Visit Bath and Take Part in the Crescent Picnic

It’s been 250 years since the foundation stone of the Royal Crescent was laid, and one of the things which the Bath Preservation Trust is doing to celebrate is putting on a picnic in the park. One on a massive scale!  

The Royal Crescent may have been planned in the beginning by John Wood the Elder back in the 1750s, but the final design and build for the Royal Crescent was down to his son, John Wood the Younger, and didn’t begin until 1767.

Whether John Wood the Younger knew how iconic the Crescent would be when he was building it or not, it is doubtless one of, if not the most, famous site in Bath. For many visitors it is a must-see when they come to Bath, and tens of thousands of photographs are taken of it each year. Bath just wouldn’t be the same without it.

So in 2017, the year which sees the 250^th anniversary of the laying of the Crescent’s foundation stone, Bath’s Preservation Trust are hosting a series of special events to celebrate.

Some events have taken place already. On the 19^th of May live music was played and specially commissioned poetry was projected onto the Royal Crescent to mark the official Foundation Stone Day. Then on the 21^st of May, actors from The Natural Theatre Company who were dressed in traditional Georgian costume, paraded the foundation stone through the city up to No. 1 Royal Crescent (a museum in the Royal Crescent which has been decorated and furnished in the style of the 1776-1796 period when it was first inhabited).  

The best may be yet to come though.

A summer celebration of the 250^th anniversary will be taking place on the sweeping lawn in front of

the Crescent on Saturday the 29^th of July from 11 until 3 (although the party will probably go on much longer as Victoria Park has no closing time). Residents, visitors, long-time fans of Bath; everyone is being invited to bring a picnic to the lower lawn of the Crescent and enjoy a rare view of the Crescent without any cars.

Another highlight will be the Natural Theatre Company, who will be returning once more to give picnickers an insight into the lives of the people who have lived in the crescent – gentry, tradespeople, servants, and even sedan chairs will add to the general Georgian spectacle. Plus, perhaps best of all, there’ll be Georgian ice creams to sample!  

If you’re not already booked, and you love Bath and the Crescent (who doesn’t?), then Carole, myself, and all of us here at Dukes Hotel really recommend coming for a visit and joining in the July celebrations!