1
A. H. Hale A 200-year-old former apothecary with heraldic heritage
A. H. Hale – or Hale’s to most Bathonians – has traded in this same spot near Pulteney Bridge since 1826 within one of the city’s earliest specially built retail premises. One of the UK’s oldest dispensing chemists was originally an apothecary’s shop and those days come vividly to life with a selection of potions (sorry: medicines) displayed in glass jars both in the shop window and on the shelves inside. Run by the Doshi family and once also an opticians, the business is officially called The Bathwick Pharmacy and although it might appear old fashioned, it is a fully functioning pharmaceutical emporium; just one where you can also buy your grandma’s favourite perfume while picking up your prescription. Jane Austen’s mother, Cassandra, was treated here when she was gravely ill, and the pharmacy has a copy of the poem she wrote to thank the then-owners for the medicine that helped in her recovery. Looking down on passers-by from above the Ionic columns is a colourful coat of arms featuring real gold leaf. If the insignia doesn’t look familiar, that’s because this is the royal warrant of Charlotte Sophia, the wife of King George III. The coat of arms is thought to have been commissioned in 1817 when Queen Charlotte was in Bath, coincidentally when she heard the tragic news of the death of her beloved daughter Princess Charlotte in childbirth. Made out of Coade stone, it was first put on display at a business now unknown that wanted to display its royal seal of approval. The lion, unicorn and crest were not originally here, however, having been found in the basement of a shop on Milsom Street in the 1950s. Given to the city council, it was then thought to have been decorated by pupils at Kingswood School and was stored in the Guildhall until a previous owner of A. H. Hale offered to restore and reposition it in its current location in 1982.
ADDRESS 8 Argyle Street, BA2 4BQ, +44 (0)1225 464429 TIP If coats of arms are your jam, then the City of Bath Heraldic Society (www.bath-heraldry.org.uk) is for you. The group meets regularly at Manvers Street Baptist Church Hall to talk all things ensign, escutcheon and insignia.
1
A. H. Hale A 200-year-old former apothecary with heraldic heritage
A. H. Hale – or Hale’s to most Bathonians – has traded in this same spot near Pulteney Bridge since 1826 within one of the city’s earliest specially built retail premises. One of the UK’s oldest dispensing chemists was originally an apothecary’s shop and those days come vividly to life with a selection of potions (sorry: medicines) displayed in glass jars both in the shop window and on the shelves inside. Run by the Doshi family and once also an opticians, the business is officially called The Bathwick Pharmacy and although it might appear old fashioned, it is a fully functioning pharmaceutical emporium; just one where you can also buy your grandma’s favourite perfume while picking up your prescription. Jane Austen’s mother, Cassandra, was treated here when she was gravely ill, and the pharmacy has a copy of the poem she wrote to thank the then-owners for the medicine that helped in her recovery. Looking down on passers-by from above the Ionic columns is a colourful coat of arms featuring real gold leaf. If the insignia doesn’t look familiar, that’s because this is the royal warrant of Charlotte Sophia, the wife of King George III. The coat of arms is thought to have been commissioned in 1817 when Queen Charlotte was in Bath, coincidentally when she heard the tragic news of the death of her beloved daughter Princess Charlotte in childbirth. Made out of Coade stone, it was first put on display at a business now unknown that wanted to display its royal seal of approval. The lion, unicorn and crest were not originally here, however, having been found in the basement of a shop on Milsom Street in the 1950s. Given to the city council, it was then thought to have been decorated by pupils at Kingswood School and was stored in the Guildhall until a previous owner of A. H. Hale offered to restore and reposition it in its current location in 1982.
ADDRESS 8 Argyle Street, BA2 4BQ, +44 (0)1225 464429 TIP If coats of arms are your jam, then the City of Bath Heraldic Society (www.bath-heraldry.org.uk) is for you. The group meets regularly at Manvers Street Baptist Church Hall to talk all things ensign, escutcheon and insignia.
19
The Chapel Forge Bath’s bespoke blacksmiths
It was while he was taking a shortcut home from college that Demian Bellaart first discovered two abandoned chapels in one corner of a cemetery. Demian was studying art at the time and had become increasingly interested in working with metal, soon realising this was the medium he wanted to dedicate himself to. So, he trained in smithery, learning traditional and modern ironwork techniques. But every blacksmith needs their own forge and this was where one of the abandoned chapels would come in useful. No burials have taken place in St Michael’s Cemetery for more than a century so the chapels were available for new uses. The octagonal chapel was converted into a workshop, the adjacent building an extra studio, and together they became The Chapel Forge, where raw metal is transformed into beautiful works of art. Demian and his team of blacksmiths, ironworkers, artists and designers now specialise in creating and restoring gates, balustrades, staircases, railings, handrails, balconies and canopies, as well as creating bespoke sculptural commissions – from weathervanes to window baskets. Being a World Heritage Site, buildings in Bath are regularly in need of restoration, and the craftspeople at The Chapel Forge will employ methods that have remained unchanged for centuries. ‘Today, blacksmiths do more than simply hammering,’ says Demian on The Chapel Forge website, which also has photos of his well-honed handiwork. ‘Part of their business is to visit clients, survey sites, discuss design ideas, provide individual design proposals and make drawings, in addition to making, finishing and installing the work. New methods like computer-aided design, sophisticated welding, fabrication, cutting systems and power hammers have added to the capabilities of modern blacksmiths, but have not compromised the hand skills that lie at the heart of the craft.’
ADDRESS Octagonal Chapel, St Michael’s Cemetery, St Michael’s Road, Lower Weston, BA1 3BJ, +44 (0)1225 329669, www.thechapelforge.squarespace.com TIP The Bath Priory hotel just a few hundred yards from St Michael’s Cemetery hosts regular events throughout the year, including tours of its award-winning gardens (www.thebathpriory.co.uk).
19
The Chapel Forge Bath’s bespoke blacksmiths
It was while he was taking a shortcut home from college that Demian Bellaart first discovered two abandoned chapels in one corner of a cemetery. Demian was studying art at the time and had become increasingly interested in working with metal, soon realising this was the medium he wanted to dedicate himself to. So, he trained in smithery, learning traditional and modern ironwork techniques. But every blacksmith needs their own forge and this was where one of the abandoned chapels would come in useful. No burials have taken place in St Michael’s Cemetery for more than a century so the chapels were available for new uses. The octagonal chapel was converted into a workshop, the adjacent building an extra studio, and together they became The Chapel Forge, where raw metal is transformed into beautiful works of art. Demian and his team of blacksmiths, ironworkers, artists and designers now specialise in creating and restoring gates, balustrades, staircases, railings, handrails, balconies and canopies, as well as creating bespoke sculptural commissions – from weathervanes to window baskets. Being a World Heritage Site, buildings in Bath are regularly in need of restoration, and the craftspeople at The Chapel Forge will employ methods that have remained unchanged for centuries. ‘Today, blacksmiths do more than simply hammering,’ says Demian on The Chapel Forge website, which also has photos of his well-honed handiwork. ‘Part of their business is to visit clients, survey sites, discuss design ideas, provide individual design proposals and make drawings, in addition to making, finishing and installing the work. New methods like computer-aided design, sophisticated welding, fabrication, cutting systems and power hammers have added to the capabilities of modern blacksmiths, but have not compromised the hand skills that lie at the heart of the craft.’
ADDRESS Octagonal Chapel, St Michael’s Cemetery, St Michael’s Road, Lower Weston, BA1 3BJ, +44 (0)1225 329669, www.thechapelforge.squarespace.com TIP The Bath Priory hotel just a few hundred yards from St Michael’s Cemetery hosts regular events throughout the year, including tours of its award-winning gardens (www.thebathpriory.co.uk).
23
The Coeur de Lion Bath’s smallest pub
When the Coeur de Lion was threatened with closure in the 1980s, there was an uproar. Even Bath MP Chris Patten, who later became the last governor of Hong Kong, got involved and plans to turn it into a shop were rejected. The irony is that it was Devenish Brewery that had planned to get rid of the pub and it is Devenish whose name remains in the Coeur de Lion’s splendid stained-glass windows. Abbey Ales are the current custodians of Bath’s smallest pub, which has had the same name since 1880 but whose etymology has been lost in the mists of time, having also previously been called Marchants Court and the Avondale Stores. The Abbey Ales brewery also owns the Star Inn on the Paragon, whose 18th-century bar fittings and wooden benches mean it is listed on the UK’s national inventory of heritage pubs; and the Assembly Inn on Alfred Street, which has underground comedy club Jesters in its basement. There is space for only around 20 people to sit on the ground floor of the Coeur de Lion in a room that is smaller than some other pubs’ snugs. Hops hang from the ceiling and a framed Bath Rugby shirt from the Powergen Cup Final of 2005 is on one side of the bar. A steep flight of stairs leads to a first-floor room that is even smaller. On a recent visit soundtracked to ’90s classics from Take That and the Backstreet Boys on the stereo, there were three ales on tap: Bellringer and Bath Pale Ale from Abbey Ales, and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. The first known landlord here was a woodcarver called William Batt, who gained a licence to sell beer at number 4 Northumberland Place in around 1860 before the pub was moved over the road in 1886 to where it remains. One visitor to the Coeur de Lion sat on a chair with a metal plaque marking that this was ‘Bullshit Corner’. He began to regale his companion with tall tales about Bath’s smallest pub.
ADDRESS 17 Northumberland Place, BA1 5AR, +44 (0)1225 463568, www.abbeyinnsbath.co.uk/#coeur-de-lion-pub-bath TIP Just a few doors from the Coeur de Lion is Coffever, a café and coffee roasters that was founded in Hong Kong before moving to Bath (www.coffever.co.uk).
23
The Coeur de Lion Bath’s smallest pub
When the Coeur de Lion was threatened with closure in the 1980s, there was an uproar. Even Bath MP Chris Patten, who later became the last governor of Hong Kong, got involved and plans to turn it into a shop were rejected. The irony is that it was Devenish Brewery that had planned to get rid of the pub and it is Devenish whose name remains in the Coeur de Lion’s splendid stained-glass windows. Abbey Ales are the current custodians of Bath’s smallest pub, which has had the same name since 1880 but whose etymology has been lost in the mists of time, having also previously been called Marchants Court and the Avondale Stores. The Abbey Ales brewery also owns the Star Inn on the Paragon, whose 18th-century bar fittings and wooden benches mean it is listed on the UK’s national inventory of heritage pubs; and the Assembly Inn on Alfred Street, which has underground comedy club Jesters in its basement. There is space for only around 20 people to sit on the ground floor of the Coeur de Lion in a room that is smaller than some other pubs’ snugs. Hops hang from the ceiling and a framed Bath Rugby shirt from the Powergen Cup Final of 2005 is on one side of the bar. A steep flight of stairs leads to a first-floor room that is even smaller. On a recent visit soundtracked to ’90s classics from Take That and the Backstreet Boys on the stereo, there were three ales on tap: Bellringer and Bath Pale Ale from Abbey Ales, and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. The first known landlord here was a woodcarver called William Batt, who gained a licence to sell beer at number 4 Northumberland Place in around 1860 before the pub was moved over the road in 1886 to where it remains. One visitor to the Coeur de Lion sat on a chair with a metal plaque marking that this was ‘Bullshit Corner’. He began to regale his companion with tall tales about Bath’s smallest pub.
ADDRESS 17 Northumberland Place, BA1 5AR, +44 (0)1225 463568, www.abbeyinnsbath.co.uk/#coeur-de-lion-pub-bath TIP Just a few doors from the Coeur de Lion is Coffever, a café and coffee roasters that was founded in Hong Kong before moving to Bath (www.coffever.co.uk).
25
Delia’s Grotto An 18th-century scandal
Bath has a particular propensity for follies – those architectural extravagances popular during the 18th and 19th centuries that serve no specific purpose other than for aesthetic pleasure. There are temples, towers and even a castle. Hidden away in the riverside garden of a Greek restaurant, there is a folly with a scandalous history that even features in a poem, the first two verses of which go: ‘Uncouth is this moss cover’d grotto of stone / And damp is the shade of this dew dripping tree; / Yet I this rude grotto with rapture will own; / And willow thy damps are refreshing to me. / For this is the grotto where Delia reclin’d / As late I in secret her confidence sought; / And this is the tree kept her safe from the wind, / As blushing she heard the grave lesson I taught.’ Those stanzas were written by Irish playwright Richard Sheridan who romantically pursued Elizabeth Linley, a talented singer and notable beauty. Made out of limestone in the early 18th century, the reason behind the name Delia’s Grotto has been lost in time. It is also unknown where this archway was originally located but it is believed to have once been within Harrison’s Walks, a former pleasure ground. What is known is that the grotto played a central role in the courtship of Richard and Elizabeth, with a story varying with who you hear it from – as Richard either leaving poems for Elizabeth at the grotto or the pair meeting in secret there away from prying eyes. In 1772, the pair eloped (as remembered by a plaque on the side of the former Linley family home at 11 Royal Crescent) and were married in a village near Calais; a marriage that neither of their families accepted as legal. Fighting not one but two duels over his beloved, Richard won the first but was badly wounded in the second, saved – as another story goes – by one sword-thrust stopped by a miniature of Elizabeth.
ADDRESS In the garden of Opa, 14 North Parade, BA2 4AJ TIP Find another similar-sized folly to Delia’s Grotto in front of Henrietta Court on Bathwick Street, which was originally part of an entrance to architect John Pinch the Younger’s building yard.
25
Delia’s Grotto An 18th-century scandal
Bath has a particular propensity for follies – those architectural extravagances popular during the 18th and 19th centuries that serve no specific purpose other than for aesthetic pleasure. There are temples, towers and even a castle. Hidden away in the riverside garden of a Greek restaurant, there is a folly with a scandalous history that even features in a poem, the first two verses of which go: ‘Uncouth is this moss cover’d grotto of stone / And damp is the shade of this dew dripping tree; / Yet I this rude grotto with rapture will own; / And willow thy damps are refreshing to me. / For this is the grotto where Delia reclin’d / As late I in secret her confidence sought; / And this is the tree kept her safe from the wind, / As blushing she heard the grave lesson I taught.’ Those stanzas were written by Irish playwright Richard Sheridan who romantically pursued Elizabeth Linley, a talented singer and notable beauty. Made out of limestone in the early 18th century, the reason behind the name Delia’s Grotto has been lost in time. It is also unknown where this archway was originally located but it is believed to have once been within Harrison’s Walks, a former pleasure ground. What is known is that the grotto played a central role in the courtship of Richard and Elizabeth, with a story varying with who you hear it from – as Richard either leaving poems for Elizabeth at the grotto or the pair meeting in secret there away from prying eyes. In 1772, the pair eloped (as remembered by a plaque on the side of the former Linley family home at 11 Royal Crescent) and were married in a village near Calais; a marriage that neither of their families accepted as legal. Fighting not one but two duels over his beloved, Richard won the first but was badly wounded in the second, saved – as another story goes – by one sword-thrust stopped by a miniature of Elizabeth.
ADDRESS In the garden of Opa, 14 North Parade, BA2 4AJ TIP Find another similar-sized folly to Delia’s Grotto in front of Henrietta Court on Bathwick Street, which was originally part of an entrance to architect John Pinch the Younger’s building yard.