Bath There are many Roman archaeological sites throughout the central area of the city. The baths themselves are about 6 metres (20 ft) below the present city street level. Around the hot springs, Roman foundations, pillar bases, and baths can still be seen, however all the stonework above the level of the baths is from more recent periods.[93] Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey was a Norman church built on earlier foundations. The present building dates from the early 16th century and shows a late Perpendicular style with flying buttresses and crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenellated and pierced parapet.[94] The choir and transepts have a fan vault by Robert and William Vertue.[95] A matching vault was added to the nave in the 19th century.[96] The building is lit by 52 windows.[97]

Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey seen from the east

Most buildings in Bath are made from the local, golden-coloured Bath Stone, and many date from the 18th and 19th century. The dominant style of architecture in Central Bath is Georgian;[98] this style evolved from the Palladian revival style that became popular in the early 18th century. Many of the prominent architects of the day were employed in the development of the city. The original purpose of much of Bath's architecture is concealed by the honey-coloured classical façades; in an era before the advent of the luxury hotel, these apparently elegant residences were frequently purpose-built lodging houses, where visitors 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.[99] The masons Reeves of Bath were prominent in the city from the 1770s to 1860s.[100] The Circus consists of three long, curved terraces designed by the elder John Wood to 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
Colosseum in Rome.[101] Like the Colosseum, the three façades 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.[101] Wood never lived to see his unique example of town planning completed as he died five days after personally laying the foundation stone on 18 May 1754.[101]

Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey

The most spectacular of Bath's terraces is the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774 and designed by the younger John Wood.[102] But all is not what it seems; while Wood designed the great curved façade of what appears to be about 30 houses with Ionic columns on a rusticated ground floor, that was the extent of his input. Each purchaser bought a certain length of the façade, 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 town planning is betrayed at the rear of the crescent: while the front is completely uniform and symmetrical, the rear is a mixture of differing roof heights, juxtapositions and fenestration. The "Queen Anne fronts and Mary-Anne backs" architecture occurs repeatedly in Bath and was designed to keep hired women at the back of the house.[103][104][105] Other fine terraces elsewhere in the city include Lansdown Crescent[106] and Somerset
Somerset Place on the northern hill.[107] Around 1770 the neoclassical architect Robert Adam
Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, using as the prototype for the three-arched bridge spanning the Avon an original, but unused, design by Andrea Palladio
Andrea Palladio for the Rialto Bridge
Rialto Bridge in Venice.[108] Thus, Pulteney Bridge
Pulteney Bridge became not just a means of crossing the river, but also a shopping arcade. Along with the Rialto Bridge
Rialto Bridge and the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, which it resembles, it is one of the very few surviving bridges in Europe to serve this dual purpose.[108] It has been substantially altered since it was built. The bridge was named after Frances and William Pulteney, the owners of the Bathwick
Bathwick estate for which the bridge provided a link to the rest of Bath.[108] The Georgian streets in the vicinity of the river tended to be built high above the original ground level to avoid flooding, with the carriageways supported on vaults extending in front of the houses. This can be seen in the multi-storey cellars around Laura Place South of Pulteney Bridge, in the colonnades below Grand Parade, and in the grated coal holes in the pavement of North Parade. In some parts of the city, such as George Street, and London
London Road near Cleveland Bridge, the developers of the opposite side of the road did not match this pattern, leaving raised pavements with the ends of the vaults exposed to a lower street below. 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 responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street[109] and the Guildhall.[110] Baldwin rose rapidly, becoming a leader in Bath's architectural history. In 1776 he was made the chief City Surveyor, and Bath City Architect.[111] Great Pulteney Street, where he eventually lived, is another of his works: this wide boulevard, constructed around 1789 and over 1,000 feet (305 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) wide, is lined on both sides by Georgian terraces.[112][113] In the 1960s and early 1970s some parts of Bath were unsympathetically redeveloped, resulting in the loss of some 18th- and 19th century buildings. This process was largely halted by a popular campaign which drew strength from the publication of Adam Fergusson's The Sack of Bath.[114] Controversy has revived periodically, most recently with the demolition of the 1930s Churchill House, a neo-Georgian municipal building originally housing the Electricity Board, to make way for a new bus station. This is part of the Southgate redevelopment in which an ill-favoured 1960s shopping precinct, bus station and multi-storey car park were demolished and replaced by a new area of mock-Georgian shopping streets.[115][116] As a result of this and other changes, notably plans for abandoned industrial land along the Avon, the city's status as a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site was reviewed by UNESCO
UNESCO in 2009.[117] The decision was made to let Bath keep its status, but UNESCO
UNESCO has asked to be consulted on future phases of the Riverside development,[118] saying that the density and volume of buildings in the second and third phases of the development need to be reconsidered.[119] It also demands Bath do more to attract world-class architecture in new developments.[119]

A panoramic view of the Royal Crescent

Culture[edit]

The 18th century Pulteney Bridge, designed by Robert Adam

Bath became the centre of fashionable life in England
England during the 18th century when its Old Orchard Street Theatre
Old Orchard Street Theatre and architectural developments such as Lansdown Crescent,[120] the Royal Crescent,[121] The Circus, and Pulteney Bridge
Pulteney Bridge were built.[122] Bath's five theatres – Theatre Royal, Ustinov Studio, the Egg, the Rondo Theatre, and the Mission Theatre – attract internationally renowned companies and directors and an annual season by Sir Peter Hall. The city has a long-standing musical tradition; Bath Abbey, home to the Klais Organ and the largest concert venue in the city,[123] stages about 20 concerts and 26 organ recitals each year. Another concert venue, the 1,700-seat Art Deco
Art Deco Forum, originated as a cinema. The city holds the annual Bath International Music Festival and Mozartfest, the annual Bath Literature Festival
Bath Literature Festival (and its counterpart for children), the Bath Film Festival, the Bath Digital Festival. the Bath Fringe Festival, the Bath Beer Festival and the Bath Chilli Festival. The Bach Festivals occur at two and a half-year intervals. An annual Bard of Bath competition aims to find the best poet, singer or storyteller.[124] The city is home to the Victoria Art Gallery,[125] the Museum of East Asian Art, and Holburne Museum,[126] numerous commercial art galleries and antique shops, as well as a number of other museums, among them Bath Postal Museum, the Fashion Museum, the Jane Austen
Jane Austen Centre, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy
Herschel Museum of Astronomy and the Roman Baths.[127] The Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI) in Queen Square was founded in 1824 from the Society for the encouragement of Agriculture, Planting, Manufactures, Commerce and the Fine Arts founded in 1777.[128] In September 1864, BRLSI hosted the 34th annual meeting of the British Science Association, which was attended by explorers David Livingstone, Sir Richard Francis Burton, and John Hanning Speke. The history of the city is displayed at the Museum of Bath Architecture, which is housed in a building built in 1765 as the Trinity Presbyterian Church. It was also known as the Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel, as she lived in the attached house from 1707 to 1791.[129] Bath in the arts[edit]

Holburne Museum

During the 18th century Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence lived and worked in Bath.[130][131] John Maggs, a painter best known for coaching scenes, was born and lived in Bath with his artistic family.[132] Jane Austen
Jane Austen lived there from 1801 with her father, mother and sister Cassandra, and the family resided at four different addresses until 1806.[133] Jane Austen
Jane Austen never liked the city, and wrote to Cassandra, "It will be two years tomorrow since we left Bath for Clifton, with what happy feelings of escape."[134] Bath has honoured her name with the Jane Austen
Jane Austen Centre and a city walk. Austen's Northanger Abbey
Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are set in the city and describe taking the waters, social life, and music recitals. William Friese-Greene
William Friese-Greene experimented with celluloid and motion pictures in his studio in the 1870s, developing some of the earliest movie camera technology. He is credited as being one of the inventors of cinematography.[135] Taking the waters is described in Charles Dickens' novel The Pickwick Papers in which Pickwick's servant, Sam Weller, comments that the water has "a very strong flavour o' warm flat irons". The Royal Crescent is the venue for a chase between two characters, Dowler and Winkle.[136] Moyra Caldecott's novel The Waters of Sul is set in Roman Bath in AD 72, and The Regency Detective, by David Lassman
David Lassman and Terence James, revolves around the exploits of Jack Swann investigating deaths in the city during the early 1800s.[137] Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play The Rivals
The Rivals takes place in the city,[138] as does Roald Dahl's chilling short story, "The Landlady".[139] Many films and television programmes have been filmed using its architecture as the backdrop, including the 2004 film of Thackeray's Vanity Fair,[140] The Duchess (2008),[140] The Elusive Pimpernel (1950)[140] and The Titfield Thunderbolt
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953).[140] In 2012, Pulteney Weir
Weir was used as a replacement location during post production of the film adaptation of Les Misérables. Stunt shots were filmed in October 2012 after footage acquired during the main filming period was found to have errors.[141] In August 2003 The Three Tenors
The Three Tenors sang at a concert to mark the opening of the Thermae
Thermae Bath Spa, a new hot water spa in the city centre, but delays to the project meant the spa actually opened three years later on 7 August 2006.[142] In 2008, 104 decorated pigs were displayed around the city in a public art event called "King Bladud's Pigs in Bath". It celebrated the city, its origins and artists. Decorated pig sculptures were displayed throughout the summer and were auctioned to raise funds for Two Tunnels Greenway.[143] Parks[edit]

Parade Gardens and the Empire Hotel.

Royal Victoria Park, a short walk from the city centre, was opened in 1830 by the 11-year-old Princess Victoria, and was the first park to carry her name.[144] The public park is overlooked by the Royal Crescent and covers 23 hectares (57 acres).[145] It has[145] a skatepark, tennis courts, a bowling green, a putting green and a 12- and 18-hole golf course, a pond, open-air concerts, an annual travelling funfair at Easter,[146] and a children's play area. Much of its area is lawn; a notable feature is a ha-ha that segregates it from the Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent while giving the impression from the Crescent of uninterrupted grassland across the park to Royal Avenue. It has a "Green Flag Award", the national standard for parks and green spaces in England
England and Wales, and is registered by English Heritage
English Heritage as of National Historic Importance.[147] The 3.84 hectares (9.5 acres) botanical gardens were formed in 1887 and contain one of the finest collections of plants on limestone in the West Country.[148] A replica Roman Temple was built at the British Empire Exhibition
British Empire Exhibition at Wembley
Wembley in 1924, and, following the exhibition, was dismantled and rebuilt in Victoria Park in Bath.[149] In 1987 the gardens were extended to include the Great Dell, a disused quarry with a collection of conifers.[150] Other parks include: Alexandra Park on a hill overlooking the city; Parade Gardens, along the river near the abbey in the city centre; Sydney Gardens, an 18th-century pleasure-garden; Henrietta Park; Hedgemead Park; and Alice Park. Jane Austen
Jane Austen wrote "It would be pleasant to be near the Sydney Gardens. We could go into the Labyrinth every day."[151] Alexandra, Alice and Henrietta parks were built into the growing city among the housing developments.[152] There is a linear park following the old Somerset
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line. Cleveland Pools
Cleveland Pools were built around 1815 close to the River Avon,[153] now the oldest surviving public outdoor lido in England,[154] and plans have been submitted for its restoration.[155] Bath and Queen Victoria[edit] Victoria Art Gallery
Victoria Art Gallery and Royal Victoria Park are named after Queen Victoria, who wrote in her journal "The people are really too kind to me.".[156] This feeling seemed to have been reciprocated by the people of Bath: "Lord James O'Brien brought a drawing of the intended pillar which the people of Bath are so kind as to erect in commemoration of my 18th birthday.".[156] Food[edit]

Sally Lunn's, home of the Sally Lunn bun

Several foods have an association with the city. Sally Lunn buns (a type of teacake) have long been baked in Bath. They were first mentioned by name in verses printed in the Bath Chronicle, in 1772.[157] At that time they were eaten hot at public breakfasts in Spring Gardens. They can be eaten with sweet or savoury toppings and are sometimes confused with Bath buns, which are smaller, round, very sweet and very rich. They were associated with the city following The Great Exhibition. Bath buns were originally topped with crushed comfits created by dipping caraway seeds repeatedly in boiling sugar; but today seeds are added to a ' London
London Bath Bun' (a reference to the bun's promotion and sale at the Great Exhibition).[158] The seeds may be replaced by crushed sugar granules or 'nibs'.[159] Bath has lent its name to one other distinctive recipe – Bath Olivers – a dry baked biscuit invented by Dr William Oliver, physician to the Mineral Water Hospital in 1740.[160] Oliver was an anti-obesity campaigner and author of a "Practical Essay on the Use and Abuse of warm Bathing in Gluty Cases".[160] In more recent years, Oliver's efforts have been traduced by the introduction of a version of the biscuit with a plain chocolate coating. Bath Chaps, the salted and smoked cheek and jawbones of the pig, takes its name from the city[161] and is available from a stall in the daily covered market. Bath Ales brewery is located in Warmley and Abbey Ales are brewed in the city.[162] Twinning[edit] Bath is twinned with four other cities in Europe. Twinning is the responsibility of the Charter Trustees and each twinning arrangement is managed by a Twinning Association.[163][164] There is also a historic connection with Manly, New South Wales, Australia, which is referred to as a sister city, and there is a partnership arrangement with Beppu, Ōita
Beppu, Ōita Prefecture, Japan.[164] Formal twinning[edit]

Aix-en-Provence, France[164][165] Alkmaar, Netherlands[164] Braunschweig, Germany[164][166] Kaposvár, Hungary[164]

Education[edit] Main article: Education in Bath, Somerset

University of Bath

Bath has two universities, the University of Bath
University of Bath and Bath Spa University. Established in 1966, the University of Bath[167] was named University of the Year by The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (2011). It offers programs in politics, languages, the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, architecture, management and technology.[168] Bath Spa
Spa University was first granted degree-awarding powers in 1992 as a university college before being granted university status in August 2005.[169][170] It offers courses leading to a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. It has schools in the following subject areas: Art and Design, Education, English and Creative Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies, Music and the Performing Arts, Science and the Environment and Social Sciences.[171] Bath College
Bath College offers further education, and Norland College provides education and training in childcare.[172] Sport[edit]

The Recreation Ground

Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is a rugby union team in the Aviva Premiership league. It plays in black, blue and white kit at the Recreation Ground in the city, where it has been since the late 19th century, following its establishment in 1865.[173] The team's first major honour was winning the John Player Cup, now sponsored as the LV Cup and also known as the Anglo-Welsh Cup, four years consecutively from 1984 until 1987.[173] The team then led the Courage league in six seasons in eight years between 1988–89 and 1995–96, during which time it also won the renamed Pilkington Cup in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996.[173] It finally won the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup in the 1997–98 season, and topped the Zürich Premiership (now Aviva Premiership) in 2003–04.[173] The team's squad includes several members who also play, or have played in the English national team, including Lee Mears, Rob Webber, Dave Attwood, Nick Abendanon
Nick Abendanon and Matt Banahan. Colston's School, Bristol, has had a large input in the team over the past decade, providing several current 1st XV squad members. The former England
England Rugby Team Manager and former Scotland national coach Andy Robinson used to play for Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby team and was captain and later coach. Both of Robinson's predecessors, Clive Woodward
Clive Woodward and Jack Rowell, as well as his successor Brian Ashton, were also former Bath coaches and managers.[174] Bath City F.C.
Bath City F.C. is the major football team. Bath City gained promotion to the Conference Premier
Conference Premier from the Conference South
Conference South in 2010. Bath City F.C. play their games at Twerton
Twerton Park. Until 2009 Team Bath F.C. operated as an affiliate to the University Athletics programme. In 2002, Team Bath became the first university team to enter the FA Cup in 120 years, and advanced through four qualifying rounds to the first round proper.[175] The university's team was established in 1999 while the city team has existed since before 1908 (when it entered the Western League).[176] However, in 2009, the Football Conference
Football Conference ruled that Team Bath would not be eligible to gain promotion to a National division, nor were they allowed to participate in Football Association cup competitions. This ruling led to the decision by the club to fold at the end of the 2008–09 Conference South
Conference South competition. In their final season, Team Bath F.C.
Team Bath F.C. finished 11th in the league.[177] Bath City narrowly missed out on election to the English Football League in 1978.[178] Bath also has Non-League football
Non-League football clubs Odd Down F.C. who play at Lew Hill Memorial Ground[179] and Larkhall Athletic F.C. who play at Plain Ham. Many cricket clubs are based in the city, including Bath Cricket
Cricket Club, who are based at the North Parade Ground and play in the West of England
England Premier League. Cricket
Cricket is also played on the Recreation Ground, just across from where the Rugby is played. The Recreation Ground is also home to Bath Croquet
Croquet Club, which was re-formed in 1976 and is affiliated with the South West Federation of Croquet Clubs.[180] The Bath Half Marathon
Bath Half Marathon is run annually through the city streets, with over 10,000 runners.[181] TeamBath
TeamBath is the umbrella name for all of the University of Bath
University of Bath sports teams, including the aforementioned football club. Other sports for which TeamBath
TeamBath is noted are athletics, badminton, basketball, bob skeleton, bobsleigh, hockey, judo, modern pentathlon, netball, rugby union, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball. The City of Bath Triathlon
Triathlon takes place annually at the university.[182] Bath Roller Derby Girls (BRDG) are Bath's only Flat Track Roller Derby league. Founded in 2012,[183] the competes in the British Roller Derby Championships Tier 3.[184] As of 2015, they are full members of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Roller Derby
Derby Association (UKRDA.)[185] Transport[edit]

A diesel/electric hybrid bus in Southgate on a Park and Ride service

Bath is approximately 11 miles (18 km) south-east of the larger city and port of Bristol, to which it is linked by the A4 road, which runs through Bath, and is a similar distance south of the M4 motorway. In an attempt to reduce the level of car use, park and ride schemes have been introduced which paradoxically are designed to increase traffic volumes, with sites at Odd Down, Lansdown and Newbridge. A very large increase in city centre parking was also provided under the new SouthGate shopping centre development, which necessarily introduces more car traffic. In addition, a bus gate scheme in Northgate aims to reduce private car use in the city centre.[186] National Express operates coach services from Bath bus station
Bath bus station to a number of cities. Bath also has a network of bus routes run by First West of England, with services to surrounding towns and cities, such as Bristol, Corsham, Chippenham, Devizes, Salisbury, Frome
Frome and Wells. Wessex
Wessex Bath and the Faresaver Bus company also operate numerous services to surrounding towns. The Bath Bus Company
Bath Bus Company runs open top double-decker bus tours around the city, as well as frequent services to Bristol
Bristol Airport. Stagecoach West
Stagecoach West also provides services to Tetbury and the South Cotswolds.[187] The city is connected to Bristol
Bristol and the sea by the River Avon, navigable via locks by small boats. The river was connected to the River Thames
River Thames and London
London by the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810 via Bath Locks; this waterway – closed for many years but restored in the last years of the 20th century – is now popular with narrowboat users.[188] Bath is on National Cycle Route 4, with one of Britain's first Bicycle Paths (cycleway), the Bristol
Bristol and Bath Railway Path, to the west, and an eastern route toward London
London on the canal towpath. Bath is about 20 miles (30 km) from Bristol Airport.[189]

Bath Spa
Spa railway station

Bath is served by the Bath Spa
Spa railway station (designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel), which has regular connections to London
London Paddington, Bristol
Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff
Cardiff Central, Cheltenham, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance
Penzance (see Great Western Main Line), and also Westbury, Warminster, Weymouth, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth
Portsmouth and Brighton (see Wessex
Wessex Main Line). Services are provided by First Great Western. There is a suburban station on the main line, Oldfield Park, which has a limited commuter service to Bristol
Bristol as well as other destinations. Green Park Station was once the terminus of the Midland Railway,[190] and junction for the Somerset
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, whose line, always steam hauled, went under Bear Flat
Bear Flat through the Combe Down Tunnel and climbed over the Mendips to serve many towns and villages on its 71-mile (114 km) run to Bournemouth. This example of an English rural line was closed by Beeching in March 1966. Its Bath station building, now restored, houses shops, small businesses, the Saturday Bath Farmers Market and parking for a supermarket, while the route of the Somerset
Somerset and Dorset within Bath has been reused for the Two Tunnels Greenway, a shared use path that extends National Cycle Route 24 into the city.[191] The Bath Tramways Company
Bath Tramways Company was introduced in the late 19th century, opening on 24 December 1880. The 4 ft (1,219 mm) gauge cars were horse-drawn along a route from London
London Road to the Bath Spa railway station, but the system closed in 1902. It was replaced by electric tram cars on a greatly expanded 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) gauge system that opened in 1904. This eventually extended to 18 miles (29 km) with routes to Combe Down, Oldfield Park, Twerton, Newton St Loe, Weston and Bathford. There was a fleet of 40 cars, all but 6 being double deck. The first line to close was replaced by a bus service in 1938, and the last went on 6 May 1939.[192] In 2005 a detailed plan was created and presented to the Council to re-introduce trams to Bath, but the plan did not proceed, reportedly due to the focus by the Council on the government-supported busway planned to run from the Newbridge park and ride into the city centre. Part of the justification for the proposed tram reintroduction plan was the pollution from vehicles within the city, which was twice the legal levels, and the heavy traffic congestion due to high car usage. In 2015 [193] another group building on the earlier tram group proposals has created interest in the idea of re-introducing trams with several public meetings and meetings with the Council.[194] In 2017, Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council announced a feasibility study, due to be published by March 2018, into implementing a light rail or tram system in the city.[195] In November 2016, the West of England
England Local Enterprise Partnership began a consultation process on their Transport Vision Summary Document, outlining potential light rail/tram routes in the region, one of which being a route from Bristol
Bristol city centre along the A4 road to Bath to relieve pressure on bus and rail services between the two cities.[196] A transportation study (the Bristol/Bath to South Coast Study) was published in 2004 after being initiated by the Government Office
Government Office for the South West and Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council.[197] It was undertaken by WSP Global[197] as a result of the de-trunking in 1999 of the A36/A46 trunk road network[198] from Bath to Southampton. Media[edit] Bath's local newspaper is the Bath Chronicle, owned by Local World. Published since 1760, the Chronicle was a daily newspaper until mid-September 2007, when it became a weekly.[199] The BBC Bristol
Bristol website has featured coverage of news and events within Bath since 2003.[200] For television, Bath is served by the BBC West
BBC West studios based in Bristol, and by ITV West (formerly HTV) with studios similarly in Bristol.[201] Radio stations broadcasting to the city include The Breeze on 107.9FM and Heart West Country
West Country (formerly GWR FM) as well as The University of Bath's University Radio Bath, a student-focused radio station available on campus and also online,[202] and Classic Gold 1260, a networked commercial radio station with local programmes.[203] Bath is sometimes covered by Bristol's local media, including Bristol Live Magazine. See also[edit]

The Bathonian
Bathonian Age in the Jurassic
Jurassic Period of geological time is named for Bath

Somerset
Somerset portal

Grade I listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset List of people from Bath List of spa towns in the United Kingdom

References[edit]

^ Bath is a constituency and unparished area made up of 16 wards https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx ^ "Bath". BANES 2011 Census Ward Profiles. Retrieved 2 May 2015. (Combined populations of the 16 wards that make-up the unparished area.) ^ Wessex
Wessex Archaeology. "Archaeological Desk- based Assessment" (PDF). University of Bath, Masterplan Development Proposal 2008. Bath University. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "Monument No. 204162". PastScape. Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Thomas, Rod (2008). A Sacred landscape: The prehistory of Bathampton Down. Bath: Millstream Books. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-948975-86-8.  ^ Thomas, Rod (2008). A Sacred landscape: The prehistory of Bathampton Down. Bath: Millstream Books. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-0-948975-86-8.  ^ " Bathampton
Bathampton Camp". PastScape. Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "The Beaker people and the Bronze Age". Somerset
Somerset County Council. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Charmy Down". Pastscape. Historic England. Retrieved 22 August 2017.  ^ "History of Bath's Spa". Bath Tourism Plus. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Page, William. "Romano-British Somerset: Part 2, Bath". British History Online. Victoria County History. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ A L Rowse, Heritage of Britain, 1995, Treasure of London, ISBN 978-0-907407-58-4, 184 pages, Page 15 ^ "A Corpus of Writing-Tablets from Roman Britain". Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "City of Bath World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site Management Plan". Bath and North East Somerset. Archived from the original on 14 June 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "The Roman Baths". TimeTravel Britain. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ a b "Alfreds Borough". Bath Past. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Southern, Patricia (2012). The Story of Roman Bath. Amberley. p. 202–203. ISBN 978-1445610900.  ^ Hough, Andrew (22 March 2012). "Hoard of 30,000 silver Roman coins discovered in Bath". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "Dobunni to Hwicce". Bath past. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ a b "History of Bath England, Roman Bath history". My England
England Travel Guide. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Klinck, Anne (1992). The Old English Elegies: A Critical Edition and Genre Study. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 61.  ^ Davenport, Peter (2002). Medieval Bath Uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 31–34. ISBN 978-0752419657.  ^ "Timeline Bath". Time Travel Britain. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Saint David". 100 Welsh Heroes. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Campbell, James; John, Eric; Wormald, Patrick (1991). The Anglo-Saxons. Penguin. pp. 40–41. ISBN 978-0140143959.  ^ "Bath Abbey". Robert Poliquin's Music and Musicians. Quebec University. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2007.  ^ Davenport, Peter (2002). Medieval Bath Uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 40–42. ISBN 978-0752419657.  ^ Davenport, Peter (2002). Medieval Bath Uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0752419657.  ^ "Edgar the Peaceful". English Monarchs – Kings and Queens of England. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Powicke, Maurice (1939). Handbook of British Chronology. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-901050-17-5.  ^ Barlow, Frank (March 2000). William Rufus. Yale University Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-300-08291-3.  ^ Davenport, Peter (2002). Medieval Bath Uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. p. 71. ISBN 978-0752419657.  ^ Huscroft, Richard (2004). Ruling England, 1042-1217. Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 978-0582848825.  ^ Taylor, Ann (1999). Bath Abbey
Bath Abbey 1499-1999. Bath Abbey. p. 3.  ^ "The eight-hundred-year story of St John's Hospital, Bath". Spirit of Care. Jean Manco. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Manco, Jean. "Shelter in old age". Bath Past. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Davenport, Peter (2002). Medieval Bath Uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-0752419657.  ^ "Bath Abbey". Visit Bath. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Renaissance Bath". City of Bath. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Civic Insignia". City of Bath. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ Crutwell, Clement (1801). A tour through the whole island of Great Britain; Divided into Journeys. Interspersed with Useful Observations; Particularly Calculated for the Use of Those who are Desirous of Travelling over England
England & Scotland. 2. pp. 387–388. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Rodgers, Colonel Hugh Cuthbert Basset (1968). Battles and Generals of the Civil Wars. Seeley Service & Co. p. 81. ASIN B000HJ9TUG.  ^ Burns, D. Thorburn (1981). " Thomas Guidott (1638–1705): Physician and Chymist, contributor to the analysis of mineral waters". Analytical Proceedings including Analytical Communications: Royal Society of Chemistry. 18 (1): 2–6. doi:10.1039/AP9811800002. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ Hembury, Phylis May (1990). The English Spa, 1560–1815: A Social History. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press. pp. 114–121. ISBN 978-0-8386-3391-5.  ^ "John Wood and the Creation of Georgian Bath". Building of Bath Museum. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ a b c d " Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen Biography". Bath Postal Museum. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Eglin, John (2005). The Imaginary Autocrat: Beau Nash
Beau Nash and the invention of Bath. Profile. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-86197-302-3.  ^ "The manuscripts, Letter from Andrew Millar to Thomas Cadell, 16 July, 1765. Andrew Millar Project. University of Edinburgh". www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.  ^ A memoir of major-general sir R. Rollo Gillespie
Rollo Gillespie by Major Sir William Thorn. 1816. Printed for T. Egerton, at the Military Library, Whitehall. Page 5. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JEgVAAAAQAAJ ^ "A vision of Bath". Britain through time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ " Beckford's Tower
Beckford's Tower & Mortuary Chapel, Lansdown Cemetery". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "The Emperor Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I in Bath 1936–1940". Anglo-Ethiopian Society. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "History — Bath at War". Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent Society, Bath. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ a b c Spence, Cathryn (2012). Bath in the Blitz: Then and Now. Stroud: The History Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-7524-6639-2.  ^ a b " Royal Crescent
Royal Crescent History: The Day Bombs fell on Bath". Royal Crescent Society, Bath. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ a b "Cultural and historical development of Bath". Bath City-Wide Character Appraisal. Bath & North East Somerset
Somerset Council. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Why is Bath a World Heritage Site?". Bath and North East Somerset. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "South Gate Bath". Morley. Retrieved 8 December 2007.  ^ James Crawley (11 June 2016). "£12million for Bath Quays regeneration project is approved". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.  ^ Mayor of Bath Saxon Bath ^ Keane, Patrick (1973). "An English County and Education: Somerset, 1889–1902". The English Historical Review. 88 (347): 286–311. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXXVIII.CCCXLVII.286.  ^ "The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995". HMSO. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council Twinning ^ "The Charter Trustees Regulations 1996". National Archives. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "Arms of The City of Bath". The City of Bath. Retrieved 15 November 2006.  ^ [1] ^ Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council Positive start for new Bath City Forum ^ "Parliamentary Constituencies in the unreformed House". United Kingdom Election Results. Archived from the original on 5 November 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath MP Don Foster says he will not stand at 2015 electionk". Bath Chronicle. 9 January 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "Election maps — Great Britain". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "Published Contaminated Land Inspection of the area surrounding Bath". Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 13 May 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2011.  ^ "Bath Western Riverside Outline Planning Application Design Statement, April 2006, Section 2.0, Site Analysis" (PDF). April 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Carr's Mill, Lower Bristol
Bristol Road, Bath Flood Risk Assessment" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset. Retrieved 17 September 2010.  ^ "Kensington Meadows". Natural England. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2015.  ^ "Sacred Spring". Roman Baths Museum Web Site. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 31 October 2007.  ^ "Hot Water". Roman Baths Museum Web Site. Retrieved 31 October 2007.  ^ "The Hot Springs of Bath: Geology, geochemistry, geophysics" (PDF). Bath and North East Somerset. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ a b c d "South West England: climate". Met Office. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ a b c "Bath & North East Somerset
Somerset Green Belt Review - Stage 1 Report April 2013 - Green Belt history and policy origins" (PDF). www.bathnes.gov.uk.  ^ https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx ^ a b "Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset UA 2011 Census" (PDF). National Statistics.  ^ "'Bathonian' entry". Collins English Dictionary. Collins. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ http://www.ukcensusdata.com/south-west-e12000009#sthash.t3QU83dX.sLskmX3b.dpbs ^ http://www.ukcensusdata.com/bath-and-north-east-somerset-e06000022#sthash.wwOanMKH.dpbs ^ https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx ^ "Mill's integral role in city's rich industrial heritage". Bath Chronicle. 28 April 2011. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.  ^ a b c d "Bath in Focus". Business Matters. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2007.  ^ "Economic Profile". Bath and North East Somerset. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2009.  ^ "AA-listed five-star hotels". Caterer Search. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "Welcome". Thermae
Thermae Bath Spa. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ " Google Street View
Google Street View Awards 2010". Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.  ^ "The Shambles, York, named Britain's 'most picturesque'". BBC News. 8 March 2010. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.  ^ "City of Bath World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site Management Plan — Appendix 3". Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath Abbey". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "A Building of Vertue". Bath Past. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath Abbey". Planet Ware. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Bath Abbey". Sacred destinations. Retrieved 27 September 2007.  ^ "Georgian architecture". Essential Architecture.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.  ^ David, Graham (2000). "Social Decline and Slum Conditions: Irish migrants in Bath's History". Bath History Vol VIII. Bath Spa University: 134–147.  ^ "St Mary's Churchyard". Friends of St Mary's Churchyard. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ a b c Gadd, David (1987). Georgian Summer: Rise and Development of Bath (2 ed.). Countryside Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-0905392608.  ^ "Royal Crescent". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Gogarty, Paul (1 July 2000). "Bath: Georgian on my mind". Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2017.  ^ Forsyth, Michael (2003). Pevsner Architectural Guides: Bath. Yale University Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0300101775.  ^ Moon, Michael; Davidson, Cathy N. (1995). Subjects and Citizens: Nation, Race, and Gender from Oroonoko to Anita Hill. Duke University Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-8223-1539-1.  ^ "1 to 20 Lansdown Crescent". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Nos 5–20, Somerset
Somerset Place, Bath". Images of England. Historic England. Retrieved 10 January 2009.  ^ a b c Manco, Jean (1995). "Pulteney Bridge". Architectural History. SAHGB Publications Limited. 38: 129–145. doi:10.2307/1568625. JSTOR 1568625.  ^ Colvin, Howard (1997). A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-300-07207-5.  ^ "Guildhall". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2009.  ^ Colvin, Howard (1997). A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 (3rd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-300-07207-5.  ^ "Nos 1 to 7 (consec), Nos 8 to 10 (consec), 10A, ll to 20 (consec), No 21, Nos 22 to 3O (consec), Nos 31 to 34 (consec), Nos 35 & 36, No 37 and Nos 38 to 40 (consec) Great Pulteney Street". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2009.  ^ "No 41A Nos 42 to 77 Great Pulteney Street". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2009.  ^ Borsay, Peter (2000). The Image of Georgian Bath, 1700–2000: Towns, Heritage, and History. Oxford
Oxford University Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-19-820265-3.  ^ "SouthGate Official Website". Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.  ^ "Bath Heritage Watchdog". Archived from the original on 7 October 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ Glancey, Jonathan (6 April 2009). "Will Bath lose its World Heritage status?". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath keeps world heritage status". BBC News. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.  ^ a b " UNESCO
UNESCO demand for enhanced protection of Bath's surrounding landscape 'urgent and timely', says Bath Preservation Trust" (PDF). Bath Preservation Trust. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 30 August 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "1 to 20 Lansdown Crescent". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Royal Crescent". Images of England. Historic England. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Pulteney Bridge". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Abbey Church". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bard of Bath". Bard of Bath. Retrieved 10 January 2011.  ^ "Victoria Art Gallery". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Holburne of Menstrie Museum". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Roman Baths Treatment Centre". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 15 June 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Library and acrhives". Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Trinity Presbyterian Church (Countess of Huntingdon's Chapel) and Chapel House, forecourt wall, gatepiers and gates". Images of England. Historic England. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Thomas Gainsborough". The Artchive. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Artists Illustrating Boys' Fashions: Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence (England, 1769–1830):". Historical Boys Clothing. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "John Maggs". Art History Club. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2009.  ^ " Jane Austen
Jane Austen Centre". Jane Austen
Jane Austen Centre. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ David, David (1998). Jane Austen: A Life. University of California Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-520-21606-8.  ^ "William Friese Greene". Who's Who of Victorian Cinema. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "The Pickwick Papers". Complete works of Charles Dickens. Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ "Pageturners". Bath Chronicle. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ "The Rivals: A synopsis of the play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan". Theatre History.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "The Landlady by Roald Dahl" (PDF). Teaching English. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2009.  ^ a b c d "Titles with locations including Bath, Somerset". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ "Movie version of West End musical Les Miserables filming in Bath". This is Bath. 23 October 2012. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.  ^ Carey, Peter. "Reviving the Cross Bath". Building Conservation. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "King Bladud's Pigs in Bath". King Bladud's Pigs in Bath. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Royal Victoria Park". Visit Bath. Retrieved 4 May 2015.  ^ a b "Victoria Park". City of Bath. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Here are 10 places to visit over Easter in Bath". Bath Chronicle. 22 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.  ^ "Royal Victoria Park". Green Flag award. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2008.  ^ "measurement given in acres". Bathnes.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2012.  ^ "Playing in the park". BBC Bristol. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "The Great Dell". Bath Botanical Gardens. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ Hill, Constance (1901). Jane Austen: Her homes & her friends. John Lane. Dodley Head Ltd.  ^ "Local parks and gardens". Avon Gardens Trust. Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2009.  ^ "Cleveland Baths". Images of England. Historic England. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2009.  ^ Morris, Steven (11 August 2014). "Bath's Georgian swimming pool wins £4.5 m towards restoration". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "Introduction". Cleveland Pools
Cleveland Pools Trust. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.  ^ a b "RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 27 May 1837 (Lord Esher's copies)". Bodleian Libraries, The Royal Archives and ProQuest. Retrieved 24 May 2013.  ^ "History of Sally Lunn Cake". Whats cooking America. Archived from the original on 6 January 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ Davidson, Alan (1999). Oxford
Oxford Companion to Food p 114. Oxford: Oxford
Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-211579-9.  ^ "Bath buns". Recipewise. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ a b "Dr William Oliver, Bath Oliver
Bath Oliver Biscuit Inventor". Cornwall calling. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Bath chap". A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition, Oxford
Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "About Abbey Ales". Abbey Ales. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2008.  ^ "Twinning". Bath and North East Somerset
Somerset Council. Retrieved 7 May 2015.  ^ a b c d e f "Bath's Twinning Associations". The Mayor of Bath. Retrieved 15 July 2013.  ^ "British towns twinned with French towns". Archant Community Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Braunschweigs Partner und Freundschaftsstädte" [Braunschweig — Partner and Friendship Cities]. Stadt Braunschweig
Braunschweig City of Braunschweig
Braunschweig (in German). Archived from the original on 1 December 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2013.  ^ "History of the University". University of Bath. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Departments". University of Bath. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ "History of Education at Newton Park uncovered". Bath Spa University. 14 February 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "Inauguration of Bath Spa
Spa University". Bath Spa
Spa University. 3 January 2006. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012.  ^ "Bath Spa
Spa University". Bath Spa
Spa University. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.  ^ "Contact Us". Norland College. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ a b c d "The story so far". Bath Rugby. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2010.  ^ Gallagher, Brendan (19 April 2006). "Rowell blessing for Ashton to take up England
England post". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Paul Tisdale". Team Bath. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ "Bath City". Football Club History Database. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Team Bath FC". Conference South. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ "Bath City Football Club". City of Bath. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2012.  ^ "Location". Odd Down
Odd Down AFC. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath Croquet
Croquet Club". Bath Croquet
Croquet Club. Archived from the original on 25 November 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Bath Half Marathon". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2007.  ^ "Race Pack" (PDF). Bath Amphibians. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ " Bath Roller Derby Girls Founded". Bath Roller Derby
Derby Girls.  ^ "British Roller Derby
Derby Championships 2017". British Roller Derby Championships.  ^ "UKRDA Member List".  ^ "Bath Transport Package — Major Scheme Bid". Bath and North East Somerset. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "Bath Open-Top Bus Tours". Beautiful Bath. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2012.  ^ Allsop, Niall (1987). The Kennet & Avon Canal. Bath: Millstream Book. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-948975-15-8.  ^ "Travelling to and around Bath". Visit Bath. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ Bristol
Bristol and Bath Railway Path: The Midland Railway. Retrieved 8 August 2009 ^ "Bath, Two Tunnels". Sustrans. Retrieved 3 May 2015.  ^ Oppitz, Leslie (1990). Tramways Remembered: West and South West England. Countryside Books. p. 74. ISBN 978-1-85306-095-3.  ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2017.  ^ https://bathtrams.uk ^ "Council to look at whether light rail tram system 'feasible' for Bath - Bath Chronicle". Retrieved 28 June 2017.  ^ "West of England
England Joint Transport Study - Transport Vision Summary Document" (PDF). Retrieved 16 November 2016.  ^ a b "Bristol/Bath to South Coast Study – final reports published". Government News. 13 February 2004. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 28 September 2012.  ^ " Hansard
Hansard 6 Jan 2004 : Column
Column 218W". Hansard. Parliament of the United Kingdom. 6 January 2004. Retrieved 28 September 2012.  ^ Brook, Stephen (2 August 2007). "Bath daily goes weekly". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 1 February 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2015.  ^ "BBC News — Somerset". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2014.  ^ "Studios". Bristol
Bristol Film Office. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2012.  ^ "University Radio Bath". University Radio Bath. Archived from the original on 5 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.  ^ "AM, Digital Radio & TV Frequencies". Gold. Retrieved 16 September 2012. 

Bibliography[edit] See also: Bibliography of the history of Bath, Somerset External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bath.

Wikisource
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bath (England).

Bath travel guide from Wikivoyage Official tourist information Mayor of Bath Bath at Curlie (based on DMOZ) Bath in the Domesday Book

v t e

Cities of the United Kingdom

England

Bath Birmingham Bradford Brighton
Brighton and Hove Bristol Cambridge Canterbury Carlisle Chelmsford Chester Chichester Coventry Derby Durham Ely Exeter Gloucester Hereford Kingston upon Hull Lancaster Leeds Leicester Lichfield Lincoln Liverpool London Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne Norwich Nottingham Oxford Peterborough Plymouth Portsmouth Preston Ripon St Albans Salford Salisbury Sheffield Southampton Stoke-on-Trent Sunderland Truro Wakefield Wells Westminster Winchester Wolverhampton Worcester York

Scotland

Aberdeen Dundee Edinburgh Glasgow Inverness Perth Stirling

Wales

Bangor Cardiff Newport St Asaph St Davids Swansea

Northern Ireland

Armagh Belfast Derry Lisburn Newry

v t e

World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom

England

Bath Blenheim Palace Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape Derwent Valley Mills Durham Castle
Durham Castle and Cathedral Frontiers of the Roman Empire

Hadrian's Wall

Ironbridge Gorge Jurassic
Jurassic Coast Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Lake District Liverpool
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City Maritime Greenwich Saltaire Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites Studley Royal Park
Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey Tower of London Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church

Scotland

Edinburgh
Edinburgh Old Town and New Town Forth Bridge Frontiers of the Roman Empire

Antonine Wall

Heart of Neolithic Orkney New Lanark St. Kilda

Wales

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

Northern Ireland

Giant's Causeway

British Overseas Territories

Gorham's Cave
Gorham's Cave Complex Gough Island Inaccessible Island Henderson Island Town of St. George and Related Fortifications

v t e

Ceremonial county of Somerset

Somerset
Somerset Portal

Unitary authorities

Bath and North East Somerset North Somerset

Boroughs or districts

Mendip Sedgemoor South Somerset Taunton
Taunton Deane West Somerset

Major settlements

Axbridge Bath Bridgwater Bruton Burnham-on-Sea Castle Cary Chard Clevedon Crewkerne Dulverton Frome Glastonbury Highbridge Ilminster Keynsham Langport Midsomer Norton Minehead Nailsea North Petherton Portishead Radstock Shepton Mallet Somerton Taunton Watchet Wellington Wells Weston-super-Mare Wincanton Wiveliscombe Yeovil See also: List of civil parishes in Somerset

Rivers

Alham Aller Avill Avon Axe ( Bristol
Bristol Channel) Axe (Lyme Bay) Badgworthy Water Banwell Barle Brue Cam Brook Cary Chew East Lyn Exe Fivehead Frome Haddeo Hoar Oak Water Holford Horner Huntspill Isle Land Yeo Mells Midford Brook Oare Water Parret Severn Estuary Sheppey Somer Sowy Tone Washford Wellow Brook West Lyn Whitelake Yeo (Congresbury) Yeo (South Somerset)

Topics

Country houses County Council Culture of Somerset Economy of Somerset Flag Geography of Somerset Geology of Somerset Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings High Sheriff of Somerset History of Somerset Local nature reserves Lord Lieutenant of Somerset Museums National nature reserves Parliamentary constituencies Places Population of major settlements Scheduled monuments Schools SSSIs Transport in Somerset Geographic areas: Blackdown Hills Brendon Hills Chew Valley Exmoor Mendip
Mendip Hills Polden Hills Quantock Hills Somerset
Somerset Levels South West Coast Path West Somerset
Somerset Coast Path

v t e

Former non-metropolitan districts of England

Districts

Alnwick Bath Berwick-upon-Tweed Blyth Valley Boothferry Bridgnorth Brighton Caradon Carrick Castle Morpeth Chester Chester-le-Street Cleethorpes Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Derwentside Durham Easington East Yorkshire East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley Ellesmere Port and Neston Gillingham Glanford Great Grimsby Hereford Holderness Hove Kennet Kerrier Kingswood Leominster Macclesfield Medina Mid Bedfordshire North Cornwall North Shropshire North Wiltshire Northavon Oswestry Penwith Restormel Rochester-upon-Medway Salisbury Scunthorpe Sedgefield Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Herefordshire South Shropshire South Wight Teesdale Tynedale Vale Royal Wansbeck Wansdyke Wear Valley West Wiltshire

Local elections

Alnwick Bath Berwick-upon-Tweed Blyth Valley Boothferry Bridgnorth Brighton Caradon Carrick Castle Morpeth Chester Chester-le-Street Cleethorpes Congleton Crewe and Nantwich Derwentside Durham Easington East Yorkshire East Yorkshire Borough of Beverley Ellesmere Port and Neston Gillingham Glanford Great Grimsby Hereford Holderness Hove Kennet Kerrier Kingswood Leominster Macclesfield Medina Mid Bedfordshire North Cornwall North Shropshire North Wiltshire Northavon Oswestry Penwith Restormel Rochester-upon-Medway Salisbury Scunthorpe Sedgefield Shrewsbury and Atcham South Bedfordshire South Herefordshire South Shropshire South Wight Teesdale Tynedale Vale Royal Wansbeck Wansdyke Wear Valley West Wiltshire

Authority control

WorldCat Identities VIAF: 137153818 GND: 40868