“To See, Be Seen, and Take the Waters” Modernly in Jane Austen’s Bath

Before crowds flocked to Bath to walk in Jane Austen’s footsteps, the wealthy and middle class came to Bath “to see, be seen, and take the waters.” So, having spent time in Bath before on the trail of Jane Austen and following in the footsteps of her Northanger Abbey heroine Catherine Moreland, I decided this time, while I was traveling with the Enchanted Book Club (EBC) group tour, to –modernly– see, be seen, and take the waters, as Jane and her family might’ve done when they visited Bath.

First of all, this new perspective of Bath required a more modern read than a re-read of an Austen novel. Not that they aren’t worth re-reading, but there are also so many great more modern Austen-inspired novels. I chose The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen by Cass Grafton & Ada Bright. This book takes place during a current day Jane Austen Festival in Bath. (Sidenote- this book choice made a lot more sense back in 2020 when I was supposed to join a group trip for the Festival, but as we all know what happened in 2020… this was in a way my makeup trip to Bath, so let’s roll with it…) Our main character, Rose (I’d say heroine, but can anyone really outshine Jane herself?), not to give too much away, runs into a time-traveling young woman who turns out to be Jane Austen herself, and the two new besties have to figure out how to get Jane back to her own time.

Purchase The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen by Ada Bright and Cass Grafton via Amazon or Bookshop

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To See…

A Walking Tour

Bath is a very walkable city, and as Jane Austen loved to walk, I’m nearly positive that she would have seen Bath in the same way our group was seeing it today, by foot. Except Jane probably wouldn’t have had a tour guide leading her through the city pointing out the doors of the houses in which she lived. I felt more like Madeline than Jane, as our tour group was being herded around Bath all day by a very spry 80-something year-old woman with a thick French accent. She took us by the four different properties in which Jane lived with her mother and sister while in Bath. After Jane’s father passed away, the three women were left at the financial mercy of Jane’s brothers and lived wherever the men could rent them rooms. Our guide waved her hand in the direction of the appropriate townhouse doors as she hurried us on by.

While we walked, I kept an eye out for any woman looking slightly out of place and wearing Regency attire. At the Royal Crescent I did spot a girl in Regency dress who briefly showed up, placed her phone on a tripod, and took some selfies before disappearing again. I was a little too far away to tell for certain, but she probably wasn’t a time-traveling Jane Austen. Though I could see Jane taking selfies if she showed up today. She seems like the kind of woman that would catch on quickly to new things.

The Georgian House Museum

While Jane and her family would probably have attended house parties in Bath, that wasn’t exactly an option for our modern-day tour group, so we did the next best thing. At the Royal Crescent our guide took us into the Georgian House Museum at No. 1 Royal Crescent so we could get an idea of what it was like during Jane’s time behind the doors of the townhouses we had walked by. Despite some flashbacks of being in this museum for a full day during the Open Palace Program Museum Intensive Course I took back in 2017, I quite enjoyed the updated displays and use of modern technology in the museum today. Each room used a different excerpt from an Austen novel in a clever way to enhance the experience. In one room, actors projected on screens acted out a scene. In another room, just an audio track played when you walked into the room, and in another room, the text of an excerpt was projected onto a wall. And as all 15 of us in our group packed into each little room, I supposed I got the feeling of being in one of those shoulder-to-shoulder house parties surrounded by Georgian decor well enough.

A Walk in the Sydney Gardens

In the afternoon our walking tour took us through the Sydney Gardens, where Jane used to walk quite often as it was just across the street from one of the houses she stayed in while living in Bath. After walking city sidewalks all day, the greenery of the Gardens made a nice change and I could see why Jane liked to come here. I felt removed from the city while in the Gardens.

However, as I was keeping in mind that I was following in Jane Austen’s footsteps, certain modern aspects of the place stood out to me more than they otherwise might have. In Jane’s day this garden was behind a hotel, today that hotel is a the Holburne Museum and while the museum has kept the front exterior architecture period-appropriate to blend into the whole of Bath (so much so that it’s one of the filming locations for the Bridgerton series!) the back of the building is a very modern, all glass structure! To me, it looked quite out of time and place.

In the gardens, we strolled the paths, past families with children and dogs, then came to a bridge over a railroad track. And soon a short train came roaring along the track and blew the horn for our benefit as it went under the bridge! It was all very quaint and I do like trains, but it definitely reminded me that Bath, for all its historic appearance, has certainly modernized since the Austen’s lived across the street from the gardens.

The Bookstores

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when in a city where the bookstore “Local Authors” shelves are just Jane Austen books, one should go to the bookstores.

Toppings & Co and Rolling Ladders

It was not just the pretty Jane Austen editions that lured several of us to Toppings & Co Booksellers in Bath. It also wasn’t the fact that Toppings adds a classy Mylar cover to all their hard-back books. They make each book feel like a rare special treasure at a price point you can actually take home. It was the signature rolling ladders. If you grew up watching Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, you understand. When I asked if anyone would like to accompany me to Toppings, all I had to say was “There are rolling ladders,” and at least 6 women stood up, grabbed their coats and we were on our way.

via GIPHY

Persephone Books

Persephone Books is a small publishing company that has begun republishing out of print novels by women writers of the mid-twentieth century, or what they call “neglected works” by female authors that should get more recognition. The republished works are sold with Persephone’s signature grey covers and their shopfront in Bath is the same color as their books. Jane Austen’s books are obviously not among those sold at Persephone, but I have a feeling Jane would support the mission of this small publishing house and would encourage our visitation.

Be Seen…

The assembly rooms were closed for renovation, so there would be no dancing for us, so instead we had tea- twice in one day! It felt extravagant having tea twice in one day, but that’s what Bath has always been about, extravagance! And we had to fit all our “being seen” into the one day we had in Bath. So why not?

Tea & Buns at Sally Lunn’s

Our first Tea was at Sally Lunn’s, famous for their Bath Bunns. This Bath institution, housed in one of the oldest houses in Bath, has a questionable history, possibly more fiction than fact, but crowds have been filling this Eating House for generations, or since 1680, for the brioche buns and afternoon tea. Our party was shown to a private room at the top of the house where through the windows we could look down on the crowds outside the front door. I ordered the Sally Lunn Blend tea, because it seemed like the thing to do while at Sally Lunn’s. When our Bath Bunns arrived, we were each given either a top or a bottom half of what appeared to be an oversized hamburger bun and served with clotted cream and jam, just like a tea scone would be served.

After tea we were told we should not miss the museum in the basement before we left. So one or two at a time, as that’s all that could fit in the “museum,” we made our way to the basement. There we found one small room set up to look like a baker’s kitchen with a manikin of Sally Lunn baking bunns, and an even smaller room serving as the souvenir shop and selling boxed freshly baked bunns, one to a box.

Tea at the Pump Room

Our second tea was at the more formal Pump Room, which is referenced in several of Austen’s novels. It was here her characters would come to stroll about the room to be seen in society.

“Every morning now brought its regular duties — shops were to be visited; some new part of the town to be looked at; and the pump–room to be attended, where they paraded up and down for an hour, looking at everybody and speaking to no one.” – Northanger Abbey

Rather than just strolling the room, however, we had a full afternoon tea with three-tiered plates of fancy finger foods from savory to sweet. Being modern women, I think we were all more interested in our tea than in searching the faces in the room for a Mr. Tilney.

Take the Waters…

After having seen the city, and been seen at the Pump Room, there was one thing left to do: to “take the waters”. And I don’t mean tasting the hot, 43 minerals water from the spa water fountain at the Pump Room. And I don’t mean touring the Roman Baths, I’ve done that twice already. I mean, I had plans to spend the evening putting my feet up at the Thermae, the modern-day spa that opened in 2006.

Like Rose found her new bestie Jane, I also found a new temporary bestie in Bath. Though no time traveler, she was one of the women traveling with me in the EBC tour. We spent our evening being rejuvenated by the waters of Bath.

The spa has two lukewarm pools about neck deep, one on the bottom floor of the spa and one on a rooftop deck with an excellent view of the city. Although I was expecting shallow, hot pools where you could just sit and soak, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed lazily swimming through the deeper and cooler than expected pools. The spa also has an infrared sauna-like room, two steam rooms, a “relaxing room”, and an ice room. One of the steam rooms was Roman style and one was Georgian style. The Roman one was dark and the steam was thick and scented. I was only able to stay in it for about thirty seconds before feeling like I couldn’t breathe. The Georgian style one, on the other hand, was light, and the steam not quite so oppressive. I found this one much more comfortable. The “Relaxing” room had a few curved tile beds to lie on in a room with dark walls with small holes where light shone through like stars and a tv screen that projected space scenes while music, that I found less than relaxing, thumped around the room.

Cameras are not allowed in the spa, so I have no photos, but travel vloggers Flying the Next have a video of the spa experience.

While we swam, saunaed, and steamed, my new bestie and I chit chatted about and bonded over the trip thus far and our lives back home, just as Jane or any of her characters might have done who came to Bath “for the season” before returning home.

After our allotted time at the spa was up, we made our way through streetlight-lit Bath, past a now nearly empty Bath Abbey square as the abbey bells chimed pleasantly above us.

After the spa, I didn’t exactly feel relaxed, but more rejuvenated, like I had the happy contentment of having done some light exercise. I was happy that I had been able to take my weight off my feet for a couple hours after the day of walking all over the city anyway.

Despite only having a day in the city, I had seen, been seen, and taken the waters in the most modern ways possible, and still felt like I had walked in Jane Austen footsteps. Now my “season” was over and it was time to move on to the next destination!

Let’s Chat!

Have you been to Bath? Do you want to go? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

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