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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 a 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 really useful. Afterwards, we get pleasure from a Jane Austen-themed afternoon tea at The Bath Priory, one of many metropolis’s loveliest inns. And after all, we go to the Roman Baths (now a world-class museum) — although, for well being causes, bathing is now not allowed. Instead, you’ll be able to “take the waters” at one of many metropolis’s central inns, which faucet into the recent springs, or go to the trendy 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 via the town slightly below Pulteney Bridge, one of many few bridges on the planet with outlets constructed on it. Just beneath lies a horseshoe-shaped weir, a magical place to sit down with an area cider and whereas away the time.
Where to remain in Bath
We stayed at The Bath Priory, a Relais & Chateau resort, which is a row of stylish Georgian townhouses in honey-coloured stone set inside 4 acres of gardens. A brief stroll from the town centre via 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 comparable to Rout truffles and lavender shortbread, and in addition 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 below are to die for.) The L’Occitane spa — the one one among its form within the UK. — gives 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 stylish 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 diversifications they’ll 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 via 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 recognition solely after her demise at 41. Today, she instructions a worldwide fanbase.
Beyond the bonnet
Gabrielle Malcolm, inventive 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 girl then. She stayed outdoors 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 “historic romance”, however modern social satire. Her sharp irony, wit, and skill to convey society to life make her resonate even at the moment. Readers consider her as “Jane”, somebody they could possibly be pals with.
Are her books extra in style now?
Absolutely. While that they had intervals of obscurity within the nineteenth century, the twentieth and twenty first centuries have seen a renewed fascination, particularly via fashionable retellings.
Regency studying | Photo Credit: The Jane Austen Centre
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 fashionable parody of Pride and Prejudice. Helen Fielding even stored the identify Darcy. Casting Colin Firth — who additionally performed Darcy within the BBC adaptation — was genius. Fielding has overtly stated 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, a phenomenal spa city with a darker facet 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 cranium beneath the pores and skin.”
The author, guide, and entrepreneur’s newest enterprise is bespoke small group excursions, which she curates and accompanies.
