And rebuilt by John de Villula, 1018-1122.
In 1137 partly destroyed by fire, it was subsequently restored by Bishop Robert, 1136-1166.
In 1499, then in a ruinous state, was taken down, and Bishop King and Prior Bird began to build the present structure, which was not completed for public worship until 1616.
In 1834 the Corporation of Bath carried out extensive repairs and removed adjoining buildings which for many years disfigured the church.
In 1864 the Reverend Charles Venable, aided by public subscriptions, began the work of restoration under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A.”
No English county is richer in Roman remains than Somersetshire, and with only a few exceptions they are all to be found in Bath. In the early days of their occupation the Romans discovered the value of the hot springs and cleared the rough and primitive British dwellings to erect in their place a splendid city. The Roman baths, which have been unearthed quite recently, bear distinct witness to the early celebrity of the city. These remains cover but a small part of the original site, because it has been calculated the baths alone must have covered an area of seven acres, and in addition there would be the lounges, pleasure grounds, and the villas of the Roman residents. The earliest name of the city of which there is any record is Aquæ Solis—“the waters of the sun.” A temple to a British deity, Sul (thought by the Romans to be the same as their own Sol) has been found near the hot springs. When, therefore, the conquerors built their temple at Aquæ Solis they linked the name of their Goddess Minerva with the British Sul, and on the site of this temple to Sul-Minerva was erected the church of St Peter and St Paul. The nave is the only portion left of the original abbey church.
The present church is a very striking example of the late Perpendicular period—a period of straight lines and huge windows. The building, as it stands, dates from as near as possible 1500, when it was commenced by Bishop Oliver King. It was completed by Bishop Montague in 1616, and a restoration was effected by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1864. The west front, which pictures in sculpture the dream of Bishop Oliver King, is not only one of the grandest, but one of the most singular pieces of architecture in existence. The vision commemorated was one of the Holy Trinity with angels going up and down a ladder, a crown and an olive tree—interpreted by the bishop as a message to him to rebuild the church.
In the churchyard is a pump room, a classical building upwards of a century old, and bearing on its pediment a Greek inscription, the translation of which is “Best on the one hand is water.” The room was built at the suggestion of Beau Nash, the famous organiser of pleasure and the character most intimately associated with the “renaissance” of Bath. He became the uncrowned king of the city and his plans were accepted as law. When it was proposed to place a full length portrait of this “Bathoniæ elegantiæ arbiter,” as he is styled, on his monument, between small busts of Sir Isaac Newton and the poet Pope, Lord Chesterfield made fun of Nash in the oft-repeated epigram:
“Immortal Newton never spoke
More truth than here you’ll find:
Nor Pope himself ere penned a joke
Severer on mankind.
This picture placed these busts between
Gives satire all its strength;
Wisdom and wit are little seen
But Folly at full length.”
Among the many pithy epitaphs to be seen on the tablets and slabs inside the abbey church, one, almost hidden in the north aisle of the chancel, and written by Garrick on Quin the actor, is characteristic of the punning tendency of the time: