England - Bath

Bath!

The biggest surprise for me about Bath was that it is built upon hills. I do love the idea of a hilly town, with gracious stone houses and shops crowded close together and tumbled one above the other along steep and narrow streets winding up and up. I have had dreams of such a place that I have returned to in later dreams...it was years ago, but I can still remember it as clearly as if I had really been there. Elizabeth Goudge describes such a place (Saint Peter's Port on the Isle of Guernsey) in Green Dolphin Street, and also in Island Magic.

The center of Bath, however, with the Abbey and the ancient Roman Baths, is not steep or hilly, but situated along the banks of the River Avon.

The River Avon ~ late one afternoon CT and I strike out on foot and find our way up a hill and down another to the canal. We have been told it can be followed around and back into town. The day is exceedingly warm and humid, the air still, the water like glass....the high banks of the canal rise above us, dense with vivid green in every conceivable hue....even the weeds here are tall and luscious looking, bigger than life! Occasional joggers and bicyclists pass us by on the narrow path.

The photos from this excursion are along the canal, light and color reflected in the still, peaceful water, like a painting. To stay on the water would have been a more pleasant way, but we leave the canal too early, climbing up steps to a busy road above, and have a minor argument about which way to go among all these winding streets crowded with tall buildings of golden stone. I think we should stay on the canal; CT says how can we as we don't know where it's going; I respond that we have been told it returns directly to the center of town (where we want to be)...



....dusty, perspiring, and a bit snippy with irritation, we follow our noses, so to speak, along the streets, walking in what we hope is the correct general direction and eventually do arrive at the plaza outside Bath Abbey. Our irritation forgotten by now, we join the others who are beginning to gather around the square in anticipation of some special music. There is a music festival going on in Bath this week.

Bath Abbey ~ my first abbey/cathedral experience in England.
What a magnificent structure.



Photo courtesy of THIS SITE (click the link to go there).




Lord somebody-or-other is resting right there upon his centuries-old tomb....where worshipers have sat nearby or passed him entering or leaving for all those centuries. It is an odd feeling to stand here and know that those now consigned to history, Jane Austen for instance, could have stood on this same spot and wondered about this gentlemen....or not.

Of course, I looked for Jane Austen everywhere....and in fact, saw her walking around a corner, in a long russet colored gown and straw bonnet! Or was it someone dressed for the part? Yes, I'm sure that must be it; someone no doubt working at the Jane Austen Centre. Sadly, we did not have time to visit, but you can click the link and visit on-line if you are interested.



The abbey walls are literally covered in a hodgepodge of memorial plaques, some ornate...



...some plain....



...many beautifully carved of marble...



...some, like this one, with an oddly ironic accompaniment of modern day conduits for electricity and (perhaps?) water or gas, providing for the needs of today's Bathite (what does one call an inhabitant of Bath??) congregation, needs that one day will end just as James Quin's did. To quote the end of the verse here seen ..."whate'er thy strength of body, force of thought, in Nature's happiest mold however cast, to this complexion thou must come at last."

Life goes on...with or without us...



And, of course, tucked in among the memorials is the requisite list of the those individuals who have overseen the Abbey in all its forms from the earliest beginnings, seen here engraved on gleaming, polished brass. In this case, it all began with women...two Abesses head the list.



Before leaving the Abbey I drew close to one of the stone pillars and pointed the camera straight up, following the fluted lines to the intricate ceiling of graceful interlocking fans, all froth and lace and utterly gorgeous.


And now on to the Roman Baths....

The Roman Baths ~ Early on a fine, sunny morning our entire group tours the Roman Baths; we are the first group to arrive and have the place to ourselves for a while. The Baths are just across the square from the Abbey. The museum provides a fascinating look at Roman times. It is built on several levels, so one climbs down to greet ancient history below ground level.



But first we walk along a gallery overlooking one of the pools below. I happened to glance over the railing to a building across the street and see our reflection in the windows....click, click! We are holding the audio guides and listening as we go.




Photo source HERE

My favorite display is a collection of colorful semiprecious gemstones, each one tiny yet perfectly carved in minute detail with a simple scene like a cow grazing under a tree, or a god, or an animal...intended to be mounted on a ring and used as a signet.

I wish I had taken a photo! The stones I saw were similar to those pictured above, and were discovered in a Roman drain leading from the King's Bath spring many years ago. For the display a few of them are illuminated to reveal the delicate designs cut into the stones. Gazing upon the fine work of these ancient "jewelers" I am enchanted with the minute perfection they created so long ago.



Down below, on level with the pool, I enjoy the play of light upon the worn paving stones. Stones that I imagine could have been laid in place by the Romans when these mineral waters were first being developed into the baths, around 60 AD.




What stories these stones could tell!

But this ends my own story of our visit to Bath, at least for the moment.