# Bath Guide - Roman Baths and Georgian Architecture

> Discover Bath, the Georgian city on the southern edge of the Cotswolds, with notes on the Roman Baths, Pump Room, Royal Crescent, Bath Abbey and its history.

URL: https://cotswolds.info/places/visit-bath.htm  
Section: Villages & Towns  
Location: Bath, Bath and North East Somerset (51.3811, -2.359)

![View over the city  of Bath](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/banner1.jpg)

Places of Interest

Places to Stay

Places to Eat

Places to Visit

In the County of Somerset

Southern Edge of Cotswolds

100 miles East of London

Access - M4 from East and M5 from North

The city of Bath in the English County of Somerset is located at the southern extremeties of the Cotswolds. Bath is known for it's Georgian classical architecture and it's development as a Roman city 'Aquae Sullis'. The presence of hot springs and easily worked limestone made it attractive to the Romans who built the original town which flourished for 400 years.

![Roman architecture in Bath](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/smallpic3.jpg)

Bath declined quickly after the Romans left Britain and did not thrive again until the eighteenth century when once again it was water and stone that made it great but this time of Georgian influenced architecture.

![Roman Baths in the centre of the City of Bath](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/banner2.jpg)
The Roman Baths

![Georgian architecture in the city of Bath](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/banner3.jpg)
The Royal Crescent

## Main Local Attractions of Bath

**Roman Baths** - The towns main attraction dates back to the first century AD. The baths are remarkably well preserved, though no longer used. Adjoining the baths is a symbol of the city's golden age in the Georgian period - the Pump Room - where the fashion conscious elite came to "take the waters".

**Royal Crescent** - the most photographed building in Bath. Within the building are 30 individual houses , the middle two of which is now a hotel, whilst No.1 houses a museum containing a perfectly restored Georgian townhouse interior.

![Royal Crescent in Bath](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/smallpic1.jpg)

**Bath Abbey** - In the early 16th century the the Norman cathedral was replaced by a magnificent new one which is a fine example of English Perpendicular architecture and was conceived by the Bishop of Bath in 1499 after experiencing a vivid dream.

The entrance to the Abbey is at the West Front with it's Jacob's Ladder of angels ascending to heaven.

![Bath Cathedral](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/smallpic2.jpg)

**Pulteney Bridge** - Commissioned by William Johnstone Pulteney and designed by Robert Adam between 1770 and 1774, Pulteney Bridge, a mini Pontevechio, cost the enormous sum of £11,000 to build, not least because of the tiny shops lining both sides.

On the right side of the bridge, steps lead down to the river Avon, where cruises on the river depart.

![Pulteney Bridge in Bath over the river Avon](https://cotswolds.info/images/Bath/smallpic4.jpg)

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## Cotswold Towns Villages and Places