A city and inland watering-place on the river Avon, formerly in the county of Somerset, 186 km (116 miles) from London and approximately 21 km (13 miles) from Bristol.

In the early eighteenth century it became the foremost English spa and the medicinal baths based on the three hot springs which rise in the city have been known since before the Roman occupation. Rediscovered in 1755, the city possesses extensive Roman remains including the baths, teples and a great conduit through which the spring water is still channelled. Designated a world heriatge site, Bath is the most visited location in briatin after London itself.

Created a city in 1590 by Queen Elizabeth I, Bath has been in the county of Somerset until the twentieth century when it became part of the unpopular county of Avon created from parts of Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire and including the city of Bristol. By the Local Government Act 1992 and the Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995, the county of Avon split was into four unitary authorities (Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and NE Somerset), the change comming into effect on April 1st, 1996.

The historic city has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and presents some of the finest architectural landscapes in Europe, including the famous Roman Baths.

The site of the main spring of the hots springs for which Bath is famed was treated as a shrine, dedicated to the goddess Sulis, by the Celts. Following the Roman invasion of 43AD, the Romans identified with Sulis with their Minerva but named the town Aquae Sulis building increasingly grand temples and baths there throughout their occupation which were rediscovered from the eighteenth century onwards. The twon was connected to Somerset and Devon by the Fosse Way built possibly as early as AD49. The baths fell into direpair after the departure of the Romans in 410 although there is evidence that the hot spring waters continued to be used in Saxon times. Alfred the Great laid out the town afresh and John of Tours, bishop of Wells, who had been granted the town by King William II (Rufus), obtained permission to move the see of Somerset to Bath. Later bishops preferred Wells but Bath cathedral retained its status in the see of Bath and Wells.

Bath was created a city in 1590, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I when it revived as a spa. The extensive rebuilding of the city during the reigns of the Stuart Kings was overshadowed by the rapid expansion which took place in the Georgian period when Bath achieved its zenith a fashionable spa and playground of the aristocracy. Although its popularity as a spa faded in the nineteenth century, the tentieth century saw its rise as a tourist destination to the extent that, amongst overseas visitors to the UK, it is now the second most visited city after London.

see:   HISTORY OF BATH   for more

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973		Coronation of King Edgar at Bath by St Dunstan The ceremony forms the basis of the modern coronation ceremony
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1590		Bath created a city Baths popularity as a spa revived during the Elizabethan period
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1784		Britain\'s first mail coach service runs between London and Bath (along what is now the A4)
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1794		William Smith (1760-1839) produces the first geological map of England showing the vicinity of Bath
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1996.Apr.01		Abolition of the County of Avon by the Local Government Act 1992 and the Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995; Avon split into four unitary authorities - Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and Bath and NE Somerset
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