Bath, England

The town of Bath in England has a long history, at least back to the Romans. The area has a natural hot spring that they used to create a Roman-style bath house, but that is a topic for a future post. The rest of the town is interesting with plenty of bath-related locations and other interests.

An entrance to baths, but not the Roman Baths

Near the Baths is Bath Abbey, a Saxon abbey built in the 800s. It was the place where Edgar, the first king of England, was coronated by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury in 973. At least, that's what the sign on the back of the cathedral says.

Bath Abbey (next to the Roman Baths!)

View from a nearby walkway

We discovered an interesting statue by the church. It's called the Rebecca Statue, depicting the Biblical woman who provided water for the servant of Abraham (and eventually married his son). The statue was sponsored by the local temperance society in the 1860s, so naturally the inscription is "Water is Best!"

Rebecca Statue

The streets have plenty of Roman and Romanesque architecture.

An archway

Christian Science Reading Room

The River Avon runs through the town. Along the river is Parade Gardens, a small park with a bandstand. We did not go in the park but saw it from the road above.

Parade Gardens

Over the river is Pulteney Bridge, which looked to us like a covered bridge made of stone. 

Pulteney Bridge

When we got to the bridge, we discovered that it is a regular traffic bridge with shops built along it!

On Pulteney Bridge

Nearby is the Bath Market, which houses many small shops and kiosks selling various wares.

Bath Market

At the center of the market

Market Pillar

After visiting the Roman Baths, we got Roman ice cream at The Real Italian Ice Cream Company. They have gelato made from local ingredients, so the authenticity is suspect. The treats were delicious nonetheless!

A gelato from any other cream tastes as sweet

Another famous thing about Bath is that Jane Austen lived there. We made it to the outside of the Jane Austen Centre, where I got a picture with the lady.

That was really her, wasn't it?

Nearby is a gravel path like the one that Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth walked along in Persuasion.

Gravel path to the fancy homes

On our way out of town, we discovered a Krispy Kreme donut shop. Krispy Kreme is a chain in America that makes well-loved donuts. This shop had flavors we had not heard of or tried before. We bought some as a treat!

What's this doing here?

We could have spent a lot more time in Bath, seeing the Edwardian fancy homes and such. We were happy with our quick visit. Roman Baths in the next post!