Many visitors came to Bath for their health, the hot mineral waters of the spa having reputed healing properties. A gentleman’s bedroom provided him with space for rest and recuperation.
Married couples in the Georgian upper class usually kept separate bedrooms, and although handsomely furnished, a gentleman’s room would have been far less elaborate than that of a lady.
Bath was home to numerous doctors who offered all manner of cures and remedies. Many Georgian doctors published books offering advice such as the celebrated Dr. Buchan in his Domestick Medicine who suggested coughs and colds could be treated with :-
‘about the size of a Nutmeg of Burgundy Pitch, spread thin upon a piece of soft leather about the size of your hand, laid between the shoulder blades. It should be taken off and wiped every 3 to 4 days.’
Medicine chests like these were common in domestic homes. Ours seen here, is currently in storage.
Bath had always been famous for its hot mineral waters to bathe in and drink. Queen Anne came frequently to help with her numerous sadly ill-fated pregnancies. The Mineral Water Hospital was set up in 1738 to bring the benefits of treatment with Bath mineral waters to poor patients from subscribing parishes throughout Britain. As well as gout and rheumatism, the treatment was thought to benefit palsies, skin disease, gynaecological and digestive diseases.
With so many wealthy visitors, as well as well-to-do residents, it was not long before furniture makers, upholsterers, carvers and gilders left London for Bath, attracted by the prospect of lucrative business.
Booksellers and print shops would sell engravings and images of the City used for decorating the walls of more masculine spaces.
Shaving had become fashionable for men from around 1685 and this trend was to continue until the 19th century, when beards and moustaches became popular.
Washing gradually gained in popularity in England during the course of the 18th century, with a new interest in personal hygiene. This new-found desire for cleanliness, coupled with lighter clothing for both men and women, led to a move away from the strong-smelling perfumes used in the 17th century.
Cozens was a gifted watercolour artist. His views of Bath capture the city at the height of its popularity. The view of Queen Square is particularly important as it shows the original stone balustrade around the central garden, which was removed in 1775.
No. 1 was the first house to be built in the Royal Crescent and the window in this room reveals the best view. Constructed between 1767-1775, the Royal Crescent is the final building in a sequence of spaces designed by father and son architects, John Wood the Elder (1704-1754) and John Wood the Younger (1728-1782). During the 1720s the elder Wood had introduced to Bath the fashionable architectural style of Palladianism, which would define the city as it continued to develop during the 18th century.
This is the Alfred Street frontage to the New or Upper Assembly Rooms, which were completed in 1771 to accommodate the growing number of people visiting the city. The entrance used for taking people in by sedan chair can be seen in the foreground.
