Shaftesbury and Sherborne

[ Photo Gallery # 101 ]

Shaftesbury (in Dorset) and Sherborne (in Wiltshire) are towns only about 12 miles apart in South West England – in the area formerly part of Wessex. Both are charming historic towns with much to offer the visitor. Perhaps the best known features of these two market towns are the picturesque Gold Hill in Shaftesbury and the magnificent Abbey in Sherborne. I include just a few photographs of these two features in my Gallery below.

Gold Hill ^{is a steep cobbled street in the town of Shaftesbury. It is famous for its picturesque appearance; the view looking down from the top of the street has been described as “one of the most romantic sights in England.” The image of this view appears on the covers of many books about Dorset and rural England, as well as on chocolate boxes and calendars and Television advertisements.}

Gol Hill, Shaftesbury

The Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin at Sherborne is usually called Sherborne Abbey. It has been a Saxon Cathedral (705–1075), a Benedictine abbey (998–1539), and now, a parish church.

The City of Bath

[ Photo Gallery # 84 }

Bath is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England.  It is renowned in particular for its Roman spa baths, built c. 60 AD, when it went under the Latin name of Aquae Sulis (‘The Waters of Sulis’).   In 2011, the city had a population of almost 89 thousand.

Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London.  The town is set in the rolling countryside of south-west England, and is known for its natural hot springs and 18th-century Georgian architecture.  It has strong connections with the 18th Century author, Jane Austen, who lived here during the Regency period from 1801 to 1806 and who set two of her novels, ‘Northanger Abbey’ and ‘Persuasion’, in Bath.

Honey-coloured Bath stone has been used extensively in the town’s architecture, including at Bath Abbey, noted for its fan-vaulting, tower and large stained-glass windows. The museum at the site of the original Roman-era Baths includes The Great Bath, statues and a temple.

In 1704, Richard (‘Beau’) Nash, the celebrated leader of fashion, became ‘Master of Ceremonies’ at the then rising spa town of  Bath.  He lived in the town for much of the first part of the 18th Century and played a leading role in making Bath the most fashionable resort in 18th-century England.

I hope my gallery of photographs, taken in Bath on a visit to the city about 12 years ago, will give a taste of the pleasures and architectural delights of this city, one of the most visited in the United Kingdom.

The River Avon and Pulteney Bridge at Bath. Designed by Robert Adam in a Palladian style, it is exceptional in having shops built across its full span on both sides. 

The Avon Weir, beside Pulteney Bridge

Close-up of the Avon Weir

A more distant view of Pulteney Bridge and the Avon Weir

Statue of Mozart in the Parade Gardens, Grand Parade, BATH

View of the East window of Bath Abbey from the Parade Gardens

Fan vaulting on the nave of Bath Abbey

Close-up of the nave ceiling at Bath Abbey

 

 

Memorial to Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton (1759-1832) in Bath Abbey.  He was a British naval officer, at times, second in command to Lord Nelson

The Great Bath – the entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is a later construction. There are four main features to the complex: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the museum

The Spring rises within the courtyard of the Temple of Sulis Minerva and water from it feeds the Roman Baths

Sally Lunn’s is much more than a world famous tea and eating house in the centre of Bath.  This historic building is one of the oldest houses in the city.  It owes its fame to the creation of the first Bath bun, an authentic regional speciality known throughout the world, and first introduced by the legendary young Huguenot baker, Sally Lunn, in Georgian Bath.