In the days before paid vacation for everyone, only the well-to-do could afford a little leisure time. Leisure was seen as a duty of rest and relaxation, perhaps taking the efficacious waters in one of the English spa towns.
Being the dedicated followers of fashion that the Georgians were, they took the lead of their monarch in taking a rest cure or two – the most famous of these towns is, of course, Bath. The hot springs were in use in ancient times and were formalised by the Romans who knew a good piece of real estate and knew how to build a nifty bathing pavilion or two.
Seeing it named after the Celtic god Sul and discovering its efficacious properties, the Romans named the city Aqua Sullis (the waters of Sul) and created a shrine to the goddess Minerva who, not coincidentally was a Roman goddess of the healing arts.
By the third decade of the 18th century Bath was one of the most fashionable locations, bouyed by the popularity of a season program by acclaimed Master of Ceremonies Richard ‘Beau’ Nash 1674-1762 who was made Master of Ceremonies.
Those who could not afford a London debut were happy to try their matrimonial luck in Bath. It was the place to see and be seen.
To cater for the increasing visitor numbers many fine buildings were erected in Bath in the 18th century. In the 1790s, the Great Pump Room was built to replace the now inadequate 1706 room. While excavating the foundations for this, many of the first finds relating to the Roman Temple were made.
That, combined with a broader interest in classical revivalism at that time, influenced Bath’s skyline to such a degree that today, it is a showcase of the finest Georgian architecture in Britain.
Architect John Wood the Elder 1704-1754 built Queen Square in 1728-1739. He built The Circus in 1754-60. His son John Wood the Younger was born in 1727. He built Royal Crescent in 1767-1774. He also built Assembly Rooms in 1769-71. The Octagon was built in 1767 and Margaret Chapel was built in 1773.
Pulteney Bridge was built in 1774. It was named after William Pulteney the first Earl of Bath and it was designed by Robert Adam.
From 1718 attempts were made to pave and properly clean the streets of Bath and to light them with oil lamps. A general hospital was built in Bath in 1742 and the first bank in Bath opened in 1768. Sydney Gardens opened in 1795.
During the Summer Georgian Bath was full of rich visitors. They played cards, went to balls and horse racing, went walking and horse riding. However the high life was only for a small minority. There were a great many poor people in Bath, as there were in every town. Despite the fine architecture there was also plenty of squalor and overcrowding in Bath.
During the Georgian period, Bath burst out of the cramped confines of its medieval walls in a great spurt of new building. Elegant terraces snaked out across the surrounding hills capturing between them stretches of countryside that became the parks and gardens of an outstandingly lovely city. This explosive growth was fuelled by Bath’s phenomenal popularity as a spa.
Horse riding in the hills around Bath was a popular past time.
John Wood (junior and senior) had a stunning vision for the city and they are rightly lauded as fine architects, but in many respects they were speccie builders. They leased tracts of land outside the medieval city walls developed the master plan and further leased off the plots to builders who could build whatever took their client’s fancy, as long as they conformed to Wood’s façades of uniform splendour.
Two of these magnificent examples are featured in Moonstone Conspiracy – Landsdown Crescent and The Crescent (in the early 19th century it received its royal warrant which is why it is today known as The Royal Crescent).
Situated on the edge of a grassy hill overlooking the city center below, the Royal Crescent is the most notable and well known of Bath’s famous crescents. Built in 1774 based on a concept and design that belonged to architect John Wood the Younger, the Royal Crescent stands with the Roman Baths and Bath Abbey as one of the West Country city’s truly world famous attractions. An unbroken crescent of grand Georgian townhouses, the Royal Crescent stands out from the city’s other Georgian architecture because of its scale, and the ambition of its imposing, Roman influenced design.
Lansdown Crescent is one of the finest examples of Bath’s architectural trademark – the sweeping, impeccably preserved Georgian crescents dotted around the city’s Georgian suburbs. These crescents are located on the hills north of Bath’s historic city centre. Lansdown Crescent lies further afield than its more famous counterpart, the Royal Crescent, and requires a fifteen minute walk along a series of ever steepening roads from the city centre. When you arrive, however, the extra exertion proves to be worthwhile – as the crescent looks over a truly spectacular view of the city, nestled in the valley below.
Much like a rose, by the beginning of the 19th century, Bath’s allure was beginning to fade. That which was popular in the past were increasingly see as old hat. Eventually the newest King, George IV led the way among the fashionable set and eschewed Bath for the beach – thus turning the little seaside village of Brighton into the nation’s holiday resort right up into the 20th century.
100 years after Bath’s hey day, everyone was singing: ‘oh I do like to be beside the seaside.’
But architectural renewal could not halt the process of decline; the heyday of the spa had passed. Bath’s very popularity had killed it as a fashionable resort. As the middle classes flocked to the city, the glamour of exclusivity was lost. Gradually the ebb and flow of seasonal visitors bringing with them the sparkle of London life gave way to a staider air as Bath became a favoured retirement home for those seeking an inexpensive gentility. After 1800, the seaside resorts gained in popularity and Bath slipped from its pinnacle. But a boom century has left a remarkable architectural legacy. Bath is unique in being almost entirely Georgian; here the tastes of that elegant age are given their finest urban expression.
Excerpt
Abigail gave a small smile and a squeeze to his hand, then slipped away. It would be as well to not be there when Emily returned. She skirted the edges of the brightly-lit ballroom, avoiding acquaintances, to slip through one of the side doors into the grand hallway.
A few couples strolled its length; the sound of the music from the ballroom was muted.
Abigail walked past the entrance to the tea room, now set with tables and chairs as a quiet place for refreshments, and into the Octagonal Room.
Painted in orange, the room was more than a thoroughfare into the card room at the back of the Assembly Hall. Several small fire places were set into the angled walls, screened off by oriental-inspired black lacquer screens, offering semi-private places for informal gatherings and assignations by the light of a single multi-tiered chandelier suspended over the center of the room.
On other nights, she would not have lingered long here—not when there was a purse to win at cards—but tonight Abigail chose a quiet alcove to sit in. She closed her eyes.
Poor William. She wasn’t sure what right she had to offer anyone advice on finding and keeping true love, especially when she couldn’t be sure she had ever experienced it herself. Affection, passion, lust… they were all were familiar to her, but love?
Abigail wasn’t even sure she knew what it was.