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England Bath

Guide to Bath history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
The hills in the locality such as Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic period. Several Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century. Bathampton Camp may have been an Iron Age hill fort or stock enclosure. A long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people was flattened to make way for RAF Charmy Down.

Archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman baths' main spring may have been treated as a shrine by the Britons,[8][9] and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva.

The name Sulis continued to be used after the Roman invasion, appearing in the town's Roman name, Aquae Sulis (literally, "the waters of Sulis").

A temple was constructed in 60–70 AD and a bathing complex was built up over the next 300 years. Engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation, and surrounded the spring with an irregular stone chamber lined with lead. In the 2nd century, the spring was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted structure, that housed the caldarium (hot bath), tepidarium (warm bath), and frigidarium (cold bath).

Following the exit of the Roman overlords, Bath may have been the site of the Battle of Badon (c. 500 AD), in which King Arthur is said to have defeated the Anglo-Saxons. The city fell to the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham.

By the 9th century the old Roman street pattern was lost and Bath was a royal possession. King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct. In the Burghal Hidage Bath is described as having walls of 1,375 yards (1,257 m) and was allocated 1000 men for defence.

In Medieval times, Bath fell into ruin,and was really not developed to its former glory until Georgian times, when the wealthy class required accommodations that were fit for taking the waters.

The population of the city was 40,020 at the 1801 census, making it one of the largest cities in Britain. Today, Bath has become a noted world site, and probably its major industry is tourism.

LOCATION
Bath is in the Avon Valley near the southern edge of the Cotswolds. The floodplain of the Avon, on which the city center is built, has an altitude of about 59 ft (18 m) above sea level.

The river, once an unnavigable series of braided streams broken up by swamps and ponds, has been managed by weirs into a single channel.

Water bubbling up from the ground, as geothermal springs, fell as rain on the Mendip Hills. It percolates through limestone aquifers to a depth of between c. 9,000 to 14,000 ft (2,743 to 4,267 m) where geothermal energy raises its temperature to between 64 and 96 °C. Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone.

This natural phenomenon is responsible for the constant flow of water, since ancient times, that initiated the building of the initial spa at Bath. Hot water at a temperature of 46 °C (115 °F) rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 liters (257,364 imp gal) daily.

RELIGION
This area of Southwest England has always been an area of Christian activity. The district is largely Christian at 71%, with no other religion reaching more than 0.5%. The origins of Bath Priory date before the Domesday Book, although the present edifice received major restoration work in the nineteenth century. It is presently a Grade I listed building in the UK registry of buildings.



Glastonbury, reputed to be one of the earliest Christian sites, is only 25 miles away.

INDUSTRY
Bath once had an important manufacturing sector, led by companies such Stothert and Pitt. Nowadays manufacturing is in decline in the city, but it boasts strong software, publishing and service-oriented industries, being home to companies such as Future Publishing and London &amp; Country mortgage brokers.

The city's attraction to tourists has also led to a significant number of jobs in tourism-related industries.

Important economic sectors in Bath include education and health, both sectors supported by local and national funding.

CEMETERIES AND GRAVEYARDS
Cemetery

Findagrave

GENEALOGY AND FAMILY HISTORY
Bristol and Avon Genealogy Society

Genuki, Somerset

Bath Ancestors

Bath BMD records