Mayors Guides - Bath

Our county looking its loveliest at the High Sheriff of Somerset garden party. A chance for our Chair to explain what we do and how we do it to various county mayors and representatives of local organisations #bathguides #visitbath #visitsomerset

A huge thank you to the Mayor of Bath for welcoming our Guides Committee to his parlour. It was lovely to hear and feel his support for what we do, and to share our joint passion for our beautiful city.

No 40 #JaneAusten Thank you for joining us on our virtual journey, including many places beyond the range of our regular walks. Happy Birthday to Jane (for 16 December 1775). Look out for the return of our additional special walks in 2026. "Oh. Who can ever be tired of Bath?" #VisitBath

Now Camden Crescent. Originally 32 symmetrical homes. In 1889 a landslide led to 9 houses being lost and with other landslips in the area led to the demolition of other homes and the creation of Hedgemead Park. It is named, like Camden Town in London, after the 1st Earl of Camden.

No 39 (Gold medal) #JaneAusten Camden Place - 29 references - all in Persuasion and the place the Elliots rent in Bath. The Elliots had in turn rented out the family home to Admiral Croft – his wife being Captain Wentworth’s brother, but unaware of his past association with Anne.

Our completely free daily walks start here in Abbey Churchyard (formerly the Pump Yard). In 2024 we showed over 46,000 people around our beautiful city – something we have done since 1934. Our average feedback score of 4.98/5.00 - please do come on a walk with us - all welcome.

No 38 (Silver Medal) #JaneAusten The Pump Room & Pump Yard has 26 mentions – largely in Northanger Abbey. It is at the centre of the action but often overcrowded, a place to see everyone and yet no-one. The pump-room book provided an (incomplete) register of visitors to Bath.

This ghost sign shows a circulating library and reading room. Books at the time were heavy and expensive and for visitors to Bath for the season a paid subscription to such libraries was the answer. This sign can be dated to pre 1826 - the final year of the state lottery.

No 37 (Bronze Medal) #JaneAusten Milsom Street has 16 mentions. In Northanger Abbey it is where the Tilneys rent a house. Originally built as housing; in Persuasion it is portrayed (as it increasingly became) as a shopping street including Molland's - a real sweet shop / cafe.

Gout can be triggered by a rich diet and lead poisoning. Lead acetate was used as a sweetener in wine. Drinking Bath waters reduced wine / lead intake and bathing helped remove lead from the body - delivering a partial, temporary but definite "cure" - until old habits returned.

No 36 #JaneAusten Great Pulteney Street is the longest and widest street in Bath. It has 15 refs, all but one in Northanger Abbey. Neighbours of the Morlands the Allens visit bringing Catherine and stay here. Mr Allen for his gout and Mrs Allen for the rest Bath has to offer.

No 35 #JaneAusten The theatre gets a mention in both books (9 + 2) but it moved between them being written. Northanger Abbey features the Old Theatre Royal - including descriptions of the interior. We know that Jane attended plays here. Persuasion features the
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Off Laura Place are Henrietta, Johnstone and Great Pulteney Streets. (Henrietta) Laura Johnstone Pulteney (1766 – 1808) was the only child of Francis who had inherited the Bathwick estate where these roads are built. Her picture (age 11) by Angelica Kauffmann is in
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No 34 #JaneAusten Laura Place (9 refs) appears in both books – largely Persuasion where the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple (cousin of the Elliots) and daughter “had taken a house, for three months ... and would be living in style.” Her arrival being announced in the "Bath paper".

Very true! Scholars can argue over whether it was Athelstan, Edgar or another. Best solution is to visit both Bath and Malmesbury. You may not get closer to the answer, but you can immerse yourself in the beauty and history of the area.

King Edgar the peacemaker was the first king of all England. He was crowned in Bath (on the site of the current abbey) some years into his reign in 973 AD. The ceremony used became the template for all future coronations including that for Charles III over 1000 years later.

No 33 #JaneAusten Edgar(‘s) Buildings has 8 references throughout Northanger Abbey – including the wonderful line about Anne Thorpe “she was loitering towards Edgar’s Buildings between two of the sweetest girls in the world, who had been her dear friends all the morning.”

Abbey Church House which backs onto Westgate Buildings is (with Bath Abbey) a rare (much restored) survivor of medieval Bath and a reminder of how the city looked before the dramatic change in style that accompanied the Georgian building boom.

No32 #JaneAusten In Persuasion Anne visits her school friend, the ill and impoverished widow Mrs Smith “living in a very humble way, unable even to afford herself the comfort of a servant” in Westgate Buildings (7 refs) close to the slum of Avon St and the curative hot baths.

Mr James King was in fact a real person. He held the post in the Lower Rooms from 1785 to 1805 and then the Upper Rooms until his death in 1816 – a move that confirmed the superior standing of the Upper Rooms. Jane also references writers Anne Radcliffe and indirectly Fanny Burney.

No31 #JaneAusten Northanger Abbey has 6 refs (Persuasion 0) to the Lower Rooms. Mr King the master of ceremonies introduces Catherine to “a very gentleman-like young man as a (dance) partner”. Where the Rooms (now demolished) were is now "Bog Island" named for the public toilets that were there!

The Assembly Rooms were design by John Wood the Younger (who also designed the Royal Crescent) whilst his dad gave us Queen Square and the Circus. They led the expansion, and rebuild, of Bath in the Palladian style – which in turn harked back to Greek and Roman architecture.

No30 #JaneAusten Northanger Abbey has 5 refs to the Upper Rooms (Persuasion refers to specific rooms). Catherine visits here first but is introduced to Henry Tilney at the Lower Rooms. He asks her “are you altogether pleased with Bath?” “Yes—I like it very well.” is her reply.

Union Street replaced the Bear Inn – This was the originally meeting place of the oldest surviving freemasons lodge in Bath. Formed in 1732 the Bear Inn Lodge became Royal Cumberland Lodge in 1786 – probably named after the Duke of Cumberland – the "Butcher of the Scots".

No29 #JaneAusten We met this pair in post no 3. In both books (5 refs) these are the way to the upper town but Union Street was only created in 1805. Union Passageway was also rebuilt. Prior to this the medieval houses were so close you could shake hands across the street.

After its peak the Rooms had a tough time. The tea room was turned into a saleroom / market in 1921. Plans to turn it into a lending library were agreed in 1934. The interior was destroyed in the Bath Blitz of April 1942. Restored in 1956-63 and 1987-91, and again right now.

No28 #JaneAusten The "Concert Room" mentioned in Persuasion is part of the Assembly Rooms and now known as the Tea Room. Concerts were held there on a Wednesday. Here Anne Elliot seeks to speak to Captain Wentworth who she comes to realise is jealous of Mr Elliot’s time with her.

The centre house (No 16) was the Bath residence of Elizabeth Montagu who founded the C18 Blue Stockings Society. It supported and encouraged women in their intellectual and artistic endeavours - members included Catharine Macaulay, Hester Thrale, Hannah More and Fanny Burney.

No27 #JaneAusten The Royal Crescent (5 refs) is only mentioned in Northanger Abbey. The fields in front being a place to “breath the air of better company” on a Sunday. Always just “the Crescent” in the book. This year Robbie Williams helped it to celebrate its 250th birthday.

We have once again been awarded the Travellers Choice award by Trip Advisor.

We are currently ranked no 1 of 151 Tours and Activities in Bath #VisitBath

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