Bath
The architectural masterpiece of the city is the Royal Crescent, a perfect semicircle of apparently identical Georgian houses, high on a hill overlooking the city
The museum at Number One, one of Bath Preservation
Trust’s four museums in the city, exhibits how these houses were originally furnished, with fine furniture, hangings and paintings. Even the kitchen is in precise period style, right down to the dog wheel once used to turn the spit. Just below is Royal Victoria Park. Victoria visited Bath
before she became queen, but was reportedly horrified to hear someone cry, as she descended from her coach, “she’s got fat ankles and pigeon toes!” She never returned and had the curtains of her train carriage closed if she travelled through. If Queen Victoria was not amused by the lovely city,
Jane Austen and her contemporaries could not get enough of it. After the charismatic dandy Richard ‘Beau’ Nash was appointed Master of Ceremonies in 1704, the English aristocracy and upper middle classes flocked to socialise at Bath’s elegant soirées in the Assembly Rooms.
www.britain-magazine.com This is the Year of the Museum in Bath, and there are no
fewer than 17 museums to visit. The Fashion Museum in the Assembly Rooms has a fabulous ever-changing display of costumes dating from the 17th century to the present day. Another must-see is the Jane Austen Centre just down the hill, where you will find everything from a period-style milliner’s shop to information on taking tea, and a short film exploring Jane Austen’s Bath. Brooding Mr Darcy – aka Colin Firth – is much in evidence on items in the gift shop. Bath’s mid-September Jane Austen Festival, with its
Grand Regency Promenade from the Roman Baths to the Royal Crescent, is an unforgettable occasion. Everyone in the parade is in costume, and many of the outfits – from the women’s dresses to the men’s uniforms – are authentic. One of the main reasons Jane Austen and her friends came to Bath was to shop. “One can step out of doors and
BRITAIN 51
Above: A sunset view of St John's Church (left) and Bath Abbey from Brassknocker Hill
PHOTO: ALEX HARE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100