Overview

Bath’s pleasure gardens are gone beyond recall. Yet in their heyday they were as central to the city’s social life as its assembly rooms, pump room or parades. Far from being genteel retreats for the horticulturally minded, they were where well-heeled visitors came to party. With lamplit groves and labyrinths, grottoes and supper boxes, and a seemingly never-ending round of concerts and circus acts, balloon ascents and firework displays, they were loud and lively. Although dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure, there was often little joy for those who ran them. Ruthless rivals and fickle fashions, grand galas washed out by rain and spectacular firework displays ending in disaster meant their ventures often ended in failure and bankruptcy. Against all the odds, the grandest of them all, Sydney Gardens, opened in 1795, survives as a public park. Shorn of its attractions and cut in two by a railway line, it takes imagination to conjure up the shades of revellers treading its gravelled paths in search of excitement and exercise – though no swinging was tolerated on Sundays. In 2018, however, Heritage Lottery Funding was secured for the restoration of these historic gardens. To mark their reinvention as a pleasure garden for 21st-century Bath, over half the book is devoted to their extraordinary story. In this groundbreaking book, based on years of research, Kirsten Elliott not only sheds new light on life in the Georgian city and dispels many long held myths and misconceptions, but shows how much fun the history of Georgian Bath can be.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kirsten Elliott
Publisher:   AKEMAN PRESS
Imprint:   AKEMAN PRESS
Dimensions:   Width: 16.80cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 24.00cm
ISBN:  

9780993398827

ISBN 10:   0993398820
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   30 April 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword by Professor Elaine Chalus Introduction PRELUDE From Pilgrimage to Promenade - Why Parks and Gardens became part of Spa Culture I GRAVEL WALKS AND GROVES:THE RISE OF PLEASURE GARDENS IN BATH 1700-1750 1 The Company Goes Walking - Bath’s Earliest Pleasure Grounds 2 Riverside Pleasures - The Early Years of Harrison’s Walks and Spring Gardens 3 Out of Town - Gardens on the Edge of the City II CHANGING FASHIONS AND FLUCTUATING FORTUNES: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GARDENS 1750-1800 1 A Most Delightful Spot - The Transformation of Spring Gardens 2 Winners and Losers- How Competition changed Pleasure Gardens in Bath 3 Fireworks and Birdsong - The Battle for Supremacy between Spring Gardens and Villa Gardens 4 Bold Ideas and Broken Dreams - How Sydney Gardens triumphed over Grosvenor, Spring Gardens faded away, Botanic Gardens came and went, and a Glaciere Garden came to Lansdown III THE PROUDEST BOAST OF THIS EMPORIUM OF FASHION: THE STORY OF SYDNEY GARDENS 1 First Impressions - The Happy Accidents of the Swing 2 Fixtures and Fittings - Open for Business 3 That Celebrated and Fashionable Resort of Pleasure - 1796-1839 4 The Autumn of a Form Once Fine - 1839-1891 5 From Private Parties to Public Park - 1892 onwards POSTLUDE 1 Lost Pleasures - The Fate of Bath’s Georgian Pleasure Gardens 2 In Conclusion: Welcome to the House of Fun- How Pleasure Gardens became Fun Parks Notes 345 Bibliography 358 Picture Credits 363 Index 364

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Author Information

Kirsten Elliott has always had an interest in industrial archaeology, particularly canals, but her other interests are architecture, dance, literature and the social life of the Georgian period. For over thirty years she has taken guided tours of Bath, and she also professionally researches the history of buildings.Her first research project, howver, was to uncover the story of Bath's Georgian pleasure gardens, a study she has continued for thirty five years.

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