5.1 The very existence of
Bath's Hot Springs gives Bath its raison d’etre. The hot mineral
springs have had a profound influence on the continually evolving
development and culture of Bath.
5.2 Pre Roman
The pre-historic landscape around Bath was intensively used. The
surrounding downs have provided evidence of human activity in the
form of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age flint implements suggesting
settlements, and Bronze Age tumuli can still be seen at Lansdown,
Charmy Down and Bathampton Down. The sixth to second
centuries BC saw the construction of Little Solsbury hillfort which
still dominates the modern skyline. In addition to hilltop
defended sites, there would also have been a large number of
farmsteads on the more fertile lowland slopes. Sion Hill and Barrow
Mead are the few examples recorded within Bath.
However, nowhere within the walled city area has any trace of
pre-Roman occupation been found. This may be explained either by
the fact that the area would have been an inhospitable marshland of
thick, black mud, or perhaps a sacred location surrounding the
springs. Either way, this was to change with the arrival of the
Romans.
5.3 Roman
5.3.1 The Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 brought
knowledge and technology. Stone quarrying, the use of lime,
pozzolana, brick, tile and mass concrete were all introduced. The
Romans provided a completely new infrastructure of roads,
settlements, public buildings and temples. The Roman bath houses
enclosed Bath's Hot Springs and included a sophisticated water and
drainage system. Outside the walled town workshops (at Walcot
Street), villas, farmsteads and burial sites abounded. The
influence of Roman roads can be seen in the orientation of present
day roads, including Brougham Hayes which crossed the River Avon to
meet Julian Road. 3 By the fourth century the Roman town was
generally abandoned although Walcot Street, on higher ground,
remained in use through the fifth century. Abandoned, the baths and
temple fell into decay. The eighth century Saxon poem ‘The Ruin’
describes the remains:
5.3.2 “Wondrous is this masonry,
shattered by the Fates.
The fortifications have given way,
the buildings raised by giants are crumbling….
There stood courts of stone.
and a stream gushed forth in rippling floods of hot water.
The wall enfolded within its bright bosom
the whole place which contained the hot flood of the baths.”
5.4 Mediaeval
5.4.1 The Saxon reconstruction of the city took
place in the late ninth century. A new street pattern, a narrow
grid, was superimposed on the Roman town. The High Street market
place was its civic hub with a great Abbey as its religious heart,
adjacent to the surviving King's Bath over the principal Hot
Spring.
5.4.2 Mediaeval Bath was controlled by church, city
and charity. The influence of the church was profound. The Abbey
and its estates dominated the city and its surroundings. Edgar was
crowned king of all England in the Abbey in 972. The Abbey
controlled the baths.
5.4.3 The multitude of ecclesiastical parishes led
to the secular parish system with their geographic administrative
boundaries. The city walls and gates were rebuilt, the majority of
the houses were timber framed, thatched roof dwellings with only
the Abbey and principal buildings built in stone. Bridewell and
Bilberry Lanes are examples of the remaining mediaeval street
pattern. The mediaeval villages of Bathwick, Twerton, Weston and
Widcombe and the hamlets of Walcot and Lyncombe were later
incorporated into Bath.
5.4.4 Early development up to and including
mediaeval times generally took place on lower land (below 50 metres
above sea level), avoided steeper slopes and took advantage of cold
water springs and streams as a source of fresh water. Development
generally avoided the flood plain; development close to the river
was located on gravel terraces rather than less stable silty
alluvium.
5.5 Georgian
5.5.1 Royal patronage of the spa led to an increase
in Bath's popularity as a place of resort, resulting in the
development of lodgings, significant spa and public buildings as
well as later pleasure gardens, such as Sydney Gardens and the
former Vauxhall Gardens.
5.5.2 “In the Progress of these Improvements
Thatch’d Coverings were exchang’d to such as were Tiled; low and
obscure Lights were turn’d into elegant Sash-Windows; the Houses
were rais’d to five and more Stories in Height; and every one was
lavish in Ornaments to adorn the Outsides of them, even to
Profuseness: So that only Order and Proportion was wanted to make
BATH, sixteen years ago, vie with the famous City of Vicenza, in
Italy, when in the highest Pitch of Glory, by the excellent Art of
the celebrated Andrea Palladio….”
John Wood (1704-1754) Essay 1742-3
5.5.3 Bath's role as a place of fashionable resort
was paramount in the Georgian era. Bath was the place to see and to
be seen. Parading was the new fashion. The built expression of this
was in the broad pavements of the North and South Parades, Terrace
Walk, Gravel Walk and Milsom Street.
5.5.4 “The New Terrace Walk (Gravel Walk)
behind the Circus is one of the best and most pleasant walks in
this kingdom…”
Bath Chronicle, 6 August 1789
5.5.5 The Georgian city was built using Oolitic
Limestone (commonly known as Bath stone) from the quarries of Ralph
Allen at Combe Down.
5.5.6 Early C18 developments ring the core of the
mediaeval city; John Wood’s North and South Parades and Queen’s
Square are two notable examples. By mid C18 the development of
nearby hillsides began. Wood’s 1754-1767 Circus is the pre-eminent
example.
5.5.7 The construction of Pulteney Bridge between
1796-1774 opened up the Bathwick estate for development. Grand
plans were drawn up for this area but the 1793 war with France led
to a rise in interest rates which caused the Bath bank crash and
much of this area was left unfinished.
5.5.8 The demand for accommodation led to
speculative building. Successful speculative development dominated
the development of Bath throughout the C18 and C19 and relied on
the creation of a socially desirable built form that had the
flexibility to respond to individual requirements. Bath’s C18
architects, craftsmen and developers excelled at providing
this. By acquiring tracts of land, designing an overall
guiding set of plans and then sub-leasing individual plots to
others, they minimised their own financial risk and controlled the
overall design of principal elevations, roadways and pavements
while enabling the final lessee to create their own building
interior.
5.5.9 This period saw the importance of the
architect in designing and setting out buildings particularly where
more modern or prestigious buildings were required. Other buildings
were the responsibility of master craftsmen who followed the
designs of fashionable building styles. These buildings were
speculative in nature and followed classical principles of
proportion and symmetry. The building style gave rise to a
co-ordinated appearance with variation of detailing providing
interest. The imposition of order was fundamental to the design and
construction of Georgian buildings. Architects and patrons studied
the ruins of ancient classical sites in Italy and Greece. The
publication of their measured studies led in turn to a rash of
builders' pattern books. Together these forged an understanding of
classical architecture; the preferred architectural language of C18
Britain. This coincided with the introduction of building
legislation stemming from the impact of the 1666 Great Fire of
London.
5.5.10 This new legislation had a direct and wide-ranging impact
on the design of new buildings. Many aspects of buildings were
subject to new controls including a series of 'rates' for
buildings. These established an ordered relationship between the
spacing of party walls, the width of streets, floor to ceiling
heights, the height of the principal floor above ground level, the
recessing of window frames behind the face of a façade and the
protection of roofs behind parapets. These and other controls,
coupled with the introduction of classicism through architects' and
surveyors' designs as well as builders' pattern books, had a
profound effect on emerging new buildings, streets, squares and the
spaces between them.
5.5.11 The impact of the concept of the Picturesque 4 in the
late C18 led building occupants to seek a closer relationship to
the landscape. The form of the terrace and crescent now followed
the contours of Bath’s undulating topography in a far more fluent
way. The ensemble of Lansdown Place East, Lansdown Crescent,
Lansdown Place West and Somerset Place is the pre-eminent example
of the response of built form to landscape and views.
5.5.12 The development of the villa in the late C18 and early
C19 continued for the wealthy through the C19 and into the
beginning of the C20.
5.6 Victorian
5.6.1 The C19 saw the introduction of new transport
technologies; the Kennet and Avon Canal at the beginning of the
century, the Great Western Railway mid century and the Bath tram
system at the latter part of the century. The tram system provided
mass transport which enabled new developments on the fringes of the
city.
5.6.2 Modest scale terraces formed the housing for
the great growth in Bath’s working population as the impact of the
Industrial Revolution and the Enclosure Acts led to a migration of
the population to England’s cities. Bath was no exception and the
development of industry along the River Avon was matched by an
explosion of two storey terrace housing engulfing the river valley
sides. Oldfield Park and former villages such as Twerton are
examples. Larger properties set within large gardens were also
built during this period.
5.6.3 C19 society's anxieties about public health
issues led to new initiatives in sanitation, public parks and
cemeteries. In Bath the Royal Victoria Park and the Abbey Cemetery
were among the earliest national responses to these concerns.
5.6.4 Municipal corporations were created by new
legislation. The exuberance and optimism of Victorian society and
the recently established City Corporation led to the further
discovery and redisplay of the Roman Baths and the building of the
Concert Room, Guildhall extensions and the Victoria Art
Gallery.
5.6.5 Three events; an 1898 plaque scheme, the 1904
campaign to save the north side of Bath Street and the 1909
Historical Pageant, led to a reawakening of an interest in the
significance of Bath's history and development and a new concern
for its future care.
5.7 Twentieth Century and
Present Day
5.7.1 The inter war years saw the revival of the
spa, the revitalisation of the Mineral Water Hospital and the
restoration of the Assembly Rooms. The early C20 growth of the
ownership and use of motor vehicles led to new pressures on the
city's streets and public spaces. The introduction of traffic signs
and markings was not enough to keep traffic flowing. Historic
buildings at key road junctions were demolished and rebuilt to take
account of new street patterns, examples of such junctions are
Westgate Street, Kingsmead Street and Kingsmead Square and Monmouth
Street.
5.7.2 The 1930s development of Kingsmead flats on a
former Corporation stone yard was the first steel framed building
in Bath. The 1923-7 Post Office, New Bond Street by the Office of
Works shows an informed understanding of classicism.
“A distinguished and competent Neo-Georgian design produced at a
time when classicism still formed the basis of an architect’s
education.”
Michael Forsyth
Housing developments at this time included areas of Bailbrook;
Rosehill, Larkhall; Villa Fields, Bathwick; Dolemeads, Widcombe;
Wellsway; Odd Down; Moorlands; The Oval; Southdown; Stirtingale;
Whiteway; Innox Road; Avon Park; Rudmore Park and Yomede Park.
5.7.3 The evacuation of the Admiralty to Bath in
1939 led to it to becoming Bath's largest employer. 5
5.7.4 The 1942 bombing of Bath was a watershed in
the city's history. The two nights of Baedeker raids led to the
death of over 400 people and the damage or destruction of 19,000
buildings of which 1,100 buildings were seriously damaged or
destroyed. Repair and reconstruction were swift.
5.7.5 “The beauty [Bath] was not awakened by a
kiss from a city father; Hitler "blitzed" her back into life and
vitality, and it may be that the shock of the air raids jolted Bath
into a new determination and confidence to succeed.”
Horace Annesley Vachell
5.7.6 Patrick Abercrombie's 1945 ‘A Plan for Bath’
gave the city and its environs a new outlook on planning that
reviewed air raid damage, urgent housing problems and traffic
issues. Providing new housing alone was not enough. The Plan
envisaged Bath being divided into a series of neighbourhoods each
provided with its community centre, shopping areas, churches,
schools, parks and playing fields.
5.7.7 Much of Bath's postwar housing and communities
are a direct result of this initiative. Populations in existing
local communities both within Bath and in its environs were to
increase greatly through the provision of new housing. The Plan led
to the 1950s incorporation of the villages of Combe Down, Twerton
and Weston into an expanded Bath with the consequent development of
significant areas of new housing, much of it prefabricated.
Building materials were still subject to strict postwar
rationing and control, even the number of prefabricated housing was
limited and subject to carefully scrutinised allocation nationally.
The Moorlands estate was the first new housing scheme to be built
after the war. Work began in August 1946. The last house was opened
on its completion in February 1949 by Aneurin Bevan.
5.7.8 “As the years go by estates like this
will spring up all over the country, and when I come across local
authorities that are not paying enough sufficient regard to the
design of their houses and the use of materials, I will tell them
to visit Bath and see a good example of what they should do.”
Aneurin Bevan
5.7.9 The postwar review of the city's C18 and C19
housing against C20 housing standards led to the wholesale
clearance and redevelopment of large areas of the city. Snow
Hill (1954-1961), Calton Gardens (1969-1970), Margaret’s Hill and
Ballance Street (1969-1973) are key examples.
5.7.10 The creation of the Bath Festival in the 1940s and the
University of Bath in the 1960s were further spurs to Bath's
cultural and economic revival.
5.7.11 The conservation programmes of the 1970s and 1980s marked
a turning point in the care and reuse of the city’s buildings and
open spaces.
5.7.12 The intercity rail link to London and new technologies
enabling people to work from home have led to a buoyancy in Bath's
housing market. These factors, coupled with the growth of Bath's
hospitals and universities as well as the influx of new businesses
into the city and its environs, have increased housing demand.
5.7.13 Changing technologies, business takeovers and consequent
financial pressures led to the loss of traditional key industries
leaving large tracts of brownfield land as yet undeveloped. The
twentieth century development of architecture led to a concern for
the care, well-being and future use of historic buildings and areas
as well as a plethora of new building technologies influencing the
development of both architecture and new building types.
5.7.14 Current government planning policy guidance emphasises
the redevelopment of brownfield sites, higher housing densities and
the need for significant amounts of new housing as well as
affordable homes. Housing provision, once primarily the concern of
central and local government, has now also become the domain of
private finance and social housing providers.
5.7.15 In1987 the city of Bath was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of
World Heritage Sites, recognising it as a place of international
cultural significance. Bath’s World Heritage status is based
on the city’s Roman remains; the C18 city, including architecture
and urban design; the surrounding landscape and its relationship
with the development and design of the city and the city’s social
history. At the heart of Bath’s significance are the Hot
Springs, which have been the driving force behind the creation and
growth of the city since the Romans first discovered them in the
first century AD. The City of Bath World Heritage Site
Management Plan 2003-9 gives a full explanation of Bath’s
significance as a World Heritage Site and sets out what the status
means for the city.
5.8 Conclusion
5.8.1 This wealth of history reflects Bath's significance as a
place of resort and is a key to understanding the character of
Bath.
