Bath Abbey, Bath 
Bath Abbey's cream-colored stone glows beautifully at sunset.
All photos by the author. For more, see our Bath Abbey Photo Gallery.
Bath Abbey is an architectural beauty and the last in a series of monastic churches built in Bath. The current building dates from 1499 and it is now an active parish church.
In 675 AD, King Osric granted the Abbess Berta land near Bath for the establishment of a convent. The women's religious house later became a monastery under the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester.
In 781, the powerful King Offa of Mercia successfully wrested the monastery at Bath from the bishop and built a new monastic church dedicated to St. Peter. In 957, King Edwy described the new Bath monastery as "marvelously built."
Edwy's brother Edgar supported Bath monastery's revival upon his accession in 959 and encouraged the monks to adopt the Benedictine Rule.
On the death of William the Conqueror in 1088, Bath was ravaged in the struggle for power between his sons. The victor, William Rufus, granted the city to a royal physician, John of Tours. John became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath in 1088. In 1090, John of Tours became the first Bishop of Bath and St. Peter's was raised to cathedral status.
John of Tours then planned a new cathedral on a grand scale, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. When finished it was about 330 feet (100 meters) long. Only the ambulatory was complete when he died in 1122. The half-finished cathedral was devastated by fire in 1137, but work continued and it was completed by about 1156.
In 1244 Bath and Wells shared cathedral status and Roger of Salisbury became the first bishop. However, later bishops preferred Wells, whose canons had successfully petitioned the pope to regain cathedral status, and Bath Cathedral gradually fell into disrepair.
When Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, visited Bath in 1499 he was shocked to find the church in ruins. He took a year to consider what to do about it. In October 1500 he wrote to the Prior of Bath to explain that a large amount of the priory income would be dedicated to rebuilding the cathedral.
Work probably began the following spring. Bishop King planned a smaller church, covering only the area of the Norman nave. He did not live to see the result and the new cathedral was completed just a few years before the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1539.
In January 1539 Prior Holloway surrendered Bath Priory to the Crown. The church was stripped of lead, iron and glass and left to rot, but iIt was rescued a generation later by the citizens of Bath. From 1574 to 1611 Queen Elizabeth I promoted the restoration of the still-ruined Abbey to serve as the grand parish church of Bath.
During the 1860s major restoration work was carried out by Sir Gilbert Scott. This included the nave roof being returned to its original glory of stone carved fan vaulting based on the original vault designed by William and Robert Vertue.
Originally a Norman church built on even earlier foundations, Bath Abbey was later transformed into a Gothic fantasy of flying buttresses with crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenelated and pierced parapet. The style of architecture employed is Perpendicular (English late-Gothic). The Latin exhortation across the doors reads, "Behold how it is good and pleasing."
The interior contains fine fan vaulting by Robert and William Vertue, who designed similar vaulting in the Henry VII chapel, at Westminster Abbey. The building has 52 windows that fill about 80% of the building's wall space, giving the interior an impression of lightness. The incredible stained glass windows at the East End depict 56 scenes in the life of Christ.
At the Heritage Vaults, accessible from outside the building (in the abbey's south wall, off Abbey Churchyard), you can see an audiovisual presentation of the abbey's history and a reconstruction of the Norman cathedral that preceded it.
Location Map
Location map of Bath Abbey. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. You can explore all of Bath on our own Bath Map.
| Address: | 13 Kingston Buildings, Bath BA1 1LT, England |
| Phone: | 01225/422462 |
| Web: | www.bathabbey.org |
| E-mail: | office@bathabbey.org |
| Hours: | Abbey Apr-Oct Mon-Sat 9am-6pm; Nov-Mar Mon-Sat 9am-4:30pm; year-round Sun 1-2:30pm and 4:30-5:30pm. The Heritage Vaults Mon-Sat 10am-3:30pm (last entrance) |
| Cost: | Admission to the abbey: £2.50 donation requested. Admission to the Heritage Vaults: £2.50 adults, £1.50 students, children, and seniors |
| Tip: | Look for the miter, olive tree, and crown motif on the West Front, a play on the name of the building's founder, Bishop Oliver King. |
| Photos: | Permitted. Tripods only by prior permission. No photos during services. |
| Services: | Weekdays: Morning Prayer at 8.30 am on Mondays; Holy Communion at 11.00 am on Thursdays and at 8.30 am on Fridays; also at 11.00 am on Saints' Days. Sundays: Holy Communion at 8.00 am and 12.15 pm; Parish Communion (with children's groups and crèche; contemporary English) at 9.15 am; Choral Matins at 11.00 am; Choral Evensong at 3.30 pm; Evening Service at 6.30 pm (contemporary English). Except those indicated, services are taken from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. |
Sources
- Personal visit (September 2005).
- Bath Abbey – Official Site
- Bath Abbey – Frommer's Attraction Review
- Bath Abbey – Fodor's Online Travel Guide
- Bath Abbey – Catholic Encyclopedia
