Bath and Body
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Wikipedia-Article "Bath"
- For other uses, see Bath (disambiguation).
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Population: | 80,000 |
| Ordnance Survey | |
| OS grid reference: | Maps for ST745645 |
| Administration | |
| Unitary authority: | Bath and North East Somerset |
| Region: | South West England |
| Nation: | England |
| Other | |
| Police force: | Avon and Somerset |
| Ceremonial county: | Somerset |
| Historic county: | Somerset |
| Post office and telephone | |
| Post town: | BATH |
| Postal district: | BA1 |
| Dialling code: | 01225 |
| Politics | |
| UK Parliament: | |
| European Parliament: | South West England |
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Bath is a city in South West England most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. The city was first documented as a Roman spa, although tradition suggests that it was founded earlier. The waters from its spring were believed to be a cure for many afflictions. From Elizabethan to Georgian times it was a resort city for the wealthy. As a result of its popularity during the latter period, the city contains many fine examples of Georgian architecture, most notably the Royal Crescent. The city has a population of over 80,000 and is a World Heritage Site.
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Geography
Situation and transport
Bath is located at 51°22′34″N, 2°21′35″W[1]. 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 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 waterway—closed for many years, but restored in the last years of the 20th century—is now popular among users of narrow boats, and was historically an important water route to London.
Physical geography
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)[2].
The surrounding hills give Bath its steep streets and makes 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).
Politics
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, 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.
Demographics
According to the UK Government's 2001 census[3], 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%—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.
History
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. 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.
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.
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 see 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.
Henry VIII considered the cathedral redundant, and it was allowed to become derelict, but it was 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.
There was 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 builders John Wood and his self-titled son 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 quarries under Combe Down, which were owned by Ralph Allen (1694–1764). 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.
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.
Culture
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 three theatres—Theatre Royal, Ustinov Studio and Rondo Theatre—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 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.
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.
Roald Dahl's "The Landlady" also takes place in the city of Bath.
Sport
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 the Zurich (now Guinness) Premiership in 2003/2004.
Its current squad includes three members who also play in the English national elite team: Steve Borthwick, 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 Maths 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