5S4 



BATH. 



Bath. expense in all the luxuries of the warm "Bath which 

 "~v ' they had enjoyed in their native country, they dig- 

 nified the hot springs with the appellation of the 

 " Waters of the Sun." The first detachment of the 

 second legion was stationed at Bath ; and after the 

 successive arrival of other divisions of the Roman 

 army, the town increased in size till it became the 

 principal city in that part of Britain which was sub- 

 ject to the Romans. The form of the city was nearly 

 pentagonal, having its greatest breadth about 380 

 yards, and comprehending an area of nearly 4000 

 yards. The wall which inclosed it, consisted of 

 layers of stone, brick, and terras, about ten feet thick, 

 and twenty feet high ; and were flanked with a tower 

 at each angle. Two grand streets, intersecting each 

 other, and dividing the city into four parts, termi- 

 nated in four gates, facing the cardinal points of the 

 horizon. Temples and magnificent baths, the re- 

 mains of which were discovered in the year 1755, 

 combined to give elegance and splendour to this Ro- 

 man station. Bath underwent many changes during 

 the numerous wars and revolutions which mark the 

 history of England, but most of them are of too in- 

 significant a nature to be detailed in a work like 

 this. 



Bath has been long regarded as one of the finest 

 towns of England, on account of the beauty of its 

 streets and the magnificence of its public buildings. 

 The Royal Crescent, which is of an elliptical form, 

 and contains thirty houses, forms one of the finest 

 assemblage of buildings in the kingdom. A single 

 order of Ionic pillars supports the superior cornice, 

 and the houses command a delightful prospect of the 

 greater part of the city. Queen-square, Marlborough 

 Buildings, Lansdown Crescent, Catherine Place, and 

 River Street, are also remarkable for their elegance 

 and excellent situation. The old assembly rooms, 

 built in 1750, are about 90 feet long, 36 broad, and 

 34 high, and enjoy a beautiful prospect of the Avon, 

 and the surrounding hills. They are surpassed, how- 

 ever, in size and elegance by the new assembly rooms, 

 which were opened in 1771. The ball room is 106 

 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 42 feet high. One of the 

 card rooms is an octagon, 48 feet in diameter; and 

 the other is rectangular, being 70 feet long, and 27 

 feet wide. The theatre was designed and erected in 

 1768, by Mr Palmer, who obtained his majesty's 

 letters patent for dramatic entertainments. The 

 guildhall, of which the foundation stone was laid in 

 1760, is a very handsome building; and the common 

 council room is adorned with several portraits of pub- 

 lic character?. The circus is a grand circular pile of 

 uniform buildings, with three openings at equal dis- 

 tances, leading into different streets. The fronts of 

 the houses are decorated with three rows of columns, 

 in pairs, of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, 

 having the frize adorned with sculpture; and in the 

 centre is a reservoir of water, collected from the 

 surrounding springs. The General Hospital is an 

 elegant budding, iOO feet long and 90 deep, and ca- 

 pable of accommodating 100 patients. It is sup- 

 ported by voluntary contribution, and receives from 

 every pait of the world any invalids that desire 

 benefit from the Rath waters. St John's Hospital, 

 founded in 1180; St Catharine's Hospital ; Bellot's 

 Hospital ; the City Dispensary and Asylum ; the 



Casualty Hospital ; the Puerperal, or child-bed cha- 

 rity ; and the Stranger's Friend Society, are the other 

 benevolent institutions, which the wealthy inhabi- 

 tants of Bath have provided for the relief and comfort 

 of the poor. 



Besides the public grammar school, and other esta- 

 blishments for the instruction of the ignorant poor, 

 Bath contains two excellent institutions for the pro- 

 motion of science and the arts. The Bath and 

 West of England Society was established in 1777, 

 by Mr Edmund Rack, for the encouragement of 

 agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and the arts. 

 The volumes of its Transactions, which have already- 

 appeared, evince the utility of the institution, and the 

 activity of its members^ The Philosophical Society 

 was established in 1799, for the diffusion of science 

 and literature. 



The principal churches in Bath are the Abbey 

 Church, St James's Church, St Michael's Church, 

 and Walcot Church. The Abbey Church, which 

 has the form of a cross, is about 210 feet long, from 

 north-east to west, and 126 from north and south, 

 with a breadth of 72 feet. A magnificent tower, 

 about 162 feet high, rises from the centre of the 

 building, and gives a dignified appearance to this 

 beautiful specimen of English architecture. The 

 richness of the west window, the arched doorway, 

 which forms the western entrance, the roof of the 

 building, and the marble monuments within, are de- 

 serving of particular attention. 



There are here four public baths, viz. the King'* 

 Bath, the Queen's Bath, the Cross Bath, and the Hot 

 Bath. The King's Bath is 65 feet long and 40 broad, 

 and contains more than 346 tons of water when it stands 

 at its usual height. The spring which fills it rises from 

 the centre, and is inclosed by a brass hand-rail of an 

 octagonal form, while the whole bath is surrounded 

 by a beautiful colonnade of the Doric order. The 

 Queen's Bath, which is attached to the former, and 

 receives its water from it, is a bason 25 feet square. 

 The Cross Bath, which was so called from a cross 

 erected in its centre by the Earl of Melfort, is of a 

 triangular form, and is situated at the extremity of 

 Bath Street. The Hot Bath, which is about 40 

 yards south-west of the King's Bath, is about 56 

 feet square, and is remarkable for the great heat of 

 its water, which is 117 of Fahrenheit. Besides 

 these there are several private baths, which are not 

 worthy of particular notice. 



The Bath water has a gentle chalybeate taste, which 

 completely disappears as soon as the water cools. 

 The portion of iron which enters into its composi- 

 tion, does not exceed a grain in a gallon of water. 

 The Bath water is also hard, and besides a little cal- 

 careous earth, and a small portion of azotic gas, it 

 holds in solution a small quantity of silex. It con- 

 tains also about - g '- of its bulk of carbonic acid. The 

 diseases in which the Bath water is supposed to be 

 useful, arc gout, palsy, rheumatism, and diseases of 

 the urinary organs. Bath contains 3619 houses, and 

 27,686 inhabitants, of whom 10,521 are males, and 

 17,165 females, 6103 being employed in trade. West 

 Long. 2 22', and North Lat. 51 23'. Sec Phil. 

 Trans. 1767, vol. lvii. N 22. Gibb's Treatise op 

 the Bath Waters. Warner's History of Bath, jj) 

 BATH, Knights of the, an order of knights, 



Bath. 



