Postcards from Bath #2

Postcards from Bath #2: Parade Gardens

On the riverside downstream of Pulteney Bridge, Parade Gardens (originally St James' Park) was laid out in 1709 to provide a green space in which wealthy visitors to the nearby Assembly Rooms could promenade or sit, see and be seen, and enjoy the floral displays. It has been adapted over the years but is still a private garden (you pay a fee to enter) and a pleasant space. 

It holds a small remnant of the ruins of a medieval water mill, owned by the monks of nearby Bath Abbey. It also has a statue of Bladud and his pigs (below). Bladud is said to have founded Bath in 863BC. He had leprosy and was cast out to become a swineherd. Noticing that his pigs that bathed in thick mud didn't suffer skin diseases that others had, he himself bathed in it and his leprosy was cured. The legend says he went on to become King, founded Bath and dedicated it to the Celtic goddess Sul. 900 years later, the Romans called the city Aqua Sulis.

A recent statue (1991), by David Backhouse, depicts the young Mozart, playing a violin. 

Looking up towards the city centre from the Parade Gardens gives a fine view of Bath Abbey and Orange Grove, a spacious garden originally lined with trees and gravel walks and named after the Prince of Orange when he visited in 1734. Nowadays it's a glorified roundabout!