Date/Time
Saturday, 27 April 2024 at 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm
A lecture by Christopher Pound at the Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institute, Queen Square Bath. BA1 2HN. Commencing 2.30pm in the Elwin Room.
Legacy of Spa Gardens. Gardens have always been an essential attribute for European spa towns. The illustrated presentation will explore how the principal spa gardens in Bath informed the architecture and development of the terraces and crescents in the city. Walking in gardens was an essential diversion from treatments at the mineral springs and baths. The gardens also provided places for exercise, entertainment and pleasure. Bath had several pleasure gardens and Sydney Gardens survives as the last of the Vauxhalls in the country. Spa gardens in Bath evolved from a formal style to take on a character drawn from a fashionable ‘picturesque’ approach. Many Continental spa towns included gardens laid out in an English informal garden style and some of these were called the ‘English Garden’.
Eighteenth century doctors in Bath realized that leisure and exercise made an important contribution to restoring and maintaining health and so exercise in gardens and setting of the city were essential parts of the cure. Accordingly, all the gardens with other green spaces, woodlands, the fabric of the city and attractive surrounding countryside are held to be a ‘therapeutic landscape’. This is an essential attribute for the eleven spa towns in the recent UNESCO inscription of ‘The Great Spa Towns of Europe World Heritage Site’.
Price for Members £10.00, Guests £15.00.
For booking use the link to Ticket Tailor [small booking fee applies].
Further details of all AGT events may be obtained from Peter Hills – [email protected] or phone 07748507166
Getting there Use the Park & Ride from: Newbridge, Odd Down and Lansdown all into the City centre and a 5-10 minute walk to Queen Square.
Local Parking: Parking in the Charlotte Street and the Waitrose Podium car parks nearby, also Avon Street and Southgate car parks – (charges apply).
Bath train station and a 15 minute walk to Queen Square