On a latest journey to London, with a couple of days to discover the British countryside, we select Bath, for a number of causes. It’s the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s delivery, a celebration at present lighting up the town. Bath is definitely accessible from London, affords great lodges (refreshingly inexpensive), and is an exquisite Georgian city — a UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s largely walkable, and stuffed with museums, parks, and wonderful food and drinks.
The Roman Baths
| Photo Credit:
Karen Anand
Soaking in Austen
The metropolis is now abuzz with Austen. You can indulge as a lot or as little as you want — from grand themed balls and the Jane Austen Festival (together with a costumed promenade for these keen to walk in full Regency apparel) to the Jane Austen Centre, the place guests can find out about her life in Bath.
We be part of a strolling tour with the Strictly Jane Austen Tours firm, led by the pleasant, red-haired Theresa, dressed head-to-toe in Regency costume. She weaves historical past with scandal, gossip, and sharp social commentary — entertaining and extremely beneficial. Afterwards, we get pleasure from a Jane Austen-themed afternoon tea at The Bath Priory, one of many metropolis’s loveliest lodges. And in fact, we go to the Roman Baths (now a world-class museum) — although, for well being causes, bathing is not allowed. Instead, you may “take the waters” at one of many metropolis’s central lodges, which faucet into the recent springs, or go to the fashionable Thermae Bath Spa close by.
Strictly Jane Austen Tours group
| Photo Credit:
ECT Travel
Right subsequent door, the historic Pump Room is a must-visit. Once the place to see and be seen by excessive society, it nonetheless serves afternoon tea and is steeped in environment. You may cease by the Bath Bun Tea Shoppe, the place servers in interval costume provide the candy buns Austen adored.
Pump Room
| Photo Credit:
Karen Anand
The Bath Bun Tea Shoppe
| Photo Credit:
Karen Anand
One of my favorite spots in Bath is alongside the River Avon, which winds by the town just under Pulteney Bridge, one of many few bridges on this planet with retailers constructed on it. Just beneath lies a horseshoe-shaped weir, a magical place to take a seat with an area cider and whereas away the time.
Where to remain in Bath
We stayed at The Bath Priory, a row of chic Georgian townhouses in honey-coloured stone set inside 4 acres of gardens. A brief stroll from the town centre by Royal Victoria Park, it’s a peaceable, luxurious retreat.
Built as a non-public house in 1835 on land owned by Bath Abbey’s Priory, the resort blends Gothic class with consolation — plush sofas, backyard views, interval furnishings, and quiet refinement. The bedrooms and suites are giant, with many overlooking the gardens. In the warmth of the summer season, they provide a snug sanctuary. Their Regency Afternoon Tea is impressed by historic recipes reminiscent of Rout muffins and lavender shortbread, and likewise options savoury bites like sausage rolls and finger sandwiches.
Dining choices embrace a 3 AA Rosette fine-dining restaurant, and a relaxed pantry and terrace. (I really like steak and fries, and the truffle and Parmesan fries listed here are to die for.) The L’Occitane spa — the one certainly one of its sort within the U.Okay. — affords herbarium-inspired rituals, heated indoor and outside swimming pools, steam rooms, and coverings.
The Bath Priory
| Photo Credit:
David Griffen Photography
The resort blends Gothic class with consolation
| Photo Credit:
Courtesy The Bath Priory
Going past books
The metropolis is a postcard of completely preserved Georgian England, with wobbly cobbled streets, swish crescents, and chic squares. If you’re a Bridgerton fan, you’ll recognise many filming places: Modiste’s seamstress store (a deli in actual life), the Royal Crescent (the Featherington house), and Bath Street with its stately colonnades.
The creator in Bath
| Photo Credit:
Karen Anand
All six of Austen’s novels point out Bath and two of them, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, are set right here. For these much less inclined to learn Austen, there are a number of wonderful movie and TV variations they will tune into.
Austen, the single daughter of a priest, wrote on the flip of the nineteenth century. Her private wrestle for independence, pointed social satire, and forward-thinking views on slavery — a topic tied to Bath’s wealth — shine by in her fiction. Her work stays timeless: witty, sharp, and wealthy with commentary on class, gender, and marriage.
Though she lived in Bath for under 5 years, the town’s scandals and social shallowness fed her cynicism and sharpened her pen. Austen’s novels gained reputation solely after her dying at 41. Today, she instructions a world fanbase.
Beyond the bonnet
Gabrielle Malcolm, artistic director of Strictly Jane Austen Company, on bringing the novelist’s world to life
What is the Strictly Jane Austen firm all about?
We’re a Bath-based expertise firm providing immersive and eclectic encounters with the Regency interval, Jane Austen’s works, and her cultural impression.
Was Austen a feminist?
In some ways, sure. She negotiated her personal publishing contracts, which was fairly daring for a lady then. She stayed exterior the mainstream literary circles, however represented herself fearlessly.
Why is Austen nonetheless so celebrated?
Her characterisation is great — vivid, relatable, and related. She wasn’t writing “historical romance”, however modern social satire. Her sharp irony, wit, and talent to convey society to life make her resonate even at present. Readers consider her as “Jane”, somebody they may very well be buddies with.
Are her books extra fashionable now?
Absolutely. While that they had durations of obscurity within the nineteenth century, the twentieth and twenty first centuries have seen a renewed fascination, particularly by trendy retellings.
Regency studying
| Photo Credit:
The Jane Austen Centre
Does Bridgerton assist or hinder Austen’s legacy?
It helps! Julia Quinn’s novels wouldn’t exist with out Austen. Bridgerton performs with Regency tropes — a bit satirical, a bit enjoyable, with a contemporary twist. It retains the interval alive for brand new audiences.
And Bridget Jones?
A transparent trendy parody of Pride and Prejudice. Helen Fielding even stored the title Darcy. Casting Colin Firth — who additionally performed Darcy within the BBC adaptation — was genius. Fielding has overtly mentioned she “ripped off” Austen, and did it brilliantly.
Why does Bath seem so typically in Austen’s work?
Bath was the wedding market of its day, an exquisite spa city with a darker aspect of playing, gossip, and social climbing. Austen captured each its superficial glamour and darker actuality. Bath nearly turns into a personality in itself — what Angela Carter referred to as “the skull beneath the skin.”
The author, marketing consultant, and entrepreneur’s newest enterprise is bespoke small group excursions, which she curates and accompanies.
