Bath's hidden history

Bath is a gem of a place to visit any time of the year with so many things to do amongst it’s stunning architecture - many people I speak to on the tour tell me “I wish I’d booked more than a day” - so be warned!

This is an over 18 tour.  Cash £ payment only .

If you are wanting to explore the less obvious parts of Bath and want a more in-depth exploration of this fascinating place, join me as we walk and reimagine the Roman town, the later monastery grounds and how Bath found a new sources of revenue after its highly profitable woolen cloth industry ended.. Learn about the holy wells that cover these mystical isles as I paint for you the splendour and grandeur of the place, and how to peel back the layers of history to see what is still visible and find the lesser known and older parts of the city  

Let me take you through the story of Bath through nearly 80 beautiful illustrations and some humour. 

While I'm not a historian, I am a keen local, with a strong interest in the experience of the different classes through time, and I have an unusual background of being raised alongside the sort of people who lived in the glorious houses of Bath.  

In the first part of the tour I will show you the two periods in Bath’s history - how Bath looked before the massive rebuilding of the city in the 18th century, and Anglo-Saxon Bath with its delightful monastery and huge gatehouses and walls.

We discover what we can still see of the Anglo Saxon monastery and the grand Tudor houses, as we follow the route of the ancient walls and see the original Roman and Saxon layout. 

The second part of the tour looks at the challenges faced developing the land across the river, and the magnificent job the Georgians did to overcome them, then we explore a delightful green space behind the Holburne Museum and learn about its colourful history.

We start by walking the line of the wall, south through the site the monastery orchards,
then onto the southern line of the city wall to where the pretty Southgate once stood.

From there we explore the history surrounding the sacred hot springs and the grand buildings and society that surrounded them.

Further around we see where the massive Westgate once dominated the skyline, where Elizabeth the first would stay. Continuing to the northern wall, we find a piece of the original mediaeval wall still intact.

As we complete the circuit of the walls we move to the Northgate, and then the only Gatehouse still partly intact, the very lovely 14th century Eastgate.

Now we take a look at what was once called Bath New Town, where the fabulously wealthy Pulteney family created a massive extension to the city by building luxurious homes on their farmland.

Walking Great Pulteney Street to the end we walk through a place loved by Jane Austin,, the Sydney Pleasure Gardens before we finish the at canal. 

A quick note on how our "pay what you think it's worth" model works for groups:

If you are part of a larger group, I kindly ask that each person contributes individually based on their experience.

When groups are bigger it is easy to assume a single collective tip covers the tour, but our guides rely on the support of every single attendee.

Your individual contribution directly values the extra energy and time it takes to host a larger group!