Bath - Pulteney Bridge

Bath a city with a population of nearly 100.000, is named after its Roman-built baths. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The city became a spa with the Latin name Aquae Sulis around 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon.

Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century.

Claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs, and Bath became popular as a spa town. In the 16th and 17th centuries, aristocrats and even monarchs came here for a cure and made the place famous. The Queen of England was a guest in 1702. The steep rise as a fashionable spa resort of world renown began. By 1800, the population had grown to 34,000 thanks to the spa, making Bath the eighth largest city in England.
Pulteney Bridge is a bridge over the River Avon. It was completed by 1774, and connected the city with the land of the Pulteney family. Designed by Robert Adam in a Palladian style, it is highly unusual in that it has shops built across its full span on both sides.

By the end of the 18th century, it had been damaged by floods, but was rebuilt to a similar design. Over the next century alterations to the shops included cantilevered extensions on the bridge's north face. In the 20th century, several schemes were carried out to preserve the bridge and partially return it to its original appearance.

The bridge is now 45 metres long and 18 metres wide. It is still used by buses and taxis.