Bath - Royal Crescent

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. The building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries.

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.


The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger, and built between 1767 and 1774, it is a great example of Georgian architecture. The architect was probably influenced by the design of the Circus, designed by his father John Wood the Elder in 1754-1769 and located just 300 metres away.

Although some changes have been made to the various interiors over the years, the Georgian stone facade remains much as it was when first built.

The street that is known today as "the Royal Crescent" was originally named "The Crescent." It is claimed that the adjective "Royal" was added at the end of the 18th century after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany had stayed there.

Each original purchaser bought a length of the façade, and then employed their own architect to build a house behind the facade to their own specifications; hence what can appear to be two houses is occasionally just one.

A British car in front of a Georgian facade