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Bath
Bath Abbey
Roman Baths
Assembly Rooms
Bath Fashion Museum
Pump Room
​Royal Crescent
Victoria Art Gallery
England home page and travel index
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Portland cruise port
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CRUISING TO ENGLAND:



BATH
THE PUMP ROOM
The Pump Room, Bath England
 During the Georgian era, the population of Bath exploded from 2,000 to 38,000. In addition, many non-residents visited the city each year.

The original attraction that drew people to the city was its mineral springs, which were believed to have curative powers. Unlike the ancients, however, the belief was that the water's therapeutic powers came not so much from bathing in it but by drinking the water.

The place where fashionable people came to drink the waters was the Pump Room. Located by the King's Spring, water was pumped up from the spring to the Pump Room where patrons could purchase a glass.
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By the later half of the 18th century, the original pump room had become too small to handle all of the fashionable people who were coming to Bath to take the waters. Therefore, architect Thomas Baldwin began a new Palladian style building made from the local Bath stone. Baldwin was dismissed, however, for mismanagement of funds and John Palmer was brought in to finish the job. The Duchess of York officially opened the building in 1795 but it was not really finished until 1779.

While the curative power of the water was the original attraction, it soon became a place for fashionable society to see and be seen. People would come between eight in the morning and three in the afternoon dressed in their finest outfits and promenade up and down the 60 foot long room. Music would be playing as people met and socialized. The City of Bath derived a healthy income from the subscriptions it sold to those who ostensibly came to drink the water.

The Pump Room was so much a part of fashionable Bath that Jane Austen described it in her novel Northanger Abbey.

Today, the Pump Room is a restaurant. The double-height room is still decorated in elegant Georgian style. A pianist or the Pump Room Trio, said to be the longest established resident ensemble in Europe, play music. The King's Spring Fountain still yields the unusual tasting water with its 43 minerals. However, the tables prevent one from promenading up and down the length of the room.
The Pump Room, Bath England
Picture The Pump Room, Bath England
Above: The main entrance onto the Abbey Church Yard..
Below: The Stall Street entrance.
The Pump Room, Bath England
The Pump Room, Bath England
For more about cruising to England:

Click here for our index of England travel features
Click here for a walk through Whitehall and Westminster
Click here for our feature on Kensington Palace
Click here for our article on Maritime Greenwich
Click here for our page on the City of London
Click here for our article on the Tower of London
Click here for our article on the Changing of the Guard
Click here for our article on the Banqueting House
Click here for our article on Windsor Castle
Click here for our article on Leeds Castle
Click here for our article on the New Forest
Click here for our article on visiting Exbury Gardens
Click her for our article on The Beatles' Liverpool
​Click here for our article on The Beatles' London
​Click here for our article on Cambridge University
Click here for our article on Oxford University
Click here for our article on visiting Winchester
Cruise destination guide - England - Bath - The Pump Room
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