Dr Harington's sprightly epigram suggests, this portentous display of
mortality is not an inspiring study for visitors who come to Bath to
take "the cure,"
"These walls, adorned with monument and bust,
Show how Bath waters serve to lay the dust."
Among objects and places of interest in the outskirts of the city that
deserve a visit are Sham Castle, an artificial antique on Bathwick
Hill; Widcombe Old Church (built by Prior Bird); the chapel of St Mary
Magdalen in Holloway (built by Prior Cantlow in 1495); Beckford's Tower
on Lansdowne, and Combe Down (where a portion of the Wansdyke may be
examined).
Bath gives its name, with sometimes more and sometimes less
justification, to quite a number of articles, including Bath stone,
Bath buns, Bath olivers, Bath chaps, Bath chairs, and Bath bricks (for
the last, see pp. 26, 64).
_Bathampton_, a prettily situated village, 2 m. N.E. of Bath. Its
church is in the main Perp., but the chancel arch is E.E., and the E.
window consists of three lancets. There are two recumbent figures of
the 14th cent., a knight and a lady, at the W. end of the S. aisle; but
the most remarkable feature of the building is a still earlier effigy,
much defaced, within a niche in the exterior wall of the E. end. It
seems to represent a bishop, since there are traces of a crosier,
though some have taken it for a prioress. Some small remains of a
priory are still to be found at the rectory near the church.
_Bathealton_, a parish 3 m. S.E. of Wiveliscombe. The church has been
rebuilt, and is of no antiquarian interest.
_Batheaston_, a large parish on the Avon, 2-1/2 m. N.E. of Bath
(nearest stat. Bathampton, 1/2 m. away). The church has been restored,
but it retains its well-proportioned Perp. tower. One of the bells
dates from pre-Reformation times, and has the inscription _Virginis
egregiae vocor campana Mariae_. To the N.E. of the village is _Solsbury
Hill_, with a British camp on the summit. It probably gets its name
from the British goddess Sul, who seems, from the inscriptions in Bath
Museum, to have been identified by the Romans with Minerva.
_Bathford_ is a village 3-1/2 m. E.N.E. of Bath (nearest stat.
Bathampton), standing on a hill sloping to the Avon, which was here in
Roman times crossed by a ford that gave its name (formerly Ford) to the
place. The church (ded. to St Swithin) is of E.E. origin, but has been
enlarged and modernised. The font is Norm.; some Norm. work remains in
the N. porch, and there is a Jacobean pulpit.
_Bawdrip_, a small village, 1 m. from Cossington, and 3-1/4 m. N.E. of
Bridgwater. It possesses an interesting little cruciform church, with a
central tower supported on E.E. or Early Dec. arches. There are three
piscinas, one in the sanctuary, the others in the transepts, that of
the N. transept being on the sill of the squint in the chancel pier. In
this N. transept is the effigy of a knight in plate armour under a
foliated canopy, said to be that of Joel de Bradney, d. 1350.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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