History

Recent History

Bath's colourful history ensures a steady stream of tourists to the city. Restoration of its many Unesco protected sites continues, and Bath looks likely to remain one of England's most popular places to visit.

Modern Day History

Bath was bombed during World War II and several buildings were damaged or destroyed. Fortunately, most of its grand architecture remains to delight the thousands of visitors who visit the city each year.

Pre 20th Century History

Prehistoric people probably knew about the hot springs, and legend has it that King Bladud, a Trojan refugee and father of King Lear, founded the town some 2800 years ago; supposedly, a bath in the muddy swamps cured his leprosy. The Romans established the town of Aquae Sulis in AD 44 and built the extensive baths complex and a temple to the goddess Sulis-Minerva. Long after the Romans had departed, the Anglo-Saxons arrived and in 944 a monastery was founded on the site of the present abbey. Throughout the Middle Ages, Bath was an ecclesiastical centre and a wooltrading town and it wasn't until the early 18th century that Allen and Richard 'Beau' Nash made Bath the centre of fashionable society. Ralph Allen developed the quarries at Coombe Down and employed the two John Woods (father and son) to create the glorious buildings you see today. As the 18th century wore on, Beau Nash lost his influence and sea bathing started to draw visitors away from Bath; by the mid-19th century the city was thoroughly out of fashion.