Bath & Wells

Looking down into Bath. We walked from our b&b on the hill above.

THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS - just like in Jane Austen!

Inside the Assembly Rooms

The Circus

The trees surround a well that used to be gossip central for the servant.

The Royal Crescent. This is where the uppity-ups lived in Bath.

We ate lunch at this pub - The Raven. Very tasty!

Entrance of The Roman Baths

View of Bath Abbey from The Roman Baths

This strange face was on the original pediment to the baths

Turns out that ancient Romans would carve curses in tablets and leave them for their god/goddess to enact the curse. These were left for Minerva. They are hilarious - "someone stole my bath robe. May he be run over by a thousand chariots" - kind of extreme language.

Minerva - The Baths were built as part of a temple to her.

The source of the water for the baths.

Me in front of the largest of the baths. There were 4 total. One of them was the sacred cleansing bath. This was the "public pool" version. Then there were two that could be for nude bathing to keep the genders apart (in case that mattered to them).

A free drink of the spa water was provided. We were assured it was horrendous. Unfortunately, even magical healing water has pipes that need to be fixed.

Stained glass in Bath Abbey

Bath Abbey

Wells Cathedral - construction started in 1180.

I love the ceilings in these buildings.

The second oldest clock in the world dating from 1390. It still has the original hands. 

These scissor arches were added on from 1338 to 1348 to help with the sagging roof and bell tower.

After a brief walk in the cathedral, we stayed for Evensong. It was a beautiful Anglican service involving singing prayers and psalms. We followed along in the Common Book of Prayer. The singing was so wonderful sitting in the quire having the music echoing around us.