Architecture

Of Bath’s notable buildings, the oldest is Bath Abbey, but in terms of Britain’s many ancient Abbeys and cathedrals, it is comparatively new. Originally a Norman church on earlier foundations, it was rebuilt in 1499, and transformed into a gothic fantasy of flying buttresses with crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenelated and pierced parapet. The style of architecture employed is known as late perpendicular. The interior contains fine fan vaulting by Robert and William Vertue, who designed similar vaulting in the Henry VII chapel at Westminster Abbey. The building is lit by 52 windows.

The dominant style of architecture in Bath is Georgian, which is an evolution of the Palladian revival style which became popular in the early 18th century. Many of the prominent architects of the day were employed in the development of the city, and as a result Bath has many fine terraces of what appear to be elegant townhouses. However, the original purpose of much of Bath’s fine architecture is concealed by the honey-coloured classical facades; in an era before the advent of the luxury hotel, these apparently elegant residences were frequently purpose-built rooming or lodging houses, where visitors to the city 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.

“The Circus” is one of the most splendid examples of town planning in the city. Three long, curved terraces designed by the elder John Wood 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 in Rome. Like the Colosseum, the three facades 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. Wood never lived to see his unique example of town planning completed, as he died 5 days after personally laying the foundation stone on May 18, 1754.

The best known of Bath’s terraces is the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774 and designed by the younger John Wood but all is not what it seems. While Wood designed the great curved facade of what appears to be about 30 houses with Ionic columns on a rusticated ground floor, that was the extent of Wood’s input. Each purchaser bought a certain length of the facade, 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 elegant 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. This “all to the front and no rear” architecture occurs repeatedly in Bath.

Circa 1770, the eminent neoclassical architect Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, using as the prototype for the three-arched bridge spanning the Avon an original, but unused, design by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in Venice. Thus Pulteney Bridge became not just a means of crossing the river, but also a shopping arcade, and, along with the Rialto Bridge, is one of the very few surviving bridges in Europe to serve this dual purpose. It has been substantially altered since it was built. It was named after Frances and William Johnstone Pulteney, the owners of the Bathwick estate for which the bridge provided a link to the rest of Bath.

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 who was responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street. Baldwin rose rapidly, becoming a leader in Bath’s architectural history. In 1776 he was made the chief City Surveyor, and in 1780 became City Architect. In 1776 he designed the Bath Guildhall, where his design of the interior is reputed to be one of the finest neo-classical interiors in the country. However, it is Great Pulteney Street, where he eventually lived, which is one of his finest works: this wide boulevard, constructed circa 1789 and over 300m long and 30m wide, is one of England’s most attractive thoroughfares, and is lined on both sides by Georgian terraces.

Architecturally, Bath is one of the most balanced cities in England, and is an unusual example of coherent town planning combined with well-executed and diverse architectural styles.