Bath
[A site linking maps of coords]. It is approximately 25
kilometres (15
miles) south-east of the larger city and port of
Bristol, to which it is linked by the
A4 road, and is a similar distance south of the
M4 motorway. Its main railway station,
Bath Spa, lies on the
Great Western Railway, the
main line between
Bristol and
London, as well as the line linking Cardiff with Portsmouth.
Bath is connected to Bristol and the sea by the
River Avon, navigable via
locks by small boats. The river was connected to the
River Thames and London by the
Kennet and Avon Canal in 1810; this waterwayâ€"closed for many years, but restored in the last years of the 20th centuryâ€"is now popular among users of
narrow boats, and was historically an important water route to London.
Physical geography
|
Aerial view over northern Bath from a hot air balloon |
Bath is centred on the bottom of the Avon Valley, located at the southern edge of the
Cotswolds, a range of
limestone hills designated as an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hills that surround and make up the city have a maximum altitude of 238
metres (780 ft) on the
Lansdown plateau. It has an area of 29
km² (11 mile²)
[Contaminated Land Inspection of the area surrounding Bath].
The surrounding hills give Bath its steep streets and make its buildings appear to climb the slopes. The
flood plain of the River Avon, which runs through the centre of the city, is at an altitude of 17 metres. The river, once an unnavigable series of
braided streams broken up by
swamps and
ponds, has been managed by
weirs into a single channel. Nevertheless, periodic flooding was normal until major flood control works in the 1970s; this shortened the life of many buildings in the lowest part of the city.
Climate
The climate of Bath is
temperate, although significantly warmer than some other locations at a similar latitude due to the warming influence of the
Gulf Stream. It is on average drier and warmer than more northerly parts of the
United Kingdom. The prevailing winds are south-westerly, from the
North Atlantic Current. More than 50% of the days are overcast. There are few natural hazards, although there can be strong winds and floods, especially in winter.
In 2003 the annual mean temperature was 10.3
°C, with extremes at 14.2 °C and 6.5 °C (50.5
°F, 57.5 °F and 43.7 °F, respectively). There were 1645 hours of sunshine, and 957
millimetres of rainfall. The temperatures, sunshine duration and rainfall are higher than the United Kingdom averages (which are 9.5 °C, or 49 °F, 1587 hours and 901.5 millimetres, respectively).
The
Liberal Democrat Don Foster is the
Member of Parliament for
Bath. His election was perhaps the most notable result of the
1992 results, as
Chris Patten, the previous Member (and a
Cabinet Minister), played a major part, as Conservative Party Chairman, in getting the government of
John Major re-elected, but failed to defend his marginal seat in Bath. Don Foster has been re-elected as the MP for Bath in every election since.
Historically part of the county of
Somerset, Bath came into
Avon when that
non-metropolitan county was created in 1974. Since the abolition of Avon in 1996, Bath has been the main centre of the
Unitary Authority of
Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES). Bath's city council was abolished in 1996; its ceremonial functions, including the
mayoralty, which can be traced back to 1230, are maintained by the "
Charter Trustees", viz. all those B&NES councillors for wards within the city limits. There have been calls to set up a
parish council for Bath, but it would be larger than any precedent (the largest,
Weston-super-Mare, has a population of about 70,000), and many have argued that it would be impractical.
The coat of arms includes two silver strips, which represent the
River Avon and the hot springs. The sword of
St Paul is a link to
Bath Abbey. The supporters, a
lion and a
bear, stand on a bed of
acorns, a link to
Bladud, the Legend of Bath. The knight's helmet indicates a municipality and the
crown is that of
King Edgar, the first king of a united England, who was crowned in Bath in
973 on the site of the current abbey.
According to the
UK Government's
2001 census[Office for National Statistics, Census 2001. Statistics about Bath.], Bath, combined with the immediate surrounding area, has a population of 169,040, with an average age of 39.9 (the national average being 38.6). According to the same statistics, Bath is overwhelmingly populated by people of a white ethnic background, 97.2%â€"significantly higher than the national average of 90.9%. Other ethnic groups in Bath, in order of population size, are
multiracial at 1%, Asian at 0.5% and black at 0.5% (the national averages are 1.3%, 4.6% and 2.1%, respectively).
The city is largely
Christian at 71%, with no other religion reaching more than 0.5%. These figures generally compare with the national averages, though the
non-religious, at 19.5%, are significantly more prevalent than the national 14.8%. Only 7.4% of the population describe themselves as "not healthy" in the last 12 months, compared to a national average of 9.2%; only 15.8% of the inhabitants say they have had a long-term illness, as against 18.2% nationally.
Celtic and Roman
|
The Roman Baths from the upper level of the site. The loss of the original roof has encouraged green algae growth. |
The archaeological evidence shows that the site of the main spring was treated as a shrine by the
Celts, and dedicated to the goddess
Sulis. The Romans probably occupied Bath shortly after their invasion of Britain in 43 AD. They knew it as
Aquae Sulis (literally "the waters of Sulis"), identifying the goddess with
Minerva. In Roman times the worship of Sulis continued and messages to her scratched onto metal have been recovered from the Sacred Spring by archaeologists. These are known as
curse tablets. These curse tablets were written in Latin, and usually laid curses on other people, whom they feel had done them wrong. For Example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the Baths, he would write a curse on a tablet, to be read by the Goddess Sulis, and also, the "suspected" names would be mentioned.The corpus from Bath is the most important found in Britain.
During the
Roman period, increasingly grand temples and bathing complexes were built in the area, including the Great Bath. Rediscovered gradually from the 18th century onward, they have become one of the city's main attractions. The city was given defensive walls, probably in the 3rd century. From the later 4th century on, the
Western Roman Empire and its urban life declined. However, while the great
suite of baths at Bath fell into disrepair, some use of the hot springs continued.
Sub-Roman and Saxon
It has been suggested that Bath may have been the site of the
Battle of Mons Badonicus (circa 500 AD), where
King Arthur is said to have defeated the
Saxons, but this
is disputed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions Bath falling to the
West Saxons in 577 after the
Battle of Deorham. The
Anglo-Saxons called the town
Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths," and this was the source of the present name. In 675,
Osric, King of the
Hwicce, set up a monastic house at Bath, probably using the walled area as its precinct.
King Offa of
Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to
St. Peter. Bath had become a royal possession. The old Roman street pattern was by now lost, and
King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct.
Norman, Medieval and Tudor
King
William Rufus granted the city to a royal physician,
John of Tours, who became Bishop of
Wells and Abbot of Bath in 1088, with permission to move the seat of
Somerset from Wells to Bath. Bishop John therefore became the first Bishop of Bath. He planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it. New baths were built around the three springs.
Later bishops preferred Wells, which regained cathedral status jointly with Bath. By the 15th century, Bath Cathedral was badly dilapidated.
Oliver King,
Bishop of Bath and Wells, decided in 1500 to rebuild it on a smaller scale. The new cathedral was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539. Then
Henry VIII considered the cathedral redundant, and it was allowed to become derelict, before being restored as the city's parish church in the
Elizabethan period, when the city revived as a spa. The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy in the bathing seasons. Bath was granted
city status in 1590.
17th century
During the
English Civil War the
Battle of Lansdowne was fought on
July 5 1643 on the outskirts of Bath.
18th century
 |
The Royal Crescent from the air: Georgian taste favoured the civilised regularity of Bath's streets and squares and the delightful contrast with rural nature immediately at hand. |
There had been much rebuilding in the
Stuart period, but this was eclipsed by the massive expansion of the city in
Georgian times. The old town within the walls was also largely rebuilt. This was a response to the continuing demand for elegant accommodation for the city's fashionable visitors, for whom Bath had become a pleasure resort as well as a spa. The architects
John Wood the elder and his son
John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. The creamy gold of
Bath stone further unified the city, much of it obtained from the
limestone Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under
Combe Down, which were owned by
Ralph Allen (1694â€"1764). The latter, in order to advertise the quality of his quarried limestone, commissioned the elder John Wood to build him a country house on his Prior Park estate. A shrewd politician, he dominated civic affairs and became mayor several times.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, pump room and assembly rooms. Master of Ceremonies
Beau Nash, who presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761, drew up a code of behaviour for public entertainments. However, the city declined as a fashionable resort in the 19th century.
Bath elected two members to the
Unreformed House of Commons.
20th century
Between the evening of
25 April and the early morning of
27 April 1942 Bath was subjected to three air raids by the
Luftwaffe in reprisal for
RAF raids on the German cities of
Lübeck and
Rostock. The three raids formed part of the Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the
Baedeker Blitz and damaged or destroyed more than 19 000 buildings and killed more than 400 people. Considerable damage was done to noteworthy historical buildings. Houses in the
Royal Crescent,
Circus and
Paragon were burnt out as were the Assembly Rooms while the south side of
Queen Square was destroyed. All have since been reconstructed.
During the 18th century, Bath was an extremely fashionable cultural hub, attracting the aristocracy and gentry from all over the country. This gave the city the finance and incentive to undertake large cultural developments. It was during this time that Bath's
Theatre Royal was first built, as well as
architectural triumphs such as
Lansdown Crescent, the
Royal Crescent,
The Circus and
Pulteney Bridge.
Today, Bath has four
theatresâ€"
Theatre Royal,
Ustinov Studio, The Egg and
Rondo Theatreâ€"attracting internationally renowned companies and directors, including
Peter Hall. The city also has a long standing musical tradition;
Bath Abbey is home to the
Klais Organ and is the largest concert venue in the city, with about 20 concerts and 26 organ recitals each year. The city holds the
Bath International Music Festival and
Mozartfest every year. Other festivals include the annual
Bath Film Festival, the
Bath Fringe Festival and the
Bath Beer Festival.
The city is home to the
Victoria Art Gallery,
Museum of East Asian Art, and
The Holburne Museum of Art, as well as the museums
The Bath Postal Museum,
The Museum of Costume,
The Jane Austen Centre and the
Roman Baths.
The city has many churches including
Manvers Gospel Hall, located in the city centre.
Bath in the arts
Perhaps the best known resident of Bath was
Jane Austen, who lived in the city from 1801 until 1806. However, Jane Austen never liked the city, and wrote to her sister Cassandra "It will be two years tomorrow since we left Bath for Clifton, with what happy feelings of escape." Despite her feelings regarding the city, Bath has honoured her name with the Jane Austen Centre and a city walk based on Austen. After leaving the city, Austen wrote two novels,
Northanger Abbey and
Persuasion (written 1816, published 1818), which are largely set in the city and feature descriptions of taking the waters, social life, and cultural resources such as music recitals.
*
Charles Dickens' novel
Pickwick Papers also features Bath, and satirises its social life. Pickwick takes the waters and his servant,
Sam Weller, comments that the water has "a very strong flavour o' warm flat irons", while the
Royal Crescent is the venue for a chase between two of the characters, Dowler and Winkle.
*
Moyra Caldecott's novel
The Waters of Sul is set in Roman Bath in 72 AD.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's play
The Rivals is also set in Bath.
* In 2004, a
movie version of
Thackeray's
Vanity Fair was largely filmed in Bath.
* The
1980s band
Tears for Fears is from Bath.
* The Pop duo
Goldfrapp is from Bath.
*
Roald Dahl's "The Landlady" also takes place in the city of Bath.
* In August 2003 the
Three Tenors sang at a special concert to mark the opening of the
Thermae Bath Spa, a new hot water spring
spa in Bath City Centre; however, as of June 2006, the spa is not yet open.
Parks
The city has several
public parks, the main one being
Royal Victoria Park is a short walk from the centre of the city. It was opened in 1830 and has an area of 150,000 m²
[Size and date of establishment of Victoria Park from UKPG database]. Several events are held in the park every year, including the
International Music Festival (a one-off Three Tenors concert took place in 2003), and it is favoured as a take-off site by
hot air balloon companies. The park features a
botanical garden, a large children's play park, and sports facilities, including ones for
crazy golf and
lawn tennis. Much of its area is
lawn; a notable feature is the way in which a
ha-ha segregates it from the Royal Crescent, while giving the impression to a viewer from the Crescent of a greensward uninterrupted across the Park up to Royal Avenue.
Other parks in Bath include: Alexandra Park, which crowns a hill and overlooks the city; Parade Gardens, along the river front near the Abbey in the centre of the city; Sydney Gardens, known as a pleasure-garden in the 18th century; Henrietta Park; Hedgemead Park; and Alice Park. Jane Austen wrote of Sydney Gardens that "It would be pleasant to be near the Sydney Gardens. We could go into the Labyrinth everyday." Alexandra, Alice and Henrietta parks were built into the growing city among the housing developments
[Information on other parks from Historic Public Parks of Bath]. A linear park now exists where the old railway line once was.
Food
The restaurant
Sally Lunn's House at 4 North Parade Passage serves teacakes called Sally Lunn's, which have long been baked in Bath. They were first mentioned by that name in verses printed in the
Bath Chronicle in 1772. At that time they were eaten hot at public breakfasts in Spring Gardens. They can be eaten with sweet or savoury toppings.
Visitors sometimes confuse
Sally Lunn's buns with
Bath Buns — oversized round, sweet, very rich buns long associated with the city. They were originally topped with crushed 'comfits' created by dipping caraway seeds repeatedly in boiling sugar but today the seeds are usually replaced by crushed sugar granules.
Bath lent its name to one other distinctive recipe —
Bath Olivers — the dry baked biscuits invented by Dr William Oliver, physician to the Mineral Water Hospital, Bath in 1740. Oliver was an early anti-obesity campaiger, writing a 'Practical Essay on the Use and Abuse of warm Bathing in Gluty Cases'. Local legend has it that he bequeathed the recipe for his low calorie biscuits to his coachman, a Mr Atkins, along with £100 and a hundred sacks of flour. Atkins subsequently opened a shop in Green Street, Bath and became a rich man on the proceeds.
The city's best known sporting team is
Bath Rugby, a
rugby union team which is currently in the
Guinness Premiership league. It plays in black, blue and white kit with its sponsors' logo, Blackthorn, on the front of the shirts. The team plays at the Recreation Ground in the city, where it has been since the late 19th century, following its establishment in 1865. The team rose to national prestige during the 1980s, and it has remained one of the best rugby teams in the country. Its first major honour was winning the John Player Cup four years consecutively from 1984 until 1987. The team then led the Courage league for six consecutive seasons, from 1988/1989 until 1995/1996, during which time it also won the Pilkington Cup in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996. It finally won the
Heineken Cup in the 1997/1998 season, and topped the Zurich (now Guinness) Premiership in 2003/2004.
Its current
squad includes several members who also play in the
English national elite team including:
Steve Borthwick,
Lee Mears,
Matt Stevens,
Olly Barkley,
David Flatman and
Danny Grewcock. The current England Rugby Team Manager
Andy Robinson used to play for Bath Rugby team and was Captain and later Coach. While in the Bath team , he was a Physical Education, Rugby and Mathematics teacher at
King Edward's School, North Road, Bath. Both of Robinson's predecessors,
Clive Woodward and
Jack Rowell, were also former Bath coaches and managers.
Bath City F.C. and
Team Bath F.C. (affiliated with the
University of Bath) are the major
football teams, both of which are in the
Southern Football League. In 2002, Team Bath became the first university team to enter the
FA Cup in 120 years, and advanced through four qualifying rounds to the first round proper. Unlike the city's rugby team, Bath City have never attained an elite status in English football; its highest position has been seventh in the
Football Conference in the 1992/1993 season. The University's team was established in 1999, while the city team has existed since before 1908 (when it entered the
Western League).
Bath City F.C. play their games at Twerton Park. Current players include; Scott Partridge, Jim Rollo, Andy Sandell and former South African international goalkeeper Paul Evans.
Cricket is played at the
Bath Cricket Club, located, like the rugby Recreation Ground, east of the river, near
Pulteney Bridge. The cricket ground is the venue for the annual
Bath Cricket Festival which sees
Somerset County Cricket Club play several games.
The Bath Recreation Ground (BathRec) is also home to
Bath Croquet Club, which was re-formed in 1976 and is affiliated with the South West Federation of
Croquet Clubs.
TeamBath is the umbrella name for all of the
University of Bath sports teams, including the aforementioned football club. Other sports for which TeamBath is noted are
athletics,
badminton,
basketball,
bob skeleton,
bobsleigh,
hockey,
judo,
modern pentathlon,
netball,
rugby,
swimming,
tennis and
triathlon.
Bath is also the home of the
Bath American Football Club, which has been playing
American Football in the city since 2001. It has three levels of play: Senior, Youth and Junior.
The city lies at the junction of the
Kennet and Avon Canal and the navigable
River Avon. It has a station on the main line from
London to
Bristol, which was built by the
Great Western Railway. At one time, it was also served by the
Midland Railway, and by the
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.
Today, its once-important manufacturing sector is much declined, but it has notable software, publishing and service-oriented industries, in addition to tourism. The magazine publisher
Future Publishing is one of Bath's bigger employers. The firm publishes over 100 magazines, including many in the computer and video gaming sector. Other main employers are the
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), although a number of MOD offices have moved to
Bristol; The
National Health Service, and
Helphire Group Plc an Accident Management Company specialising in non-fault motor accidents. Bath contains many small single-shop or restaurant-based businesses, which fulfil a niche market and are primarily supported by tourism.
Bath's principal industry is
tourism. Bath is the most visited city outside of
London for tourists travelling to the UK, whose visits mainly fall into the categories of
heritage tourism or
cultural tourism. All significant stages of the
history of England are represented within the city, from the Roman Baths (including their significant
Celtic presence), to
Bath Abbey and the
Royal Crescent, to
Thermae Bath Spa in the 2000s.
The size of the tourist industry is reflected in the almost 300 places of accommodationâ€"including over 80
hotels, and over 180
Bed and Breakfastsâ€"many of which are located in
Georgian buildings and have five-star ratings. The city also contains approximately 100 restaurants, and a similar number of
public houses and
bars. Several companies offer
open-top bus tours around the city, as well as tours on foot and on the river.
The tourist season is mainly the summer, though there is a year-round presence of tourists. While many come to Bath to see the city in general, some are attracted to particular aspects of the city, such as the
Jane Austen landmarks or the
Roman Baths.
The Spa
In 2006, with the opening of
Thermae Bath Spa, the city has attempted to recapture its historical position as the only town in the
United Kingdom offering visitors the opportunity to bathe in naturally heated spring waters.
Twinned towns
Bath has four twinned towns:
*
Aix-en-Provence,
France*
Alkmaar,
Netherlands*
Braunschweig,
Germany 1947*
Kaposvár,
HungaryBath is served by the
Bath Spa railway station, which has regular connections to
London Paddington,
Bristol Temple Meads,
Cardiff,
Swansea,
Plymouth and
Penzance (see
Great Western Main Line), and also
Westbury,
Warminster,
Salisbury,
Southampton,
Portsmouth and
Brighton (see
Wessex Main Line). Services are provided by
First Great Western. There is a suburban station on the main line, Oldfield Park, which has a limited commuter service to Bristol. The charming
Green Park station, once operated by the
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, was closed by
Beeching in 1965, but the building survives and is used for shopping.
Though Bath does not have an airport, the city is not far from
Bristol International Airport, which may be accessed by
car and by
bus or taxi, and by rail via Bristol Temple Meads or Nailsea & Backwell.
National Express operates
coach services from Bath to a number of cities. Internally, Bath has a large number of bus routes run by the
First Group, with services to surrounding towns and cities. There are two other companies running open top double decker bus tours around the city.
 |
Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey, Bath, England. Made from local Bath stone, this is a Victorian restoration (made in the 1860s) of the original roof from 1608 |
Of Bath's notable buildings,
Bath Abbey is one of the most striking and whilst appearing very old, 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 the early 16th century 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 choir and transepts have a fine
fan vault by
Robert and
William Vertue, who worked on the fan vault at
King's College Chapel, Cambridge and designed similar vaulting in the
Henry VII chapel at
Westminster Abbey. The nave was given a matching vault in the 19th century. 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 his 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 appear 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 300 m long and 30 m 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.
Bath has two
universities,
The University of Bath and
Bath Spa University. The former was established in 1966 and has grown to become a leading university in the United Kingdom, present in many top 10 lists and rated as excellent, the highest rating on government scales, in 14 subjects. The university is known, academically, for the physical sciences,
mathematics and technology. It is also well known for its
sports, which it plays under the name
Team Bath. In football,
Team Bath F.C. was, in the 2002/2003 season, the first university team to enter the
FA Cup since 1880.
Bath Spa University was first granted degree-awarding powers in 1992 as a
university college (Bath Spa University College), before being granted
university status in August 2005. It has schools in the following subject areas: Art and Design, Education, English and Creative Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies, Music and the Performing Arts, and Social Sciences.
The city contains one
A-Level college,
City of Bath College, and several
sixth forms (schools which contain A-Level awarding departments) as part of both
state ,
private, and
public schools. The oldest school in the city is
King Edward's School, Bath (commonly known as KES), a
public school which was founded in 1552. Other independent schools in Bath include
Prior Park College (co-educational with sixth form), Kingswood School (co-educational with sixth form),
Royal High School, Bath (girls-only with sixth form), and
Monkton Combe (co-educational with sixth form).
Notable state-funded
secondary schools include
Beechen Cliff School (boys-only with co-educational sixth form), Culverhay School (boys-only with sixth form),
Hayesfield School Technology College (girls-only with co-educational sixth form), St Gregory's Catholic College (co-educational with no sixth form), Oldfield School (girls-only with co-educational sixth form), and
Ralph Allen School (co-educational with sixth form).
Many notable people, such as
Sir Roger Bannister,
Ann Widdecombe and
Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, went to school in Bath.
Bath has two main local newspapers, the
Bath Chronicle and the
Bath Times. Both of these are published by
Bath Newspapers with joint sales of approximately 178,000 per week, although the Bath Times is a freely distributed paper that contains the highlights from the past week's editions of the Chronicle. The
BBC's
Where I Live web site for Somerset has featured coverage of news and events within Bath since 2003.
[BBC Somerset] The
Bath Chronicle is a daily newspaper, published since 1760. Owned by the
Daily Mail newsgroup, it is a
tabloid newspaper with a circulation of 14,633 and a readership of 40,252.
[Circulation and readership numbers from official website] The
Bath Times is a
free weekly newspaper, largely based around
advertising. Also a tabloid, it has a circulation of 29,946 and maintains a readership of some 44,577.
In addition to these, The University of Bath has its own newspaper publication called
Bath impact, a
free fortnightly newspaper, written and edited entirely by students at the
University of Bath. It has a circulation of 3,000 and a readership of perhaps 10,000.
Radio stations broadcasting to the city include
GWR Bath and the more locally-focused
Bath FM, as well as The University of Bath's
1449AM URB, a student-focused radio on campus and also available online [
1].
*
American Museum  |
Historic house |
*
Assembly Rooms  |
National Trust |
*
Bath Abbey*
Beckford's Tower *
The Circus*
Claverton Pumping Station*
Cleveland Bridge*
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines*
Great Pulteney Street*
Kennet and Avon Canal*
Lansdown Crescent*
Museum of East Asian Art*
Postal Museum*
Prior Park |
National Trust |
*
Pulteney Bridge*
The Recreation Ground*
River Avon*
Roman Baths *
Royal Crescent *
Solsbury Hill*
St Catherine's Court |
Historic house |
*
Thermae Bath Spa*
William Herschel Museum General
*Bath24 — What's On guide
*Thermae Bath Spa
*Where I Live — Somerset from BBC.co.uk
; Tourism
* Wikitravel — Bath
; Media
*Bath Chronicle
*Bath impact
; Sports
*Bath Rugby
*Bath Rugby Supporters Club
*Bath Rugby Fans Site
*Bath Cricket Festival
*Bath Cricket Club
*Bath Croquet Club
*Team Bath
; Education
*University of Bath
*Bath Spa University
; Voluntary Groups
*Bath International Evening
; Local Issues
*Bath Cycling Campaign
; Politics
*Bath & North East Somerset Council
; Health
*B&NES Primary Care Trust
*C Card Bath
; Culture
*Bath Theatre Royal
*Bath Fringe Festival 2006
*The Holburne Museum of Art
;Churches
*Manvers Gospel Hall*
Bath Community and Information site*
Mushroom Guide to Bath*
This is Bath*
Bath and North East Somerset council*
University of Bath*
Bath Past*
Bath Postal Museum
