Accommodation in Bath - Three of the City’s Museums

Three tremendous museums only yards from your city centre accommodation.

Accommodation in Bath is always sought after; whether it is for an elegant room on the Royal Crescent, lodging in a Georgian townhouse on the Circus, or a suite of rooms on Great Pulteney Street. The reasons for accommodation in Bath being so popular, may best be appreciated by visiting three unique museums dedicated to the evolution of Bath.

The Building of Bath Collection

The layout of Bath rests within the history and geography of the area. The discovery of a natural source of geochemically warmed water, the contours of the seven hills that embrace the city, the location and flow of the River Avon, all helped determine why Bath developed as she is today. For a bird’s eye view of the city, visit the The Building of Bath Collection housed in the Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel on the Paragon. The museum is home to the most magnificent fully detailed architectural model of the historic city centre. This room sized model shares a unique insight into the layout of the Georgian City. The model helps define the hill embracing crescents of Lansdown, the Royal Crescent with their spectacular sun embracing aspects, and beautiful vistas across the heart of the city. The linking streets and boulevards are laid out in a classical and grand manner. Finally, the model introduces the six storey Georgian town houses which are further explored within the museum. The evolution and importance of the grand reception rooms are explained alongside their role in genteel Georgian society and the kitchens, vaults and servants quarters are introduced.

No1 The Royal Crescent

For those interested in a more rounded and comprehensive insight into Georgian living, then little may compare with a leisurely visit to  No1 The Royal Crescent . It was built to the designs of John Wood the Younger in 1767-1774 as the first house in the Royal Crescent. On visiting the house, one is introduced to such Georgian standards as the parlour, the gentlemen’s retreat, the withdrawing room, not to mention the housekeeper’s room, scullery, the butler’s pantry and bedroom. The main house of No1 has recently been united with No1a and now forms arguably one of the finest representations of a Georgian home in Bath, if not the UK.

Many guests staying at Dukes Hotel on Great Pulteney Street will find that they are familiar with the scale and proportions of the fine Georgian property. Of particular interest is the way the various custodians of Dukes have adapted the building over the past two centuries. The blocked in windows on Edward Street hark back to the tax on windows enforced in England from 1696 and repealed 156 years later in 1851.
No1 The Royal Crescent is open from mid-February until mid-December. The house is open from mid-morning until late afternoon throughout the week. A family of four may enter for £17, groups for £6 per head and children £3.50. A number of other concessions may be secured subject to conditions detailed on the museum website.

The Museum of Bath at Work

Having earned a clear appreciation of how the streets and architecture of Bath evolved, enjoyed a detailed insight into the daily and domestic activities of Georgian England, our third museum will offer a fascinating overview of working in Bath.

The Museum of Bath at Work is housed within a fascinating building in its own right. The former Real Tennis Court, built in 1777, stands amidst the area of the Assembly Rooms, the Circus and Royal Crescent.
The museum is arranged around the reconstructed Bath based engineering and soft drinks factory once owned by the Victorian businessman JB Bowler. Visitors are invited to walk among the display and better appreciate the workings of a complete soft drinks and bottling plant. Alongside the factory floor are the workshops and offices which look exactly as they would have appeared at the time.

In addition to the soft drinks industry, the museum houses a car, manufactured by the Horstmann Car Company of Bath. Sidney Horstmann’s car company operated from 1914 and made over 2,000 cars before closing in 1928. The car on display is fitted with a kick starting mechanism and a number of other unusual features; the vehicle lays claim to being the earliest known example of the car in the world.

Further display space is given up to the largest historic collection of film, photographs, documents, sound recordings and articles related to the commercial development of the city to be held anywhere in the city of Bath, or indeed the West of England.

As you walk back to your city centre accommodation, it is difficult not to look at the Georgian property through a fresh pair of eyes. It is difficult not to appreciate the crescents, parks, squares and from a new perspective.

For accommodation in Bath, close to three fine museums enjoy your stay at www.dukesbath.co.uk