Bath history

Archaeological evidence proves that the site of the Roman Baths' main spring was treated as a shrine by the Iron Age Britons, and was dedicated to the goddess Sulis.  The temple around the springs was constructed in 60–70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. After the failure of Roman authority in the first decade of the 5th century, the baths fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up.

The city fell to the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham.  A monastery was set up in Bath soon after that time. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. By the 9th century the old Roman street pattern had been lost and Bath had become a royal possession, with King Alfred laying out the town afresh.

The abbey church was allowed to become derelict before being restored as the city's parish church in the Elizabethan era, when the city experienced a revival as a spa. The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. Bath was granted city status by Royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590.

Areas of the city underwent significant development during the Stuart period, and this increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation. 

During World War II, between the evening of 25 April and the morning of 27 April 1942, Bath suffered three air raids in reprisal for RAF raids on German cities, part of the Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the Baedeker Blitz. Over 400 people were killed, and more than 19,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.