Bath and Spas

Spas in England have a long history dating from the Romans’ use of Bath as a health resort in the first century, but they grew rapidly in number and prosperity during the long eighteenth century. (Stobart 19)

The Romans brought the idea of the hot spring spa to England when they developed of British hot spring of Bath -- which they named “Aquae Sulis,” meaning waters of Sulis. The hot springs were rebuilt in 1088 by the Bishop of Bath after the fall of the Roman empire, yet the tradition of “taking the waters” underwent a true revival into an entire economy during the Georgian period.

While the iron-rich hot springs were rumored to have health benefits, the booming tourism industry made these premier spots for socialization.

Bath was simultaneously a spa for the sick and a resort for the healthy. (Corfield 28)

In Volume III, Evelina travels to Hotwells, as Mr. Villars hopes she can recover from her illness at the spa.

•  “Mrs. Selwyn...is going, in a short time, to Bristol, and has proposed to Mr. Villars to take me with her, for the recovery of my health” (Burney 261)
• “I have been very ill, and Mr. Villars was so much alarmed, that he not only insisted upon my accompany Mrs. Selwyn hither [Bristol], but earnestly desired she would hasten her intended journey” (Burney 269)
• Lord Orville: “[He] enquired...if my health was the cause of my journey, in which case his satisfaction would be converted into apprehension” (Burney 281)

Peter Borsay writes that spas were: “public arenas in which visitors could gather in numbers, learn about the latest fashions, mix and converse freely, exhibit their minds, manners and accoutrements, and engage in intensive socializing. With their baths, pump rooms, theatres, assembly rooms, coffee houses, shops, pleasure gardens and walks, spas were particularly well equipped to meet this demand." (Borsay "Town or Country?" 157)

As public spaces, socialization and tourism were likewise major functions of these spa towns.

Health remained an important function of these settlements but it became clear that the provision of leisure services was an increasingly important part of their business. (Borsay "A Room with a View" 180)

The rise of the leisure economy, tourism, and industrialization took place concurrently.

The period from 1660 to 1815 saw the foundation of at least 130 spas … thousands of visitors crowded to the major resorts during the season. (Stobart 19)

Yet, the increase in shopping and the intertwining of spa towns with commerce further stimulated the leisure economy.

What made Bath boom as a leisure center were the eighteenth century’s vast accumulation of capital and its transport revolution of turnpikes and public coaches providing the middle class with the means and time to travel. (Wheeler 122)

Some of the largest spa towns in England included Bath, Tunbridge Wells, and Cheltenham. Bath, however, remained the most fashionable of these spa towns.

The eighteenth century witnessed the birth of the leisure industry, and Bath, no doubt because of its medical reputation, became its Mecca. During the century the Bath city corporation created a planned leisure community with extensive marketing (the first official guidebook was printed in 1742) and a massive building campaign. (Wheeler 121)

Nash worked for several decades as the Master of Ceremonies at Bath in the 18th century. He promoted the city and defined new rules of etiquette which visitors would be expected to follow. Along with this, he encouraged interactions of all visitors, redefining the public sphere at Bath that would be echoed in its architecture.

Nash also urged the upgrading of Bath's infrastructure, and was the driving force behind the rapid expansion of its lodging facilities and the improvement of its approach roads. Public buildings and walks were planned, and a Pump Room was built in 1706 for the comfort of those drinking the waters. Bath's first Assembly Room was built in 1709, and shops began to grow up in its vicinity. Under Nash's influence, Bath's nascent service economy was beginning to explore its potential. (Mullin 76)

Spaces such as the Pump Room and Assembly Rooms would encourage more interactions, allowing people of different classes to mix in the same social spaces in a more relaxed manner with the imposition of Nash's rules. The kinds of spaces that Nash promoted created a kind of social routine as well - visitors would follow a daily itinerary in the city, frequenting many of the same places each day.

[H]e devised and successfully enforced a restrained, orderly code of conduct for its assemblies and other public venues. A daily round of activities took shape: the Pump Room in the morning, followed by a promenade, shopping, or a visit to the circulating libraries, then tea and the evening's theatre, dancing, or cards. Nash banned private card-parties (routs), boosting attendance at the assembly rooms, which drew a large part of their revenue from admission fees and the sale of amenities and refreshments. Sojourns in Bath became increasingly public affairs, enjoyed in the company of large numbers of fellow-visitors. (Mullin 75-76)

Entertainments, such as the assembly, were meeting places. At the assembly, one might find many activities happening simultaneously. One could move through these different spaces, eating, playing cards, or dancing at one's own leisure.

Assembly rooms allowed for greater movement and variety in terms of the entertainment offered. Spaces could be connected but distinct. These gatherings reflect the urban fabric of the city of Bath as a whole as well:

The social pattern of Bath was echoed by its architecture. There were no great axial vistas leading to a central feature, like the central avenues leading to the palace of the prince in towns that were being developed at the same time in France, Germany and Italy. Instead there were a series of focal points--the different baths, the assembly rooms, the pump room and the abbey--surrounded or linked by terraces or crescents. People strolled from one to the other, meeting friends on the way and talking to them. (Girouard 183)

Bath's 18th century additions are categorized as Georgian architecture - the architecture produced during the reign of the four King Georges from the Hanoverian Succession in 1714 to the end of their reign in the mid 19th century.

The charming city of Bath answered all my expectations. The Crescent, the prospect from it, and the elegant symmetry of the Circus, delighted me. (Burney 392)

The broad streets and expanses of structures allowed for easy movement through the landscape of Bath. This was paired with a variety of parks and vistas that would enhance the landscape.

Much could be gained by merging a house into a larger building unit—a fashionable terrace, street, crescent or square. This paradoxical subjugation of personal identity in pursuit of status was to prove the basis of a great deal of the most fashionable housing in English towns, and a major boost to the development of urban planning. One particular form this process might take was the construction of several dwellings behind one palatial front . . . The approach to design proved extremely popular in Bath, with crescent after crescent adopting a quasi-palatial front. (Borsay "Culture" 11) 

The curving forms of the Royal Crescent present a viewer with a continuous view that is further enhanced by the inclusion of a ha-ha in the lawn that precedes it.

These 18th century additions to Bath were built out of Bath stone -- material and style then tied these structures together. In Clifton and Hotwells, Bath stone was also used. These neighboring cities harnessed the same local materials, visually linking these spaces.

Clifton and Hotwells, like Bath were built along the Avon River, linking them also in the topography.

Similar types of entertainment might be present at spa towns across the country. Bath, in particular, shows how visitors may encounter, view, and interact with the urban landscape. And Evelina's experiences within Clifton and Hotwells show the social networks and spaces that defined these resort towns.

In terms of socialization, spas were known as places of gossip as well as marriage markets. Pattens of social life linked many of the prominent spaces in Bath. However, they too were connected in terms of the news that spread as “[e]verywhere, there was eager circulation of news, information and -- the spa specialism -- gossip” (Corfield 29).

• “I could give her very little satisfaction, as I was ignorant even of his name. But, in the afternoon, Mr. Ridgeway, the apothecary, gave us very ample information” (Burney 276)
• “The first place we went to was the pump-room. It was full of company; and the moment we entered, I heard a murmuring of 'That's she!' and, to my great confusion, I saw every eye turned towards me.” (Burney 326)

Spa towns and spas were centers for all genders to interact, but there were also gendered enclaves which provided areas for male-male and female-female social interactions.

• "In cheap print literature and in sardonic poems written by libertine males like Rochester, spas thus were portrayed as places of entertainment and as arenas for males to practice their heterosexual activities with complete authority." (Herbert 361)

• "Mary Leke mocked her male Cousin Coot's behavior at the spa, conveying her hope that bathing women would be more interested in grouping together to "scold" men rather than flirr with them: "I fancy my Cozen Coot has had plasent sport att Ebsem [Epsom baths] I wod give aney theng that he was knoen and that all the yonge wemen he made love to ... wold gett togather and scold at him. (Herbert 361)

From a first person account noted in Amanda Herbert's article: "'the reasons that induc'd me to... Tunbridge, were neither the air nor the waters, but purely the curiosity of seeing the people and the place,' for as he noted acerbically, 'the chief Diversion at the wells is to stare at one another'" (Herbert 361)

Spas also produced female-female interaction and “served as crucial geographic sites for female identity creation” (Herbert 362)

Elite women could choose to bathe, eat, entertain and do business within a largely female community. Spa towns were places where the female population was larger than the male population, socioeconomically diverse, and widely visible. (Herbert 367)

Artist: Anonymous, British, 19th century. View of the Abbey and Great Pump Room at Bath, Through the Colonnade Added by Thomas Baldwin, 1786-9. 19th century. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/SS7731421_7731421_11320061

Borsay, Peter. “A Room with a View: Visualising The Seaside, c. 1750—1914.” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 23, 2013, pp. 175–201. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23726107. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.

Borsay, Peter. “Culture, Status, and the English Urban Landscape.” History, vol. 67, no. 219, 1982, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24417913. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.

Borsay, Peter. “Town or Country? British spas and the urban–rural interface.” Journal of Tourism History, vol. 4, no. 2, 2012, pp. 155-169.

Bulwer, J., Gauci, W.. Hotwell-house, Saint Vincent's rocks, view from Leigh wood, Clifton. Lithograph by W. Gauci after a drawing by Reverend J. Bulwer.. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/24845883

Burney, Frances. Evelina, or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World. Edited by Edward Alan Bloom, Oxford Univ. Press, 2008. 

Charles Philips, 1708-1747, British. Tea Party at Lord Harrington's House, St. James's. 1730. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/AYCBAIG_10313608665

Colen Campbell. Mereworth Castle, View with reflecting pool. 1720-1725, Image: between 1945 and 1983. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/AWAYNEIG_1031132476

Corfield, Penelope. "Georgian Bath." History Today, vol. 40, no. 11, 1 Nov. 1990, pp. 26 - 33.

Frith, Francis & Co. (publisher, English, act. 1890-1970). 38364. Bath, Royal Crescent. Frith.; verso: F. Frith & Co. Ltd. Reigate. [divided back, no message], overall, recto. ca.1907-1914 (publication date). Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/SS35428_35428_22848780

Frith, Francis & Co. (publisher, English, act. 1890-1970). Bath, Roman Baths.; verso: F. Frith & Co. Ltd. Reigate. No. 46468 [divided back, no message], overall, recto. ca.1907-1914 (publication date). Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/SS35428_35428_22848772

Girouard, Mark. Life In the English Country House: A Social and Architectural History. Yale University Press, 1978.

Herbert, Amanda E. “Gender and the Spa: Space, Sociability and Self at British Health Spas, 1640-1714.” Journal of Social History, vol. 43, no. 2, 2009, pp. 361–383. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20685391. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.

Lloyd, David. “Urban Evaluation: Clifton England's Most Dramatic Suburb.” Built Environment Quarterly, vol. 2, no. 4, 1976, pp. 327–332. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43659993. Accessed 2 Mar. 2021.

Marsh. The Queen's levée and society figures drinking the waters in the pump room with a key to important society figures, Bath. Line engraving by J. Alais, 1817, after Mr. Marsh.. 1817. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/24836933 

Mullin, Janet E.. "Cards On the Table: The Middling Sort As Suppliers and Consumers of English Leisure Culture In the Eighteenth Century." Canadian Journal of History, vol. 45, no. 1, 1 Apr. 2010, pp. 49 - 81.

Northcote, James, Parker, James, Sterne, Laurence. A young physician taking the pulse of a woman with whom he is flirting, a young man passing by raises his hat. Colour stipple engraving by J. Parker, 1783, after J. Northcote.. [1783]. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/24840793

Palladio, Andrea (Italian architect, draftsman, and author, 1508-1580); Scamozzi, Vincenzo (Italian architect, 1552-1616). Villa Rotonda (Villa Almerico-Capra), view of “Ionic temple” facade on north side. ca. 1566-1570, Image: 05/24/2001. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/HSAHARA__1113_42404144

Peltro William Tomkins. Baths, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Engraving by P.W. Tomkins.. 1806. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/24839302

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer, Wallis, William. Royal pump room and colonnade, Bath: exterior. Steel engraving by W. Wallis, 1829, after T.H. Shepherd.. 28 March 1829. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/24728606

Society figures strolling along the parade, Bath. Coloured etching.. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/24730099

Stobart, Jon. “In Search of a Leisure Hierarchy: English Spa Towns and Their Place in the Eighteenth-Century Urban System.” New Directions in Urban History: Aspects of European Art, Health, Tourism and Leisure since the Enlightenment, edited by Peter Borsay et al., Waxmann, 2000. 

Unknown (publisher, English). 9. BATH -- Royal Crescent.; verso: Printed in France [divided back, no message], overall, recto. ca.1907-1914 (publication date). Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/SS35428_35428_22848782

Unknown artist, 18th century, British; Formerly attributed to John Downman, 1750-1824, British. Lady Jane Mathew and Her Daughters. ca. 1790. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/AYCBAIG_10313608142

Wheeler, David. "Jane Austen and 18th-Century English Spa Culture." English Studies, vol. 85, no. 2, 1 Apr. 2004, pp. 120 - 133.

Wood, John (Elder), 1704-1754. Bath: Circus: det.: unifying entablature. 1754. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000185833

Wood, John (Jr.), 1728-1781. Royal Crescent: Ext.: view of House Bath. 1767-1775. Artstor, library-artstor-org.proxy01.its.virginia.edu/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000185866