Bath as a Spa, Cultural and Tourist centre: records of Bath City Council and Bath...

The records in this sub-fonds were created in the course of the Council's administration of Bath's cultural, tourist and leisure facilities, including the Roman Baths and Pump Room, the Assembly Rooms, the library and art gallery, the summer band, Bath Assembly, and other leisure amenities.

Bath's name indicates how closely its identity is linked to the thermal spa waters, unique in Britain. For centuries, the wealth which visitors have brought with them to the spa has been a mainstay of the local economy. It is not surprising then that Bath City Council, and Bath and North East Somerset Council in its turn, have been involved in the development and management of the waters and of other amenities for visitors.

The Roman spa town of Aquae Sulis dates from the first to fourth centuries AD. The baths continued to be used during Saxon times, though in a reduced form. In the 7th century, a monastery was established, and Bath became an important centre for Christianity. The baths were under church control with the main spring building being rebuilt in the late 11th to mid-12th centuries. There was a Royal lodging in Bath in the thirteenth century, with at least one bath.

Bath Corporation took control of the baths in 1554, as part of the Abbey property which they acquired following the dissolution of the monasteries. To manage them, a keeper of the baths was appointed. The keeper paid a rent to the council, making profits from tips from the clientele. The job was customarily offered to the city's Sergeant at Arms.

The period 1575 - 1600, was one of significant investment by the Corporation in the baths. In 1572, they built the New Bath for women, later known as the Queen's Bath. They also started the restoration of the Abbey; the city's many visitors required somewhere suitable to worship. Queen Elizabeth visited in 1574, making Bath even more fashionable. Other leading courtiers made repeated visits. A lepers' bath for people suffering from skin diseases was added to the King's Bath in the 1570s, and the Horse Bath (which was indeed for horses and other animals) was built just outside the city.

In 1684 the Council began appointing a pumper with responsibility for the drinking waters. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the season (the time when fashionable visi tors came to Bath) extended across the summer only, due to poor road conditions at other times of the year. As transport improved, two seasons developed, spring and autumn. Later the season was all year round except for the summer, which was considered too hot for bathing.

Trevor Fawcett ('Bath City Council Members, 1700-1835', unpublished typescript, 2014) notes that the majority of eighteenth century councillors were dependent on Bath's tourist trade; they included innkeepers, apothecaries, surgeons and physicians. The council promoted the trade through developments such as the gravel walks and the Pump Room, which was built in 1706, and re-built in the 1790s. The Duke of Kingston opened his private baths in the 1760s, in competition with the Corporation Baths. The Council responded with the rebuilding of the Hot Bath in the 1770s including private baths. The Cross Bath was re-built in 1784 and the 1790s.

In the nineteenth century, the popularity of sea-bathing led to a decline in Bath's visitor numbers. In 1859 a new water fountain was built in Stall Street providing free spa drinking water to all who wanted it. Leisure swimming was also introduced with the Tepid baths of 1829 and the New Royal baths of 1870.

From the 1870s extensive Roman remains began to be uncovered. As understanding of the significance of the site grew, Bath began to develop a new role as a destination for heritage tourism.

By the late 1800s, the Council had decided they should bring the spa facilities up to date. Council officers took a tour of European spas and the bathing facilities were rebuilt; the New Queen's Bath opened in 1889, with rebranded treatments alongside new continental treatments. It was a success with over 100 000 using the spa in 1890. This led to an increased need for accommodation; the Grand Pump Room Hotel was built in 1869 and the Empire Hotel in 1901.

The First World War (1914-1918) saw many injured servicemen treated in Bath. The Second World War (1939-1945) damaged the spa's infrastructure, particularly the hotels, and after the war, spa therapy became unfashionable. The withdrawal of NHS funding for spa treatments in 1976 was another major blow.

The tragic death of a girl from an infection contracted from contaminated spa water in 1978 led to the stopping of all supplies of mineral water and the end of centuries of bathing.

A new, safe supply of spa water was established in 1983, and the baths were given a new lease of life when the Council instigated the development of a 21st century spa; the Thermae Bath spa opened in 2006 and attracted over one million visitors in its first five years.

This description has been compiled using the following sources:
'Stewing Alive: the story of bathing in Bath', Bath and North East Somerset Council, 2002 (Bath Record Office reference: PP/1274)
'Bath Past' website by Jean Manco: http://www.buildinghistory.org/bath/ accessed May 2015
Trevor Fawcett, 'Bath Administer'd', Bath, 2001 (Bath Record Office reference: PP/1005)
Trevor Fawcett, 'Bath City Council Members, 1700-1835', unpublished pamphlet (Bath Record Office ref: PP/2151)

The Records
The records in this sub-fonds, BC/13, begin only in the eighteenth century, but evidence of the council's active development of Bath as a spa town can be found from a much earlier date in the council minutes (BC/2/1/1-2), property records (BC/6) and accounts (BC/5). The Baths and Pump Rooms Committee was set up in 1833 (minutes at BC/2/1/49).

Note that the majority of records relating to strategic planning and major developments, which include the development of the city's visitor attractions, will be found in sub-fonds BC/8 (Planning and Development Control records).

The records in this sub-fonds are arranged as follows:

BC/13/1 Spa and Recreation General Filing (includes material relating to all sections below)
BC/13/2 Records relating to the Baths and Pump Room
BC/13/3 Records relating to the Assembly Rooms
BC/13/4 Records relating to the Library, Museum and Art Gallery
BC/13/5 Records relating to the Summer Band
BC/13/6 Records relating to Mural Tablets (tablets commemorating famous former residents on house and street walls)
BC/13/7 Records relating to Bath Assembly Ltd. (the precursor to the Bath Festival)
BC/13/8 Records relating to the provision of bathing places (Darlington Wharf and Cleveland Pools)

The records in the following series have been catalogued in detail.: BC/13/1; BC/13/2; BC/13/6; BC/13/7. For information on the remaining series, please contact the Record Office for more information.