Bath, Queen of the West, is internationally famous as one of England`s oldest & most beautiful cities. The picturesque setting in the Avon valley, surrounded by green hills knit town & country together. The hot mineral springs welling up from deep within the earth have given it unique advantages as a health & leisure resort. The Romans called the city Aquae Sulis, & below the modern city are the important Roman Baths, one of England`s top tourist attractions. In medieval times a great abbey grew up here, a centre of scholarship as well as religion. Bath was an important Cotswold weaving centre before becoming a great Georgian spa city. As taking the waters became an increasingly attractive leisure activity for visitors, a number of charity hospitals grew up around the hot springs. Then in the eighteenth century, great men such as Beau Nash the Master of Ceremonies & John Wood the architect transformed Bath into the grand Georgian city which we know today. Writers such as Henry Fielding & Jane Austen, & artists such as Thomas Gainsborough, settled in Bath. John Payne reflects on the diversity of the modern city, where industry, sport & shopping take their place alongside tourism & heritage. He considers the continuing importance of religious faith in the city & the contribution to Bath`s cultural life made by its two universities & the many festivals, of which the winter Literature Festival & the springtime Bath International Music Festival are just two. Like all cities, Bath changes through time, & this book looks at recent developments such as the superb new spa centre, Thermae Bath Spa, & the modernist extension to the Holburne Museum of Fine Art. An insider account that goes beyond the well-trodden city centre, it
Includes:: Bath s attractive urban villages, such as Weston (a favourite walk of Jane Austen) & Combe Down with its stone quarries & Jewish burial ground.