Around this time last year I spent a long weekend in Bath for the start of the Jane Austen Festival 2022. This wonderful festival, which was launched in 2001, has gradually expanded over the years to include the Regency Parade on its opening day; a Regency Ball at the Assembly Rooms; re-enactments of Jane Austen's novels and literary readings; walking tours; the sports and arts of crafts of the era; and the Masked Ball, which makes a return for 2023.
The amount of effort that people make into recreating the costumes of the Regency era that Jane Austen so wittingly described in her novels is a sight to behold: whether you are interested in the era and fashion or not. You get a sense from the Regency Parade on the opening Saturday of this festival what Bath would have been like in Jane Austen's time.
In addition to all the wonderful private contributions to the Parade, a group of historical military enthusiasts lead the parade, last year's being His Majesty's 33rd Regiment of Foot. On the Sunday, they also faithfully re-created a soldier's camp from the era, complete with military demonstrations and artefacts from the 18th century,
Across the long weekend I also attended a number of lectures, which were highly entertaining. With a keen interest in architecture, I was particularly interested in the talk around the architecture of socialising, given by a lecturer from the faculty of architecture from Bath University. It illustrated how the spaces used in socialising formed in the way that they did and how the architecture was born out of the fact that the city's main architect, John Wood, had an obsession with Roman mythology and wanted to re-create the architecture of Rome across its seven hills, recalling Bath in its earlier form when Bath was a major Roman settlement in the 1st century AD, worshiping the Goddess Sulis-Minerva.
Similarly, the talk on the 'Homes of Jane Austen' was interesting in terms of illustrating the history of the Austen family itself and their changing fortunes. By the time Jane Austen's family had settled in Bath, their fortunes had diminished somewhat, and this is reflected in their homes across the city. It was also interesting also to see a review of 'Luckington Court' the magical home used as Longbourn in the BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. Although the Bennet family are depicted as the poor relatives to the other characters in this novel, today this home would clearly be solely the preserve of the very rich!
With all these festival events being so popular, I would strongly suggest booking online well in advance of the festival to avoid disappointment. A Regency costume is not mandatory to attend events (except for the Regency Ball, the Masked Ball and the Regency Parade) and if you fancy attending the Ball, there are also lessons available in Regency dancing too! You can truly immerse yourself in the world of Jane Austen. Often in tourist places it is common to find staff dressed in the era the place is renowned for, but I haven't seen anything quite on this scale.
It would be wrong however solely to focus solely on Jane Austen's link to the city since she lived there for just under 5 years, from 1801 to 1804. Also Bath, as a UNESCO World Heritage City , has a lot to offer the traveller. Not least the Roman Baths: which were formed in the 1st Century AD, dedicated to the Roman Goddess Minerva, which became synonymous with the Celtic Goddess Sulis. When the city was being rebuilt during its 18th Century heyday, excavations for the City's fashionable Pump Rooms revealed the remains underneath the city of the Roman Baths and complex.
The tour is a self-guided audio tour and you collect your audio headsets when entering the complex. There's actually quite a labyrinth of walkways under the city so don't be surprised if it takes you a couple of hours to go through the whole museum. Highlights are some of the Roman artefacts, which are in a remarkably good condition considering their age (especially the coins, the curses inscribed onto pieces of lead, and the statue of Minerva). It is also amazing to think that the engineering involved to channel the hot spring water to and from the Baths is still working to this very day - some 2000 years since their creation. Roman engineering was built to last!
If you have a head for heights and enjoy a panoramic view, then a climb up Bath Abbey's Tower might be just your thing. There are 212 steps to the top - which are often steep and narrow, but you get to see the inside of clock tower and stand above the famous fan vaulted ceiling. The views from the top of the Tower are amazing and unrivalled, since you are in an elevated position at the centre of Bath's natural amphitheatre. The tour guide is very knowledgeable about the history of Bath Abbey (in its current form dating back to 1500) and the tour takes around an hour.
Another great thing to do in the city are either the walking or bus tours . On recent visits in 2021 and 2022 I've done both the walking tour with blue-badge tourist guides and bus tours via the golden tours. I found the walking tour the better way to explore the city centre, since Bath is not really designed for the modern volumes of traffic in the City Centre, meaning the bus tour is either stationary for long periods of time, followed by whizzing past things. With the walking tour however, you really get time to appreciate the architecture and listen to the stories of the guide. Note that the bus tour has two routes: city centre and skyline: the later of which goes round in a circle around the elevated suburbs of the natural amphitheatre. Of the two routes, I strongly recommend the skyline route as you get a great view of the City centre from multiple locations, as well as the opportunity to admire how truly unique this beautiful city is: having nearly all its architecture from the one period in time, from suburb to suburb (rather than the usual concentric rings of historical expansion seen in most British cities). I would recommend a combination of the walking tour for the City centre and the skyline route from the bus tours for the suburbs as these combined give a great overview of the city.
Last, but by no means least, Bath is something of a culinary paradise these days and there are so many great places to eat, indeed I could spend an entire blog just writing up all the wonderful places I have eaten over the last couple of years. I wanted to call out 3 for special praise and attention: a fine dining restaurant, a pub, and an independent fast food outlet. Firstly, The Circus Restaurant is a modern cuisine restaurant that has won numerous accolades in recent years. The presentation and freshness of everything prepared is outstanding, as is the selection of wines.
The Salamander is a nice old-fashioned pub tucked off the corner of Queen Square. It is a wonderful place to eat a quiet Sunday lunch and has a fantastic selection of craft beers as well. I really liked the combination of traditional fayre but fresh ingredients and you can tell the owners really care about the quality of their produce. I had a warm welcome here because I appreciated their attention to detail . I simply loved the place!
It was great to see the student stalwart of Schwartz Bros. still going strong in Bath! Founded in 1977, this small independent Bath-only based chain specialises in the most delicious gourmet burgers I have ever tasted. Every time I visit Bath I make sure to have one!
I called this blog "Celebration & Commemoration" because this last trip to Bath was in September 2022. As well as celebrating the life of Jane Austen, Bath was also commemorating the late Queen Elizabeth II, who had just passed away. The longest-serving UK Head of State was commemorated across the city: in the form of portraits in many shop windows, prayers in the Abbey and floral tributes, but I cannot think of a more poignant and fitting tribute than the monuments of Bath being illuminated in purple:
This year the Jane Austen festival runs from Friday 8th to Sunday 17th September. A full programme of events can be found here.