Barton St David, 5 m. S.S.E. of Glastonbury, 4 m. N.E. of Somerton, gets its name from its church, dedicated to the Welsh bishop (who was buried at Glastonbury hard by). The plan of the church is cruciform, the tower (which is octagonal) being placed in the angle formed by the N. transept and the chancel. The N. doorway is Norman, the arches of chancel and transepts E.E. The chancel windows are lancets with foliated heads and interior foliations. Note (1) the squint; (2) the piscina. In the churchyard there is a headless cross, with the figure of a bishop in his mitre on the shaft (perhaps St David).
Barwick, a small village 1 m. S. from Yeovil. The church—a rather large building for so small a place—has the tower oddly placed at the E. end of N. aisle (cp. E. Coker). The N. aisle is richer and evidently later than the S. aisle. Observe the panelling of the arches of the arcade and the external battlements. The character of the arcade on both N. and S. is peculiar (cp. Shepton Mallet). The chancel has been rebuilt, but it retains the original piscina. The church has some fine bench ends (1533). The initials W.H. on the door of the reading-desk are said to be those of William Hope, the patron of the living early in the 16th cent. Note (1) position of Dec. piscina in S. aisle and dwarf doorway, showing raising of floor; (2) squint and rood-loft stairs on N.; (3) square fluted font with cable moulding; (4) consecration crosses on jamb of W. door, on chancel buttresses, and on wall of S. aisle (cp. Nempnett); (5) arched doorway into tower from chancel, made up of a sepulchral slab with incised foliated cross.
Batcombe, a small village equidistant (3 m.) from Cranmore, Evercreech, and Bruton stations, has an interesting church. The tower, one of the finest in Somerset, is of marked individuality, combining features belonging to two distinct types. It resembles Shepton in the arrangement of its buttresses, and Evercreech and Wrington in the character of its triple windows. The absence of pinnacles and of superfluous ornamentation lends to it considerable dignity and impressiveness. Note the figure of our Lord and censing angels on W. front, as at Chewton. On exterior of church observe (1) debased S. porch; (2) crucifix on E. gable of nave. The interior is disappointing. The clerestory is spacious, and the roof fair, but a general sense of bareness pervades the whole building. The shabbiness of the chancel in particular is enhanced by a casement which does duty for an E. window. Note (1) Dec. windows to aisle; (2) rood-loft stair; (3) curious quatrefoil piscina in sanctuary; (4) some fragments of old glass in E. window of S. aisle. At the W. end is a handsomely-carved font, and the remains of another font from Spargrove Church (now destroyed) are under the tower. An ugly monument to the Bisse family stands in one of the S. window sills. The vestry is a nondescript chamber reached from the chancel by a flight of stone steps.
BATH. A city and parliamentary borough on the Avon, 107 m. W. from London, with a population (in 1901) of 52,751. It has stations both on the G.W. and the Midland lines. Few cities are more romantically situated than Bath, but it is not its situation which has given to it its celebrity. Its prosperity has from time immemorial depended upon its possession of the remarkable mineral springs in which the fashionable world has at different periods discerned so many healing and social virtues. The popular story of their discovery by the legendary King Bladud is too trite to need re-telling. The real history of Bath begins as early as A.D. 44, when it is known to have been a Roman station. Its Latin name was Aquae Sulis, Sul being a local divinity, whose name appears on several inscriptions in the Museum, and may have some connection with the neighbouring hill of Solsbury. A temple to this goddess existed on the site of the present Pump Room, and the extensive ruins of the contiguous bathing establishment bear eloquent testimony to the use which the Romans made of the waters. Here, too, converged three of their chief highways, the Fosseway, from Lincoln to Axminster, the Via Julia, which connected it with S. Wales, and Akeman Street, the main thoroughfare to London. The after-history of Bath is chequered. In 676 King Osric founded here a nunnery (eventually transformed into a monastery), and in 973 it was the scene of Edgar's coronation. After the Conquest it was a bone of contention in the Norman quarrels, and was burnt to the ground by Geoffrey of Coutances. After being harried by the sword, Bath passed under the hammer. Its ecclesiastical importance begins when John de Villula purchased it of the king, and transferred hither his episcopal stool from Wells (see further, p. [ 19]). In mediaeval days Bath was a walled city, and fragments of its fortifications, crowned by a modern battlement, may still be seen in "Borough Walls"; and two round-headed arches of the old E. gate are visible in a passage behind the Empire Hotel, leading to the river. The battle of Lansdown gives Bath a place in the annals of the Great Rebellion. But the fame of Bath is social rather than historical. It was not until the 18th cent. that the city reached the zenith of its importance. The creator of modern Bath was the social adventurer Nash. By sheer force of native impudence Nash pushed himself into the position of an uncrowned king, and exercised his social sovereignty with a very high hand. His rule was certainly conducive to the better government of the city. From a mere haunt of bandits and beggars, Bath became at a bound the most fashionable city in the kingdom, and a school for manners to half England. Nash, though very much the beau, was very little of the gentleman. To a hump-backed lady who declared that she had "come straight from London," Nash replied, "Then you must have picked up a d—d crook by. the way." But polite society was not squeamish, and took him at his own valuation. His assemblies became the rage, his social despotism was eagerly acquiesced in, and the improvements he demanded were ungrudgingly supplied. The social labours of Nash were admirably seconded by the work of two architects called Wood (father and son). Terraces, squares and crescents sprang up in generous profusion to accommodate the crowds of visitors who were drawn into the vortex of fashion. The prosperity of Bath did not decline with the fading fortunes of its favourite, for it was not until the peace of Amiens opened up the continental watering places that the fashionable world forsook Bath and went elsewhere. But though its proud pre-eminence has passed for ever, Bath still retains something of its former splendour. It can boast of several natives of note, and a roll of still more distinguished residents. The birds of passage, whose stay shed a transient glory on the gay city, are legion. [ Amongst those who claim Bath as their birthplace are ] William Edward Parry, the Arctic explorer, John Palmer, the postal reformer, and William Horn, the author of the Every Day Book. The list of famous residents includes Quin, the actor, R.B. Sheridan, Beckford, Landor, Sir T. Lawrence, Gainsborough, Bishop Butler (who died at 14 Kingsmead Square), Gen. Wolfe and Archbp. Magee. Nelson and Chatham, Queen Charlotte, Jane Austen, Dickens, Herschell and Thirlwall, are to be numbered amongst the visitors.
The general plan of Bath is easily grasped. The river throws itself round the city like an elbow, and in the corner of land thus embraced the streets are laid out something in the manner of an irregular chess board. One main thoroughfare runs from the S. gate, and climbs by a gradual ascent northwards; and as it goes, expands into the spacious shopping quarters of Milsom Street. Another good string of streets runs from the Abbey also northwards, and on its course extends a long arm eastwards across the river to the suburb of Bathwick.
The chief sights, the Abbey, Pump Room, Roman Baths and Guildhall, lie grouped together in convenient proximity. The imposing terraces, squares and crescents of the once fashionable residential quarters are to be found chiefly on the N. and W. sides of the city. A pretty view of Pulteney Bridge with its singular parapet of shops may be obtained from the terrace at the back of the Municipal Buildings.
The chief public buildings are the Pump Room, rebuilt in 1796, and considerably extended in recent times; the Guildhall, built in 1768-75, containing some good portraits; the Upper Assembly Rooms (1771); the Royal Institution (1824), on the site of the old Assembly Rooms, the scene of Nash's triumphs; the Mineral Water Hospital (1737); and the Holbourne Art Museum (containing a large number of pictures, many of which are unfortunately not the "old masters" they profess to be, some good porcelain, and a fine collection of "Apostle" spoons). Hetling House in Hetling Court was once a mansion of the Hungerfords. The public grounds are the Victoria Park, Sydney Gardens, Henrietta Park, and the Institute Gardens (subscribers only).
Roman Baths, Bath
Roman Baths. The waters from which Bath gets its fame are believed to owe their origin to the surface drainage of the E. Mendips, which percolates through some vertical fissure, perhaps at Downhead, to the heart of the hills, and are conducted by some natural culvert beneath the intervening coal measures, washing out as they go the soluble mineral salts, and whilst still retaining their heat emerge again at the first opportunity at Bath. The Romans were the first to make use of this natural lavatory, and with their unrivalled engineering skill founded here a magnificent bathing establishment. Though the fact of their occupation of the site was long known, the extent and magnitude of their arrangements have only lately been laid bare. Thanks to the skill and intelligence with which a thorough investigation of the site was made by the city architect in 1881, every visitor to Bath has now an opportunity of examining the finest extant specimen of a Roman bathing station in the world. The entrance to these antiquities is through a corridor to the left of the Pump Room (admission 6d.). This passage opens upon a modern balcony overlooking the great central basin. To investigate the ruins, a descent must be made by the staircase to the basement. The Great Bath is a rectangular tank 111 feet by 68 feet, originally lined with lead ¼ inch thick. It was surrounded with dressing-rooms, from which steps led down to the water. The great hall which contained it was covered in with a roof of hollow bricks and concrete (plentiful specimens of which lie scattered about), supported by carved columns. On the left is another square bath with a semi-circular tank at each end, and a series of vapour chambers behind it. The greater part of this bath was unfortunately destroyed in the 18th cent., to furnish material for the construction of a new bath. To the right of the great bath is a fine stepped circular bath, and beyond this again are sudatories. Still further on, extending beneath the street, in a part not always shown to the public and somewhat difficult of approach, is a third rectangular basin of considerable size. Even this does not complete the full tale of the bathing accommodation once provided. Buried beneath the basement of the Pump Room itself has been discovered the masonry of a large oval bath, the outline of which is still marked out in the flooring. The huge Roman reservoir into which were poured the healing waters as they bubbled up fresh and fervid from the bowels of the earth cannot now be seen, for it lies immediately beneath the floor of the King's Bath, but the visitor can still inspect the overflow conduit which conveyed the surplus waters to the Avon. The character of the lead and brick work should be carefully examined if justice is to be done to the skill of the Roman workmen. The specimens of the tessellated pavement that once formed the flooring of the great hall are worthy of passing notice. The King's Bath, the great bathing place of the fashionable world in Nash's day, is open to the air, and may be seen from one of the windows of the corridor. The various modern baths must be inquired for on the spot. Medicinal bathing is obtained at the New Royal Bath, in connection with the Grand Pump Room Hotel. The spring which keeps the whole of this vast array of bathing appliances going yields three hogsheads per minute, and issues from the earth at a temperature of 117° Fahr. The chief constituents of the waters are calcium sulphate, sodium sulphate, magnesium chloride, calcium carbonate, and sodium chloride, and there are traces of other minerals.