street life “We named our second floor after Beau Nash, the legendary gambler of Bath,” says Craig Hoptrough, director at Century Casino Bath. “Our aim is for the casino to be an integral part of the city’s nightlife, whether people come to play, to have a drink, or just to relax and enjoy the atmosphere. I love the way that Sawclose feels incredibly European; with all the outdoor seating and restaurants, you really feel as though you’re in the heart of the city. It’s the ideal place for us, which was chosen in 2014 after a lengthy consultation and bidding process.”
History uncovered
The casino development has been built on a site scheduled as an Ancient Monument, and the dig prior to development uncovered Roman, Post-Medieval and Georgian archaeology on the footprint of the site. “Largely, the old car park is the site that’s an Ancient Monument,” says Andrew Maltby, director at Deeley Freed, which, along with B&NES, owned the site of the casino development until it was forward sold to the current investor: The UK National Grid Pension Scheme. “This designation gives Historic England the highest level of control over any redevelopment. “The archaeological dig informed detailed design changes in order to avoid damage, to facilitate recording of what was found, and to fill in gaps in the knowledge of the history of the site,” he continues. “We stayed above Roman levels and dealt largely with the later periods. The most significant find was the wellpreserved remains of a clay-pipe factory which
Take the stage The Theatre Royal Bath was built on its current site in 1805, making it one of the oldest working theatres in the country. Here are a few fascinating tales… • The theatre is said to be haunted by the Grey Lady – the ghost of a former actress – who is accompanied by the scent of jasmine, and the Phantom Doorman, who purportedly appears at the stage door, dressed in 18th-century clothing. • The theatre is famous for its association with butterflies. Shortly after the Second World War, butterfly scenery has hung out of sight above the stage – linked to former theatre manager and producer Reg Maddox, whose family ran the theatre for many years – and since that time, real butterflies have appeared on stage and backstage at unseasonal times, especially during pantomimes, which is known to be a
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The independent multi-arts hub, Komedia
was preserved in situ.” The Cotswold Archaeology team, who handled the dig, says a clay tobacco pipe factory was built on the site in 1782, and then, in 1810, the factory was acquired by another pipe-maker. It was demolished in around 1859 to make way for a playground for Bluecoat School. The team goes on to say that the Sawclose area has a long and complex history, with evidence of high-status Roman buildings with mosaic floors found beneath Bluecoat School, the Mineral Water Hospital and Westgate Street. Sawclose itself was an open space, utilised for timber processing from
sign of good luck. • In 1805, the original Theatre Royal Bath – the Orchard Street Theatre – closed, to be converted into a Catholic church in 1809. Today it is a Masonic Hall. • The building on Sawclose was designed by George Dance, professor of architecture at The Royal Academy. The theatre here opened on 12 October 1805 – nine days before the Battle of Trafalgar – with a performance of Richard III. • Historically, the site which the theatre now sits has always been a theatre. The egg theatre has more recently been built in what was, at the time, a small multiplex cinema (Robins Cinema), which, before that, was a schoolhouse. The Ustinov Studio has been created in a part of the theatre which used to be stables. • On 18 April 1862, the theatre was destroyed by a fire, which started in the dressing rooms and decimated the building overnight. Plans were immediately made to build a new theatre on the same site.
the medieval period until the 18th century, and was also known as Timber Green for this reason, and it was subsequently used for agricultural markets.
Let me entertain you
The links with Beau Nash continue, this time with Komedia, which launched in Bath in 2008, that took over the abandoned Beau Nash cinema building and turned it into the independent multi-arts hub it is today. The live entertainment venue hosts over 400 events each year, from comedy and music, to cabaret, club and burlesque nights, film screenings, spoken-word poetry shows, bingo evenings, children’s play experiences and more. The managing director, Rich Daws, has a TV-production past, and was part of the industry-shaping interactive broadcasting of Channel 4’s Big Brother; he also won an Emmy Award in 1998 for Outstanding Editing. “Komedia was based on European café theatre, where people can eat while watching a show, and we were attracted to Bath as it had a vision of creating a European city centre feel,” says Oli Cliffe, press and marketing officer. “Sawclose is a great example of this; in the summer evenings, there’s a wonderful atmosphere and the plaza is full of people eating, drinking and chatting out in the glow of the setting sun.”
“This building was home to the first cinema in the West of England”