Great West Way Travel Magazine | Issue 08

NO.1 ROYAL CRESCENT, BATH
Take a look beyond the Crescent's famous Palladian facade
and see what life was like for the wealthy and their servants
in eighteenth-century Bath with a wander inside No. 1 Royal
Crescent. Built between 1767 and 1774 to the designs of the
architect John Wood the Younger, the Royal Crescent is justly
considered one of the finest achievements of eighteenthcentury
urban architecture, and represents the highest point
of Palladian architecture in Bath. No. 1 was the first house
to be built in the Crescent, and originally provided luxury
accommodation for the aristocratic visitors who came to
take the waters and enjoy the social season. Each room is an
exquisite example of Georgian interior design with authentic
furniture, paintings, textiles and carpets.
MUSEUM OF EAST ASIAN ART, BATH
Incongruously placed just a stone’s throw from two of Bath’s
iconic attractions, The Circus and The Royal Crescent, the
Museum of East Asian Art is a hidden gem of a museum,
and the only museum in the UK solely dedicate to arts and
culture from East and South East Asia, with a collection of
over 2,000 objects. Spread over three floors of a converted
Grade II listed Georgian townhouse, the Museum is a
sanctuary of tranquillity in a busting World Heritage city:
ceremonial jade objects as luminous today as they were over
thousands of years ago sit alongside imperial household
items, Ming vases, bronze Buddhas, Chinese Blue and White
porcelain and other artefacts representing over 7,000
years of artistry and craftsmanship. Don’t miss Artists’
Reinventions: War, Revolution and the Art of New China on
the 4 May 2023. This illustrated talk highlights the career
transformations of some great wartime printmakers, from
the late 1930s, into the 1990s.
MARY SHELLEY’S HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, BATH
In 1816, Mary Shelley wrote the world’s first science fiction
novel, Frankenstein, whilst resident in Bath. This new museum
is a world-first visitor attraction to explore the dark world
of Mary Shelley, bluring the lines between museum and
immersive visitor experience. The attraction is set in a Grade
II listed property, extending over four atmospheric floors
including a dank foreboding basement. One of the floors is
dedicated to uncovering her history and tragic life events and,
confront the formidable 8ft monster recreated exactly as Mary
imagined. Plus, don’t miss attempting to flee to your safety
with a nail-biting Victor’s Lair Escape Room experience.
VICTORIA ART GALLERY, PETER BROWN: BATH, BRISTOL
AND BEYOND
Aesthete’s will ove popping their head into the Victoria Art
Gallery in the centre of Bath. Don’t miss exhibitions for 2023
include Capturing Life: A Century of the New English Art Club
at Victoria Art Gallery from 21 January – 11 April 2023. The
exhibition showcases work by past and present members of
the New English Art Club, an elected society of contemporary
painters inspired by the visual world.
ROMAN BATHS, BATH
Bath was founded upon natural hot springs with the
steaming water playing a key role throughout its history.
Lying in the heart of the city the Roman Baths were
constructed around 70 AD as a grand bathing and socialising
complex. It is now one of the best preserved Roman remains
in the world. 1,170,000 litres of steaming spring water
32 GreatWestWay.co.uk