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Above Right: The river Avon with Pulteney Bridge in the background. Pulteney Bridge is the only bridge in England with shops on both sides.

  

Above right: A Roman Sauna.

  

Bath's skyline is dominated by the imposing Abbey ( above right ), now over 500 years old. Bath Abbey stands at the heart of the city. During the past twelve and a half centuries three different churches have occupied this site. An Anglo-Saxon Abbey Church dating from 757, pulled down by the Norman conquerors of England soon after 1066. A massive Norman cathedral begun about 1090. It was larger than the monastery could afford to maintain and by the end of the 15th century was in ruins, and Bath Abbey, begun in 1499. Bath Abbey is the last of the great medieval churches of England. The West Front is unique in that it depicts the dream that inspired the Abbey's founder, Bishop Oliver King, to pull down the ruined Norman cathedral and raise the present building on its foundations.

  

After exploring the Abbey we walked down to the Royal Crescent ( above right and below ). The Royal Crescent was built to the designs of John Wood the Younger between 1767 and 1774 and is considered one of the finest achievements of urban 18th century architecture. There are 30 houses in the crescent and to give you an idea of their size, there is a 45 bedroom hotel, The Royal Crescent Hotel, using 5 of them.