Bath in Somerset County England History and Geography

BATH, a city having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of BATH-FORUM, county of SOMERSET, 12 miles (E. by S.) from Bristol, 19 (N.N.E.) from Wells, and 106 (W.) from London, on the direct road to Bristol, containing 36, 811 inhabitants. The name of this city is obviously derived from its medicinal springs, the efficacy of which has been celebrated from remote antiquity. It is stated to have been a British town prior to the Roman invasion, and that it was named Caer Badon, or the place of baths, from an accidental discovery of the medicinal properties of its waters by Bladud, son of Lud Hudibras, King of Britain, who, according to the fabulous histories of those times, having been banished from court on account of leprosy, came to this place, and being cured of that disease by using the waters, is said, after his accession to the throne, to have built a palace here, and to have encouraged the resort of persons affected with cutaneous disorders. So generally was this opinion entertained even till the eighteenth century, that his statue was erected in the king's bath, with an inscription to that effect, in 1699. The researches of modern historians, however, have induced them to reject this tradition as entirely destitute of support, and to ascribe the foundation of the city to the Romans in the reign of Claudius, who, having ascertained the healing quality of its waters, constructed, on a skilful and extensive plan, their balnea, consisting of frigidaria, tepedaria, olothesia, sudatoria, &c., for the better enjoyment of the luxury of the bath, and gave to the station the name Aqu' Solis. They erected a temple to Minerva, with many votive altars, and numerous other buildings, the remains of which, discovered at various periods, strikingly indicate their splendour and magnificence. They surrounded the city with walls twenty feet in height, and of prodigious thickness, including an area in the form of an irregular pentagon, of which the larger diameter was 1200, and the smaller 1140 feet: in the centre were the pr'torium, the baths, and the temple; and in the walls were four gates, terminating the principal streets, from which they constructed roads leading to the neighbouring stations, Verlucio, Ischalis, Abona, &c. After the departure of the Romans from Britain, Bath, then called Caer Palladur, the city of the waters of Pallas, remained in the possession of the Britons for upwards of a century, being disturbed only by one or two unsuccessful attacks of the Saxon chieftains, ?lla and Cerdie, who were bravely repulsed by the renowned King Arthur.

In the year 577, the Saxons, having nearly overrun all the rest of the kingdom, fell with irresistible fury on the western part of England, and having gained the memorable battle of Deorham, about eight miles distant, Bath fell a prey to their ravages, and was abandoned to indiscriminate plunder. Its temple was destroyed, its altars were overthrown, and its baths and other splendid monuments of Roman grandeur reduced to a heap of ruins. How long it continued in this state of desolation is uncertain, but probably the Saxons, after having retained uninterrupted possession of it for a time, turned their attention to its restoration: they rebuilt the walls and other fortifications upon the original foundations, with the old materials, which they cemented with a liquid substance that time has rendered harder than the stone. It is probable that they also directed their attention to the baths, which they soon restored, for the Saxon names of the city were Hat Bathur, hot baths, and Ace-mannes-ceaster, city of invalids. After their conversion to christianity, a nunnery was erected here in 676, by King Osric, which was destroyed during the wars of the heptarchy, and on its site a college of secular canons was founded in 775, by Offa, king of Mercia, who had taken Bath from the king of Wessex, and annexed it to his own dominions: he also rebuilt the conventual church of St. Peter, in which Edgar was crowned king of England, by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 973, and the anniversary of his coronation continued to be celebrated in the time of Camden, in commemoration of the many privileges which he granted to the citizens on that occasion. Edgar converted the college into a Benedictine monastery, which, with the church, was again demolished by the Danes.

At the time of the Norman survey, Bath contained one hundred and seventy-eight burgesses, of whom sixty-four held under the king, ninety under different feudatories of the crown, and twenty-four under the Abbot of St. Peter's. In the first year of the reign of William Rutus, Geoffry, Bishop of Coutances, and Robert de Mowbray, who had risen in support of the claim of Robert, Duke of Normandy, to the throne of England, gained possession of the city by assault, and burnt the greater part of it to the ground. From this calamity it soon recovered in consequence of John de Villula having, on his promotion to the sec of Wells about the year 1090, purchased the city from Henry I., for five hundred marks, and built a new and spacious church here for that sec, which he removed to this place, and where, during the festival of Easter in 1107, he had the honour of entertaining Henry I. In the turbulent reign of Stephen, Bath suffered greatly from its proximity to Bristol, then the head quarters of the Empress Matilda, and was alternately occupied by the adherents of both parties. It continued in the possession of its bishops until 1193, when Bishop Savari'' transferred it to Richard I. in exchange for the abbey of Glastonbury: this monarch made it a free borough, and invested it with many privileges, in consequence of which, it began to participate in the commerce of the country, and to increase in wealth and importance. The manufacture of woollen cloth, which was introduced into England in the year 1330, was established here under the auspices of the monks, in consequence of which the shuttle was introduced into the arms of the monastery. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., Bath was fortified for the king but the Marquis of Hertford, who commanded the royal forces, having retired into Wales, it fell into the hands of the parliamentarians, and became the head quarters for the army raised by Waller in that part of the country to retrieve the loss which his party had sustained in the battle of Staton. In 1643, the battle of Lansdown, in the immediate neighbourhood, took place, in which the royalists, notwithstanding many local disadvantages, drove the parliamentary forces from the field, and compelled them to retire into the city; in commemoration of which, a monument was erected on the spot by Lord Lansdown, in 1720. After this battle the royalists regained possession of the city, which they held till it was fmally surrendered to the parliament, in 1645. On the restoration of Charles II., the citizens presented a congratulatory address through the celebrated William Prynne, then one of their representatives; and in the autumn of 1663, the king paid a visit to Bath, on which occasion his chief physician having recommended the internal use of the waters, the adoption of this practice became general. After the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion, four persons, who had been condemned by Judge Jefferies, were executed here.

The city continued within the limits prescribed to it by the Romans till the year 1720, and its suburbs consisted merely of a few scattered houses: celebrated only for the medicinal properties of its hot springs, it was for several years visited only by invalids. The perseverance of Mr. John Wood, an enterprising architect, who was encouraged by the proprietors of land in the vicinity, about the year 1728, first led to the improvement of the city, and the excellent quarries of freestone, abounding in the neighbourhood, facilitated the execution of an enterprise which has embellished it with splendid edifices, and raised it to the highest rank as a place of fashionable resort. The town is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Avon, along which its buildings extend more than twomiles, decorating the acclivities, and crowning the summits, of that fine range of hills by which it is environed. The streets, which are spacious and well paved, extend through a lengthened perspective of buildings, in which uniformity of design and elegance of structure are equally conspicuous. Over that part of the Avon which skirts the eastern side of the town, and which adds so much interest to Bath, are two stone bridges, one of ancient, the other of modern erection; and a handsome iron bridge has recently been constructed, connecting Walcot with Bathwick, and affording a direct entrance from the London road into the most improved part of the town. Among the earliest of the modern improvements is Queen's square, the houses in which are decorated with columns and pilasters of the Corinthian order; in the centre is an obelisk 70 feet high, erected in 1738, by Beau Nash, in memory of the honour and benefit conferred upon the city by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who occupied a house in the square. The Cireus is a noble range of uniform edifices, embellished with successive series of double pillars of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, and enclosing an extensive area, beautifully disposed into shrubberies, with a gravel walk round a large reservoir in the centre, from which the houses are supplied with water: three streets, of corresponding character, lead into the circus from different parts of the town. The Royal Crescent is characterized by a simple grandeur of elevation, and adorned by a lofty colonnade of the Ionie order, rising from a rustie basement, and supporting a cornice with a rich entablature; a lawn of more than twenty acres slopes gradually to the margin of the Avon, commanding a fine view of the city, the beautiful vale below it, and the hills on the opposite side of the river. The North and South Parades, the former the favourite resort of the fashionable in summer, and the latter their usual promenade in the colder months, are handsome ranges of building, 580 feet in length, with terraces, 550 yards long and 52 feet broad, raised on arches, and commanding extensive and varied prospects, though the view from the North Parade is partly obstructed by the buildings on the opposite bank of the river. Below the South Parade is Kingstone-square, which, with the new streets recently formed, and a spacious esplanade on the bank of the river, adorn this part of the town. The Orange-grove, formerly the chief place of fashionable amusement, has been planted with trees, and in the centre is an obelisk, commemorating the restoration of the Prince of Orange to health by drinking the Bath waters. Behind the Royal Crescent are St. James' square, Lansdown-crescent, and Camden, Portland, and Somerset Places, with Mount Sion, an extensive range of houses on the summit of the Beacon-hill, Belle Vue, Cavendish-crescent, and Lansdown-place; besides which are Belmont, Belvidere, the Paragon, and Marlboroughbuildings, towering above each other in stately grandeur, and holding a distinguished rank among the ornamented part of the town. On the north-east of the city, at the entrance from the London road, are Kensington, Piccadilly, Grosvenor-place, and Walcot-terrace, exhibiting prominent features of architectural beauty. In the new town, on the east bank of the Avon, is Laura-place, a beautiful range of buildings in the form of a lozenge, intersected diagonally by great Pulteney-street, a noble series of mansions, at the extremity of which are Sydney-gardens, occupying an extensive area surrounded by several ranges of building forming Sydney-place, not inferior in beauty and elegance to the most splendid part of the city.

The grand pump-room, the centre of attraction during the fashionable season, was erected in 1797; it is a handsome building, 85 feet in length, 48 in width, and 34 in height. The interior, which is lighted by a double range of windows, is decorated with pillars of the Corinthian order, supporting a rich entablature and a lofty coved cieling: at the west end is a handsome orchestra, in which an excellent band performs from one o'clock till half-past three in the afternoon; and at the east, a well-executed marble statue of the celebrated Beau Nash, under whose superintendance for many years, as master of the ceremonies, the elegant amusements of this place were regulated, upon a system combining the most liberal urbanity with the most refined decorum. The principal entrance is through a handsome portico of four lofty columns of the Corinthian order, supporting a triangular pediment, under the tympanum of which is inscribed API''TON MEN Y''P. The king's bath, 60 feet 10 inches long, and 40 feet 10 inches wide, contains 364 tons of water, and is conveniently fitted up with seats and recesses, having also a handsome colonnade of the Doric order, with the statue of Bladud, the traditionary patron of the waters. The queen's bath, adjoining it, is 25 feet square, and has suitable apartments. The cross bath, so called from a cross erected in the centre of it, and the hot bath, so named from its superior degree of heat, the mean temperature being 117? of Fahrenheit, have the convenience of dry and vapour baths; and a small pump-room has been recently erected. Besides these public baths, which are now principally used by the poorer class of invalids and hospital patients, there are private baths belonging to the corporation, and the abbey baths, the property of Earl Manvers; these, which are chiefly resorted to by the wealthier visitors, are provided with sudatories, and other auxiliaries for the restoration of health, or the promotion of luxurious enjoyment. The waters contain carbonic acid and nitrogen gases, sulphate and muriate of soda, sulphate and carbonate of lime, and siliceous earth, with a minute portion of oxyde of iron, and are efficacious in gout, rheumatism, palsy, biliary obstruction, and cutaneous disorders. The spring season commences in April and ends in June, and the autumnal season commences in September and continues till December. The Bath Literary and Philosophical Institution was established in 1820: the buildings, occupying the site of the lower assembly-rooms, which were burnt down in 1820, are of the Doric order, and comprise a library, lecture room, laboratory, and two rooms for a museum, exclusively of the housekeeper's apartments: it is open both to visitors and inhabitants. The Bath and West of England Society for the encouragement of Agriculture, the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, by the distribution of premiums and medals, was cstablished in 1777, at the suggestion of Mr. Edmund Rack. The public subscription library, established in 1800, contains an extensive and well-assorted collection of books in the various branches of science and general literature; it is conducted under judicious regulations, and is liberally supported: the annual subscription is £1. 10. There are also numerous circulating libraries. The Mechanics' Institution, recently formed, occupies a commodious building at the corner of York and Abbey streets. The chief sources of amusement are the subscription assemblies and concerts, which are held during the season, under the superintendance of a master of the ceremonies, whose office being equally honourable and lucrative, has been warmly contested for by successive candidates. The rooms are superbly elegant: the ball-room is 105 feet long, 43 wide, and 22 high; the card-rooms, library, and rooms for refreshment, are furnished in a style of unrivalled splendour. The subscription concerts, of which there are nine during the season, are conducted upon a scale of the most comprehensive liberality, and combine, with the resident talent for which the city is celebrated, the most eminent vocal and instrumental performances of the metropolis. The lower assembly-rooms, which were destroyed by fire in 1820, were nearly equal to the upper rooms in elegance of decoration and convenience of arrangement. The city assemblies, for those who are not eligible as subscribers to the upper rooms, are held, by permission of the corporation, in the banquet-room of the Guildhall, evcry alternate Monday. The theatre, a well-adapted and handsome edifice, in the centre of the city, among the buildings of which it is distinguished by the loftiness of its elevation, is handsomely fitted up, and splendidly decorated: it contains three tiers of boxes; the ceiling is divided into compartments embellished with exquisite paintings by Cassali, which were removed from Fonthill Abbey. The building was completed in 1805, and is regularly open during the season; it has been long and deservedly eulogized for the excellence of the performances, and many actors who have attained the highest degree of eminence on the London stage have made their deb?t here. Sydney-gardens, the Vauxhall of Bath, are laid out with great taste and beauty; they afford an agreeable promenade at all times, and, during the summer, attract fashionable and numerous assemblages to public entertainments and exhibitions of fire-works, upon which occasions they are brilliantly illuminated. The Subscription Club-house, in York-buildings, containing a spacious suite of elegant rooms, was established in 1720, upon the plan of most of the superior club-houses in London, the members of which establishments are cligible as subscribers without ballot: the annual subscription is six guineas and a half. The Bath and West of England Subscription-rooms, in Pulteneystreet, upon a similar plan, and uniting with it the accommodations of an hotel, are fitted up in a very superior style; the members of the York club, and those of the principal club-houses of London, are eligible as subscribers, the annual subscription being two guineas and a half. There are also subscription billiard rooms in Milsom-street, to which those only are admissible, who are eligible to the assembly-rooms. The Lodge of Freemasons hold their meetings in York-street, where a hall was erected in 1817, which may be ranked among the architectural ornaments of the city. There are two extensive riding schools, well conducted on moderate terms, in one of which is a spacious covered ride for invalids in unfavourable weather. Lansdown and Claverton down afford delightful equestrian excursions, displaying much variety, and abounding in rich and interesting scenery. The races take place on Lansdown, the week after Ascot races; and there is a spring meeting in April, for half-bred mares.

The town, by means of the river, which is navigable to Bristol, and the Kennet and Avon canal, by which it maintains an inland communication with London and the intermediate places, is favourably situated for trade; but the only branch of manufacture carried on is that of coarse woollen cloth, called Bath-coating, and kerseymere, which is made in the neighbourhood. The markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday, in an area behind the Guildhall, the wings of which form the principal entrances; the market-house is an extensive and commodious range of building: the corn and cattle markets are held in Walcot, and the coal-market in Loo-close, where there is a weighing machine, and an officer in attendance to see all transactions equitably concluded. The fairs are, February 14th, and July 10th.

This city enjoyed, under Edgar and other Saxon monarchs, many valuable privileges, which were afterwards confirmed by Richard I.; subscquently recognized and enlarged by Queen Elizabeth, (who gave the citizens a charter of incorporation), and finally by George III., who made such modifications in the charter as the increasing importance of the place required. The government is vested in a mayor, recorder, two bailiffs, (who act as sheriffs), a chamberlain, deputy chamberlain, ten aldermen, and twenty common councilmen, assisted by a town clerk, two serjeants at mace, and subordinate officers. The mayor, who is also coroner and clerk of the market, and the two bailiffs, are chosen annually from among the aldermen, on the Monday before Michaelmas day; the mayor, aldermen, and two senior common council-men, are justices of the peace. The freedom of the city is obtained by gift from the corporation, who have power to choose citizens or free burgesses from among the inhabitants generally. The elective franchise was conferred in the reign of Edward I., since which time the city has continued to return two members to parliament; the right of election is vested solely in the corporation: the influence of the Marquis of Bath prevails in the return of one of the members; the mayor is the returning officer. The corporation hold a court of session quarterly, and a court of record every Monday, for all personal actions arising within the city and liberty: a court of requests, for the recovery of debts under £10, is held every Monday, by Commissioners appointed under an act of the 45th of George III., the jurisdiction of which extends over the city and liberty, the parish of Walcot, and the several parishes and places in the hundreds of Bath-Forum and Wellow, and the liberties of Hampton, Claverton and Easton with Amrill, in the county of Somerset. The Guildhall is an elegant structure of freestone: the front is decorated with a portico of four lofty Corinthian columns, rising from a rustic basement, and supporting a triangular pediment, with a rich entablature and cornice, in the tympanum of which are the city arms, and on the apex a finely sculptured figure of Justice; above the cornice is a handsome balustrade, with urns: this elegant building comprises, on the ground floor, a handsome vestibule, sessions hall, offices for the courts of record and requests, and for the chamberlain and town clerk; and, in the upper story, a magnificent suite of apartments for civic entertainments. In the mayor's room is a beautiful head of Minerva, or of Apollo, of gilt brass; it was discovered in 1727, at the depth of 16 feet below the surface of the ground, in Stall-street, and is thought to be part of a mutilated statue, the remainder of which is supposed to be buried near the same spot. The prison is a spacious building, occupying an area 60 feet in front, and 80 feet in depth, with a large court-yard, and cells in which delinquents are confined previously to their committal to the county gaol.

Jointly with Wells, Bath forms a diocese, which is coextensive with the county of Somerset. The Abbey church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is a venerable and finely proportioned cruciform structure, in the later style of English architecture, of which it forms one of the purest specimens: from the intersection, an irregularly quadrilateral tower rises to the height of 162 feet. It occupies the site, and is built partly with the materials, of the conventual church of the monastery founded by Osric, which had subsisted, under different forms of government, for more than eight hundred years. This church having become dilapidated, Bishop Oliver King (as it is said, admonished in a dream, of which a memorial is sculptured on the west front,) began to rebuild it in 1495, but dying before it was completed, and the citizens refusing to purchase it from the commissioners of Henry VIII., the walls were left roofless till Dr. James Montague, Bishop of the diocese, aided by a liberal contribution from the nobility and gentry resident in the county, completed it in the year 1606. There are some remains of the monastery on the south side of the Abbey church, consisting chiefly of the gate-house in which James II., Mary, consort of William III., Queen Anne and her consort, George, Prince of Denmark, successively resided: the revenue, at the dissolution, was £695. 6. 1¼. By charter of Elizabeth, the several parishes of St. Peter and St. Paul, or the Abbey parish, St. James, and St. Michael's, were consolidated into one rectory, to which the vicarages of Widcombe and Lyncombe were annexed. The living is in the archdeaconry of Bath, and diocese of Bath and Wells, rated in the king's books at £20. 17. 11., and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. St. James' church, rebuilt in 1768, is an elegant structure in the later style of English architecture. St. Michael's, erected in 1744, is of the Doric order, with a handsome dome. The parochial church of Walcot, a spacious edifice within the liberty of the city, was rebuilt in 1780, and has lately received an addition of 2100 sittings, of which number, 1800 are free, and towards the expense of which, the Incorporated Society for enlarging churches, &c. granted £1000. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Bath, and diocese of Bath and Wells, rated in the king's books at £6. 19. 9½., and in the patronage of the lord of the manor. Christchurch was erected by subscription, in 1798, for the especial accommodation of the poor; it is a fine building in the later style of English architecture. The living is a perpetual curacy, exempt from the jurisdiction of the Archdeacon, and in the patronage of the Bishop of the diocese. St. Mary Magdalene's, an ancient edifice overspread with ivy, on Beachen Cliff; and St. Michael's chapel, near the cross, are parochial chapels, the former in the gift of the Crown, and the latter in the patronage of the Rector of Bath. St. Mary's chapel, in Queensquare, built by subscription in 1735, is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style of architecture; the exterior is of the Doric, and the interior of the Ionic order. The octagon chapel, in Milsom-street, was erected in 1767, and is much admired for the elegance of its style. Margaret chapel, in Margaret-buildings, is a spacious and handsome structure in the early style of English architecture. The chapel in Lansdown-place, erected in 1794, and dedicated to All Saints, is a good specimen of the decorated style; there are twelve fine windows, in which are painted the heads of the twelve Apostles, and the east window is ornamented with a painting of the last supper. Kensington chapel, a neat modern building near the London road, was erected by subscription, in 1795; and Laura chapel, an elegant and well arranged edifice in Henrietta-street, was built by tontine subscription, in 1796. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Methodists, Moravians, and Unitarians, and a Roman Catholic chapel.

The free grammar school was founded by Edward VI., and endowed with lands belonging to the dissolved religious houses: the management is vested in the corporation, who appoint the master, and allow him a salary of £60 per annum, and an excellent house. The rectory of Charlcomb was annexed to the mastership of this school, by the late Rev. William Robins, for the instruction of ten additional boys, sons of freemen, or inhabitants of the city, in classical and commercial learning. The blue-coat charity school, for fifty boys and fifty girls, was founded in 1711, by Robert Nelson, Esq., and is chiefly supported by subscription; an apprentice fee of £6 is given with each boy, and one of £5 with each girl, on leaving the school. There are also two other free schools for girls, besides one for the instruction of poor children of Bath and Bath-Forum, a National school, and a Catholic free school. The Bath hospital, open to the poor from every part of the kingdom, whose maladies require the use of the Bath waters, is supported by subscription, and is under the direction of a president and governors, incorporated by act of parliament, who have a common seal, and are empowered to fill up vacancies in their own body. The Bath united hospital, combining the objects of the late city dispensary and casualty infirmary, recently established, and for which a spacious building has been erected near the Cross bath, and the infirmary in Kingston buildings, for curing diseases of the eye, are supported by subscription. There are three societies for the relief of women during child-birth; an asylum for the support of young females, and instructing them in household work; a house of protection for orphans and unprotected females; an establishment for aged, and an asylum for young, females; and charitable institutions of various kinds, adapted to the wants of the distressed poor, and to the mitigation of almost every species of calamity, all which are liberally supported and judiciously regulated. St. John's hospital, for the maintenance of six aged men and six women, was founded in the reign of Henry II., by Reginald Fitz-Jocelyn, who endowed it with lands then producing £22 per annum; the management is vested in the corporation: attached to this institution is a neat chapel, in which the master, who must be a clergyman of the established church, officiates daily, and for this he receives a liberal stipend. Partis' College, a capacious range of building occupying three sides of a quadrangle, on the upper road to Bristol, and comprising a chapel and separate dwellings for thirty decayed gentlewomen, ten of whom must be either the widows or daughters of clergymen, was founded and endowed by Mrs. Partis, in fulfilment of the intention of her husband, Fletcher Partis, Esq. who died before it was carried into effect; each of the inmates has a house containing four apartments, a garden, and a liberal pecuniary allowance.

The remains of antiquity, found at different times in this city, are of British, Roman, and Saxon origin, and clearly demonstrate the fact of its having been severally occupied by those people. Among the British antiquities are celts, or stone hatchets, hand mill stones, boars' teeth, and amber beads, found in their burial places, a small silver coin, having on the obverse a rude head in profile, and on the reverse a star or wheel. Among the Roman was found, in 1753, a pedestal with a Latin inscription: in 1755, parts of the Roman baths, and several of the large tubulated bricks, which conveyed the heat to the sudatoria, were discovered; and in 1790, a votive altar, fragments of fluted Corinthian columns, basso relievos, and other relics of the temple of Minerva, besides numerous coins of the emperors Nero, Trajan, Adrian, Antonine, Gallienus, Claudius, Gothicus, Maxentius and Constantine, with some of Carausius, who assumed the Roman purple in Britain, were found. On digging the foundation for the new bridge over the Avon to Walcot, the remains of an old ford were observable, and a leaden vessel was found containing some hundreds of denarii, and several small brass coins from the time of the Emperor Valens to that of Eugenius; for the reception of these, a room was appropriated by the corporation, in which they are deposited, with a due regard to classification. The Saxon remains, exclusively of coins, coffins, &c., consist of what is still visible in the city walls, which they erected on the Roman foundation, in which are inserted fragments of the ruined temple, pieces of sculpture, and parts of triumphal arches, intermixed with the original materials. In a stone coffin was also found a small copper box, in the form of a rouleau, divided into two parts, the upper part being covered by a slide, probably intended for perfume, and the lower part filled with small silver coins resembling the early Saxon scatt'. John Hales who, in 1612, was appointed Greek Professor at Oxford, and who, in the year following, pronounced the funeral oration of Sir Thomas Bodley, founder of the Bodleian library, was a native of this city, and received the rudiments of his education in the grammar school. Benjamin Robins, a celebrated mathematician, and the writer of the account of Commodore Anson's voyage round the world, was born here in 1707. Closely connected with Bath for several years, though not a native, was Ralph Allen, Esq. of Prior Park, an elegant mansion a few miles to the south, which was in his time the resort of several of the wits and literati of the age: this gentleman, supposed to be the original of Fielding's Allworthy, in his novel of Tom Jones, amassed a splendid fortune by being the first who farmed the cross-posts throughout the kingdom, and having been elected a member of the corporation of Bath, exercised great influcnce in the regulation of its municipal affairs. Bath gives the title of marquis to the family of Thynne, of Longleat House.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale