The Pump Room

Photos LGB
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The new Pump Room, built from 1789 by Thomas Baldwin and from 1793 by John Palmer.

Baldwin’s style, influenced by the Adam brothers, is apparent in the design of a central building flanked by lateral pavilions.

The Pump Room

Photos LGB
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The Pump Room

The Greek inscription under the pediment in praise of Bath water.
Photos LGB
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The Pump Room

Statue of Beau Nash, who laid the rules of fashion for the Pump Room.
Photos LGB
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A focus of social life like “The Assembly Rooms”.

Taking the waters were the occupation for the morning. The water had famous medicinal virtues.

A satirical view of the Pump Room was given by Rowlandson.

It is described in the Letters of the Reverend Penrose, and in Smollett’s Humphry Clinker; it is mentioned in Elizabeth Giffard’s diary and in Sheridan’s The Rivals.

The bath is shown in films based on the novels of Jane Austen.

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The Pump Room

Photos LGB
[click on the picture to enlarge it]

The Pump Room

The sedan chair and the clock in the Pump Room. They were also to be found in Edinburgh and in London.
Photos LGB
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The Pump Room

A present-day view of the Pump Room, which is still a tea-room serving Georgian elevenses to the accompaniment of chamber music.
Photos LGB
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Bath Waters

Bathwaters

Dr Rice Charleton (1710-69) published A Chemical Analysis of Bath Waters (1750), mentioned in Smollett’s Humphry Clinker. Bath water was also sold in London.
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