Bath bus station serves as part of an integrated transport interchange for the city of

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, England. The Manvers Street

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is ...

opened in 1958 and operated until 2009 when it was replaced by the new bus station in Dorchester Street as part of the Southgate regeneration programme. The bus station is managed by First West of England. There are 16 bays, Bays 1 and 2 are for National Express coach services, Bays 3 to 16 are for local bus services.

History

The old Bath Bus Station at Manvers Street opened in 1958 under the control of the

Bristol Omnibus Company The Bristol Omnibus Company was a dominant bus operator in Bristol, and was one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. It ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. History ...

. The Southgate area of the city between Manvers Street to the east and St James’ Parade to the west was the area worst affected by the

Baedeker Blitz The Baedeker Blitz or Baedeker raids were a series of aerial attacks in April and May 1942 by the German ''Luftwaffe'' on English cities during the Second World War. The name derives from Baedeker, a series of German tourist guide books, inclu ...

of April 1942. The

was built as part of a project to replace this area of the city, where the city's main

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

, connecting Bath with

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

was already situated. The

was located next to the city's red brick Victorian

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

, which showed lasting evidence of shell damage from the bombings. In this process, many of the city's older buildings and streets were destroyed to make way for not just the bus station, but also the Southgate Shopping Centre and accompanying Ham Gardens car park. The demolition of this maze of historical buildings was known as the Rape of Bath and was finally halted in the early 1960s due to public outcry. The city has since been designated a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

and 95% of the buildings in the centre are protected by

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

status. The new development was seen as being a threat to the city's World Heritage Status. The bus station operated a range of services during its 49-year history – including local city buses, country buses,

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

coach services and

Open top bus An open top bus is a bus, usually but not exclusively a double-decker bus, which has been built or modified to operate without a roof. Early buses were constructed without roofs but in more recent times they have only been built for tourist and ...

Tours. It has seen the Labour

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

and the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of public transport, and the morphing of Bristol Omnibus into

Badgerline Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a manag ...

, which was acquired by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.First Somerset & Avon.

New bus station

The Manvers Street Bus Station was scheduled to be demolished as part of the next Southgate regeneration programme for nearly 20 years. During this time, the building was owned by the local council and leased to First. Neither party was prepared to improve or repair the fabric of the building, as it was expected to be demolished. However, the redevelopment was plagued with controversy and continual demands for reviews, so the project did not get under way until early 2007, with the appointment of new contractors. The bus station was finally demolished in July 2007. Operations for First Somerset & Avon moved to a temporary site constructed on the Avon Street Car Park on 16 June 2007. This was provided by contractors

Sir Robert McAlpine Sir Robert McAlpine Limited is a family-owned building and civil engineering company based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It carries out engineering and construction in the infrastructure, heritage, commercial, arena and stadium, healthcare, educa ...

as part of a move to speed up completion of the entire Southgate project by one year. A new location for the bus station was chosen on the site of Churchill House – an abandoned 1920s electricity company building, the demolition of which sparked the most recent controversy to delay the whole project. Campaigners fighting for the preservation of the building argued that the frontage from Churchill House should be retained and incorporated into the design of the new bus station, but the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s maintained that this was not practical. Revised plans for a glass and metal rotunda - nicknamed derisively by local people as the "Busometer" - on the site close to

Bath Spa railway station Bath Spa railway station is the principal station serving the city of Bath in South West England. It is on the Great Western Main Line, down the line from the zero point at between to the east and to the west. Its three-letter station code i ...

and on the edge of the River Avon were given council approval in early 2007 and work begun to construct this part of the transport interchange for the city. The new Bath Bus Station opened on Sunday 7 June 2009, at a cost of £14 million, as part of the £360 million SouthGate development.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bath Bus Station 1958 establishments in England 2007 disestablishments in England 2009 establishments in England Bus stations in England Buildings and structures in Bath, Somerset History of Bath, Somerset Transport in Bath, Somerset