During the Georgian era Bath became fashionable, and the architects John Wood, the Elder, and his son laid out new areas of housing for residents and visitors. Assembly rooms had been built early in the 18th century, but a new venue for balls, concerts and gambling was envisaged in the area between Queen Square, The Circus and the Royal Crescent. Robert Adam submitted a proposal that was rejected as too expensive. John Wood, the Younger raised funding through a tontine, and construction started in 1769. The new or upper assembly rooms opened with a grand ball in 1771 and became the hub of fashionable society, being frequented by Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, along with the nobility of the time.
The building, made of Bath stone, is arranged in a U shape. There are four main function rooms in the complex: the 100-foot-long (30m) ballroom—the largest Georgian interior in Bath; the tea room; the card room; and the octagon. The rooms have Whitefriars crystalchandeliers and are decorated with fine art.
In the 20th century they were used as a cinema and in 1931 were taken over by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and restored. They were bombed and burnt out during the Second World War, with restoration undertaken by Sir Albert Richardson before reopening in 1963. They are now owned and operated by the National Trust and were operated by Bath and North East Somerset Council for public functions until March 2023. The basement of the building provided a home to the Fashion Museum but this closed in October 2022 after a break clause in the lease was enacted. The exhibits have been placed into storage as the Museum seeks funding for a permanent new home within the city.
History
Several areas of Bath had undergone development during the Stuart period; development increased during Georgian times, however, in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation.[2] The architects John Wood the Elder and his son John Wood the Younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical façades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum.[3] Much of the creamy honey-coloured Bath stone used for construction throughout the city was obtained from the limestoneCombe Down and Bathampton Down Mines owned by Ralph Allen (1694–1764).[4]
The development at this time largely consisted of new residential areas located away from the old city centre. The elder John Wood designed Queen Square, the Circus, and Gay Street in 1735, which would be completed by the younger John Wood.[5] Queen Square was the first speculative development by the elder John Wood, who lived in one of the houses.[6][7] The Circus consists of three long, curved terraces that form a circular theatre intended for civic functions and games and inspired by the Colosseum in Rome.[8] Finally the elder Wood also designed and developed Gay Street which links the two; the buildings on Gay Street are now largely Grade I listed buildings.
The most spectacular of Bath's terraces is the Royal Crescent, designed by the younger John Wood, and built between 1767 and 1774.[9]
The heart of the Georgian city was Wood's Pump Room, which, together with its associated Lower Assembly Rooms, was designed by Thomas Baldwin, a local builder responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street[10] and the Guildhall,[11] The Lower Assembly Rooms consisted of two buildings. The first built in 1708 for Thomas Harrison overlooking Parade Gardens between North Parade and Bath Abbey. A large ballroom was added in 1720, with further enlargement in 1749 and 1810 when it became known as The Kingston Assembly Rooms. In 1728 another building, known as Lindsey's Assembly Rooms, was constructed, lasting until demolition around 1820 for the building of York Street. Harrison's Lower Assembly Rooms were devastated by a fire in December 1820 [12] and rebuilt, lasting until demolition in 1933 for road improvements on the site now known as "Bog Island".[13]
In around 1770 the neoclassical architect Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, a three-arched bridge spanning the River Avon. He used as his prototype an original, but unused, design by Andrea Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in Venice.[14] Adam also submitted plans for the new Assembly Rooms but these were rejected as too costly.[15] John Wood, the Younger raised funding for the construction of the Assembly Rooms by the use of a Tontine, an investment plan that is named after the Neapolitan banker Lorenzo de Tonti, who is credited with inventing it in France in 1653. It combines features of a group annuity and a lottery. Each subscriber pays an agreed sum into the fund, and thereafter receives an annuity. As members die, their shares devolve to the other participants, and so the value of each annuity increases. On the death of the last member, the scheme is wound up. Construction started in 1769 and was completed in 1771, when a grand opening was held.[16]
The Assembly Rooms formed the hub of fashionable Georgian society in the city, the venue being described as "the most noble and elegant of any in the kingdom".[17] They were originally known as the Upper Rooms as there was also a lower assembly room in the city, which closed soon after the Upper Rooms opened. They served the newly built fashionable area which included the Circus, Queen Square and the Royal Crescent.[18]
Entrance into the Octagon Room
People would gather in the rooms in the evening for balls and other public functions, or simply to play cards.[19] Mothers and chaperones bringing their daughters to Bath for the social season, hoping to marry them off to a suitable husband, would take their charge to such events where, very quickly, one might meet all the eligible men currently in the City. At one concert in 1779, attended by around 800 ladies and gentlemen, 60 members of the nobility were present.[20] During the season, which ran from October to June, at least two balls a week were held, in addition to a range of concerts and other events.[16] Scenes such as this feature in the novels of Jane Austen, who lived in Bath with her parents and sister from 1801 to 1805. Her two novels set in Bath, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published in 1818 and both mention the Assembly Rooms:
Mrs Allen was so long in dressing, that they did not enter the ball-room till late. The season was full, the room crowded, and the two ladies squeezed in as well as they could. As for Mr Allen, he repaired directly to the card-room, and left them to enjoy a mob by themselves.
Sir Walter, his two daughters, and Mrs Clay, were the earliest of all their party at the rooms in the evening; and as Lady Dalrymple must be waited for, they took their station by one of the fires in the Octagon Room.
Charles Dickens also visited Bath on several occasions. He gave public readings in the Assembly Rooms and mentions them in The Pickwick Papers (published in 1837):
In the ball-room, the long card-room, the octagonal card-room, the staircases, and the passages, the hum of many voices, and the sound of many feet, were perfectly bewildering. Dresses rustled, feathers waved, lights shone, and jewels sparkled. There was the music—not of the quadrille band, for it had not yet commenced; but the music of soft tiny footsteps, with now and then a clear merry laugh—low and gentle, but very pleasant to hear in a female voice, whether in Bath or elsewhere.
In the 20th century several changes took place, with the Ballroom becoming a cinema, until the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings became the owners in 1931.[15][24] The building was restored by A Mowbray Green in 1938,[1] with Oliver Messel as the interior designer.[15] During the Bath Blitz of 25/26 April 1942, one of the retaliatory raids on England by the Baedeker Blitz following the RAF's raid on Lübeck, the Assembly Rooms were bombed and burnt out inside. After the cessation of hostilities in Europe, they were restored by Sir Albert Richardson, with work being completed in 1963. The ballroom ceiling had to be repaired after it collapsed in 1989.[1]
The Ballroom has five chandeliers and capacity for up to 500 people.[30] It is over 100 feet (30m) long and nearly 45 feet (14m) wide.[16] The ceiling is 42 feet (13m) high.[1] The Tea Room holds up to 250 people. It was the location for a banquet attended by The Prince of Wales for the BBC television series the Great British Menu.[31] It is 60 feet (18m) long and 42 feet (13m) wide.[1] The Octagon is named for the shape of the room and has four fireplaces.[32] It is 42 feet (13m) across.[1] It originally held an organ in the musicians gallery.[33] In 1777 the Card Room was added.[citation needed]
Philip Thicknesse in his 1778 'New Bath Guide' admired the architecture of the New or Upper Rooms but thought that 'in spite of all these Advantages, we much doubt, whether it be true that the Upper Rooms shew Female Beauty so advantageously as the Lower.... We have examined too, with a Degree of particular Attention, some of the most Admired Beauties of the last and present season, at both the Rooms, and, as far as we could determine, they were either best pleased, or most beautiful, under the lower than the upper lights'.[34]
The basement of the building provided a home to the Fashion Museum, which was known before 2007 as the Museum of Costume, until its closure in October 2022.[38] The collection was started by Doris Langley Moore, who gave her collection to the city of Bath in 1963. It focuses on fashionable dress for men, women and children from the late 16th century to the present day and has more than 30,000 objects. The earliest pieces are embroideredshirts and gloves from about 1600.[39]
The grandeur of the building make it a popular location for feature films and television series set in the Georgian period. The BBC have used it as a location for the filming of an adaptation of Northanger Abbey in 1986 and in 1995 Persuasion.[40] The Assembly Rooms were also used as a location for several scenes in Bridgerton.[41]
Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Bristol. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset.
The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger, and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom and is a Grade I listed building. Although some changes have been made to the various interiors over the years, the Georgian stone facade remains much as it was when first built.
The Roman Baths are well-preserved thermae in the city of Bath, Somerset, England. A temple was constructed on the site between 60 and 70 AD in the first few decades of Roman Britain. Its presence led to the development of the small Roman urban settlement known as Aquae Sulis around the site. The Roman baths—designed for public bathing—were used until the end of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th century AD. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the original Roman baths were in ruins a century later. The area around the natural springs was redeveloped several times during the Early and Late Middle Ages.
The Herschel Museum of Astronomy at 19 New King Street, Bath, England, is a museum that was inaugurated in 1981. It is located in a town house that was formerly the home of William Herschel and his sister Caroline.
John Wood, the Elder was an English architect, working mainly in Bath.
John Wood, the Younger was an English architect, working principally in the city of Bath, Somerset. He was the son of the architect John Wood, the Elder. His designs were highly influential during the 18th century and the Royal Crescent is considered to be one of the best examples of Georgian Neo-Classical architecture in Britain.
In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were few public places of entertainment open to both sexes besides theatres. Upper class men had more options, including coffee houses and later gentlemen's clubs.
The Bath Preservation Trust is a charity that is based in Bath, Somerset, England, which exists to safeguard for the public benefit the historic character and amenities of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its environs. BPT is independent, funded by public membership, grants, donations and income from four museums that it operates in Bath: No. 1 Royal Crescent, the Museum of Bath Architecture, Beckford's Tower, and the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.
The Fashion Museum was housed in the Assembly Rooms in Bath, Somerset, England.
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority created on 1 April 1996, following the abolition of the County of Avon, which had existed since 1974. Part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset occupies an area of 220 square miles (570 km2), two-thirds of which is green belt. It stretches from the outskirts of Bristol, south into the Mendip Hills and east to the southern Cotswold Hills and Wiltshire border. The city of Bath is the principal settlement in the district, but BANES also covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the Chew Valley. The area has a population of 170,000, about half of whom live in Bath, making it 12 times more densely populated than the rest of the area.
The Octagon Chapel in Milsom Street, Bath, Somerset, England was built in 1767 and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.
The Grand Pump Room is a historic building in the Abbey Churchyard, Bath, Somerset, England. It is adjacent to the Roman Baths and is named for water that is pumped into the room from the baths' hot springs. Visitors can drink the water or have other refreshments while there.
Milsom Street in Bath, Somerset, England was built in 1762 by Thomas Lightholder. The buildings were originally grand town houses, but most are now used as shops, offices and banks. Most have three storeys with mansard roofs and Corinthian columns.
Cleveland Pools located in Hampton Row, Bath, Somerset, England is a semi-circular lido built to designs by John Pinch the Elder in 1815. It is believed to be the oldest public outdoor swimming pool in the UK. It is a Grade II* listed building.
The buildings and architecture of Bath, a city in Somerset in the south west of England, reveal significant examples of the architecture of England, from the Roman Baths, to the present day. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, largely because of its architectural history and the way in which the city landscape draws together public and private buildings and spaces. The many examples of Palladian architecture are purposefully integrated with the urban spaces to provide "picturesque aestheticism". In 2021, the city was added to a second World Heritage Site, a group of historic spa towns across Europe known as the "Great Spas of Europe". Bath is the only entire city in Britain to achieve World Heritage status, and is a popular tourist destination.
Sydney Gardens is a public open space at the end of Great Pulteney Street in Bath, Somerset, England. The gardens are the only remaining eighteenth-century pleasure gardens in the country. They are Grade II listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bath, Somerset, England.
No. 1 Royal Crescent is the first building at the eastern end of the Royal Crescent in Bath, Somerset, and is of national architectural and historic importance. It is currently the headquarters of the conservation charity, the Bath Preservation Trust, and also operates as a public "historic house" museum displaying authentic room sets, furniture, pictures and other items illustrating Georgian domestic life both 'above stairs' and 'below stairs'. The house was the subject of a major renovation project during 2012 and 2013 which reunited No. 1 with its original service wing at No. 1A, from which it had been separated during the 20th century.
Pierrepont Place is a mews street in Bath, England. Records indicate that Pierrepont Place and properties on it were built by John Wood the Elder between 1732 and 1748, on land once belonging to monks of Bath Abbey, who had used it as an orchard.
The musical history of Bath starts just a decade before the beginning of the Georgian Era. It went parallel to the development of the provincial spa town. As Master of ceremonies, Beau Nash played a paramount role in establishing Bath as a fashionable city, a resort where informal manners were de rigueur, allowing nobility and wealthy middle-class to mingle together.
↑ "The Assembly Rooms Bath". Bath's Historic Buildings. Bath and North East Somerset Council. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Edwin Long". Your paintings. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Allan Ramsey". Your paintings. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Ball Room". Bath's Historic Buildings. Bath and North East Somerset council. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Tea Room". Bath's Historic Buildings. Bath and North east Somerset council. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
↑ "Octagon". Bath's Historic Buildings. Bath and North east Somerset council. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
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