Best places (historical) Near Bath
May 3rd, 2013, 07:19 PM
#1
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Best places (historical) Near Bath
We are staying in Bath for 3 nights soon and want to know where the best places to see are (probably no further than 1.5 hours one way).
Somebody mention a town awhile ago that I googled and looked great but I can't remember what is was called and have searched through old posts but can't find it. I think it was about an hour away going south. A small town really unchanged.
Sorry I know thats a bit vague.
Any recommendations would be great.
Somebody mention a town awhile ago that I googled and looked great but I can't remember what is was called and have searched through old posts but can't find it. I think it was about an hour away going south. A small town really unchanged.
Sorry I know thats a bit vague.
Any recommendations would be great.
May 3rd, 2013, 07:37 PM
#2
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We really enjoyed our time in Wells. Beautiful cathedral. If you visit on a Sunday, families from Wells spend the afternoon on the cathedral green in front of the cathedral just hanging out enjoying the day. Very fun people watching. Lovely little town also.
May 3rd, 2013, 11:16 PM
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"A small town really unchanged". I doubt if you will find that, even with Bath.
Outside the city. But you may need a car.
Lacock Abbey and Fox Talbot Museum.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock/
Avebury
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/
Glastonbury
http://www.glastonburytic.co.uk/
Moreton-in-Marsh
http://www.cotswolds.info/places/moreton-in-marsh.shtml
Do not forget Bristol, which is often overlooked. There are many historical locations around this city.
http://visitbristol.co.uk/
Outside the city. But you may need a car.
Lacock Abbey and Fox Talbot Museum.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock/
Avebury
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury/
Glastonbury
http://www.glastonburytic.co.uk/
Moreton-in-Marsh
http://www.cotswolds.info/places/moreton-in-marsh.shtml
Do not forget Bristol, which is often overlooked. There are many historical locations around this city.
http://visitbristol.co.uk/
May 3rd, 2013, 11:49 PM
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"A small town really unchanged."
Since when? Since last week, since the town's receipt of a town charter in the 13th century, since the Roman legions left in 407 or since the Belgae moved in around 100 BC?
Lots of places would just about qualify on an "unchanged since last week" criterion: nowhere qualifies on any others - or even on "unchanged since last year"
Lacock is Britain's most savage imposer of damnfool restrictions on its inhabitants to make it look like a TV set (no Victorian village tyrant could even dream of imposing the fatuous rules the National Trust imposes on Lacock tenants). But even it's had to allow suitably art-directed double glazing and on-street (more often, of course, on pedestrian walkway) car parking.
Can't see how that qualifies it as "historical" (nothing of interest ever happened there, except for the National Trust's determination to make the place safe for filming BBC costume dramas). But as an example of late 20th century pop culture, it'll be as historic in a century or so as a Warner Brothers studio tour site.
Fortunately nowhere else round here goes to such lengths to drag the tourists in.
I'd go to Wells or Glastonbury (or just about anywhere else with a population of over two and a half: there's more of historic interest in any random hundred yard walk in any real village or microtown within a hundred mile radius). They might have a few chain stores - and even visible TV aerials. But things have happened there throughout the last couple of thousand years - and that history remains visible today, in real, living, communities.
Since when? Since last week, since the town's receipt of a town charter in the 13th century, since the Roman legions left in 407 or since the Belgae moved in around 100 BC?
Lots of places would just about qualify on an "unchanged since last week" criterion: nowhere qualifies on any others - or even on "unchanged since last year"
Lacock is Britain's most savage imposer of damnfool restrictions on its inhabitants to make it look like a TV set (no Victorian village tyrant could even dream of imposing the fatuous rules the National Trust imposes on Lacock tenants). But even it's had to allow suitably art-directed double glazing and on-street (more often, of course, on pedestrian walkway) car parking.
Can't see how that qualifies it as "historical" (nothing of interest ever happened there, except for the National Trust's determination to make the place safe for filming BBC costume dramas). But as an example of late 20th century pop culture, it'll be as historic in a century or so as a Warner Brothers studio tour site.
Fortunately nowhere else round here goes to such lengths to drag the tourists in.
I'd go to Wells or Glastonbury (or just about anywhere else with a population of over two and a half: there's more of historic interest in any random hundred yard walk in any real village or microtown within a hundred mile radius). They might have a few chain stores - and even visible TV aerials. But things have happened there throughout the last couple of thousand years - and that history remains visible today, in real, living, communities.
May 4th, 2013, 01:08 AM
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WOW flanner you are in a real grumpy mood today!
Lacock is perhaps the most untouched village in the Bath area. But that could be down to the landlords whims. Thankfully some places are preserved. Avebury is in the same league. Both were on the road to preservation well before the National Trust got their hands on them.
Saying nothing historical happened in Lacock is not quite true is it?
Apart from the abbey with its rich history there is a person called Fox Talbot, who lived there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fox_Talbot
Lacock is perhaps the most untouched village in the Bath area. But that could be down to the landlords whims. Thankfully some places are preserved. Avebury is in the same league. Both were on the road to preservation well before the National Trust got their hands on them.
Saying nothing historical happened in Lacock is not quite true is it?
Apart from the abbey with its rich history there is a person called Fox Talbot, who lived there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fox_Talbot
May 4th, 2013, 04:11 PM
#8
I walked a big circular walk once from Bath. Since I was on foot everywhere I went was close to Bath if you have a car. Some very pretty places on that walk: Bradford-On-Avon, Castle Combe (said by some to be England's most picturesque village), Dyrham Park (National Trust Property).
There are some very nice towns and villages in the south Cotswolds north of Bath.
Devizes is a nice town on the Kennet & Avon Canal. The trust office is there for information about the "historic" canal and a short walk west of the center along the canal will get you to the Caen Hill Locks, quite extaordinary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caen_Hill_Locks
You can also walk along the canal through a pretty part of Bath if you walk east from the river in the center of town and down to the canal (you'll see it on maps). If you make a left turn at the canal (from the center of Bath) and walk along the towpath for several miles you'll see some lovely countryside, walk high over the river on a viaduct that contains the canal and eventually arrive at Bradford, lovely town and catch a bus or taxi back to Bath. All without ever driving your car and infinitely more intimate and more interesting from my point of view.
There are some very nice towns and villages in the south Cotswolds north of Bath.
Devizes is a nice town on the Kennet & Avon Canal. The trust office is there for information about the "historic" canal and a short walk west of the center along the canal will get you to the Caen Hill Locks, quite extaordinary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caen_Hill_Locks
You can also walk along the canal through a pretty part of Bath if you walk east from the river in the center of town and down to the canal (you'll see it on maps). If you make a left turn at the canal (from the center of Bath) and walk along the towpath for several miles you'll see some lovely countryside, walk high over the river on a viaduct that contains the canal and eventually arrive at Bradford, lovely town and catch a bus or taxi back to Bath. All without ever driving your car and infinitely more intimate and more interesting from my point of view.
May 4th, 2013, 09:26 PM
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We visited Cheddar, Glastonbury, Wells, Bath, Stonehenge and Avebury on a long weekend in 2011:
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08...tonehenge.html
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08...tonehenge.html
May 4th, 2013, 11:36 PM
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If you set yourself a 1.5 hour travel limit from Bath, then Salisbury is within easy reach by train. Closer to Bath, and seldom mentioned, is Corsham, which you can reach by bus.
Flanner may be grumpy, but he makes a good point. The irony of the existence of "unchanged" towns is that they often experienced a long period of decline and stagnation in which there was no money or incentive to replace old buildings and replace them with new ones more suited to the times. The reason that Cotswold towns and villages now look so "quaint" is because of the decline of the wool trade.
Flanner may be grumpy, but he makes a good point. The irony of the existence of "unchanged" towns is that they often experienced a long period of decline and stagnation in which there was no money or incentive to replace old buildings and replace them with new ones more suited to the times. The reason that Cotswold towns and villages now look so "quaint" is because of the decline of the wool trade.
May 6th, 2013, 10:59 AM
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Village: Lacock - It is very well-preserved.
As for Flanner's grump - no-one forces people to live in Lacock. If people living there had real problems with National Trust rules, they would move elsewhere. However I suspect that the locals are probably too busy making money off the tourists that would otherwise not be there (if the place were not 'preserved') to whine too much about the regulations.
Some places only continue to exist BECAUSE they went into a decline and as a result old buildings were preserved and now attract tourists and their money.
I also liked Wells very much. The cathedral is wonderful.
As for Flanner's grump - no-one forces people to live in Lacock. If people living there had real problems with National Trust rules, they would move elsewhere. However I suspect that the locals are probably too busy making money off the tourists that would otherwise not be there (if the place were not 'preserved') to whine too much about the regulations.
Some places only continue to exist BECAUSE they went into a decline and as a result old buildings were preserved and now attract tourists and their money.
I also liked Wells very much. The cathedral is wonderful.
May 6th, 2013, 11:34 AM
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The history behind the Wells Cathedral is fascinating, especially regarding the towers and why the scissors trusses had to be built. I have a magnificent picture I took inside the cathedral with the scissor trusses...just gorgeous from an engineering standpoint and visually stunning to look at also.
We were walking around the perimeter of the cathedral videotaping the exterior when suddenly the choir started singing inside. We could hear it perfectly ( I guess we were in close proximity to the choir members inside). I had ready made audio to go with my video. It was definitely a memory I will never forget.
We were walking around the perimeter of the cathedral videotaping the exterior when suddenly the choir started singing inside. We could hear it perfectly ( I guess we were in close proximity to the choir members inside). I had ready made audio to go with my video. It was definitely a memory I will never forget.
