Postcards from Bath #6

Postcards from Bath #6: The Circus

The city of Bath, the whole of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is famed for its classical Georgian architecture and one of the most attractive parts is The Circus, a ring of three blocks totalling 33 townhouses, facing inwards to form a circle. Designed by John Wood the Elder in Palladian style, it was built between 1754 and 1769, inspired both by prehistoric stone circles and by the Coliseum in Rome. John Wood the Elder died just after construction was started and it fell to his son John the Younger to see it through to completion. 

Their design is classically ordered, with three tiers of columns: Doric at street level, Ionic in the middle and Corinthian at the top. Carved acorns adorn the parapet and carved friezes represent the achievements of the time and have some Masonic symbolism. 

I think all the townhouses are now divided into apartments, with two bedroom flats here selling for upwards of £500,000.  (There are several for sale online, if you Google 'The Circus Bath' - interesting to see what they are like inside.)

Three roads lead into The Circus. One of them, Gay Street (below), leads down the hill to another classical square, Queen Square, also designed by John Wood the Elder. Another leads to the Upper Assembly Rooms and the third to the Royal Crescent.