Bath Spa, a World Heritage
Site famous for its Thermae Spa, Roman Baths and the city’s Neo-Classical
architecture hosted the 5th Weldest Project Conference in the Bath
City Hilton hotel. Delegates from across
Europe, including Austria, Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic as well as
the United Kingdom met to discuss the outputs of this project, the Self-Assessment
Tool and an E-Handbook. How public
bodies, destination management organisations and private companies can develop
into a holistic health and well-being destination.
Bath was selected to host
the event as the city is an epitome of a health and well-being destination in
the UK. The city was founded according to legend in 863 BC, when Prince Bladud
was cured of leprosy after bathing in the hot springs; with a statue of the
legendary Prince stands in the Parade Gardens to honour the fact.
The WelDest Project Team in Bath
In AD 43 the Romans
established Bath as a health and well-being spa town as a sanctuary of rest,
relaxation and recuperation for their soldiers after battle, upon discovering
three hot springs under the settlement. The King’s spring supplied hot mineral
waters for the Roman Baths in the city, whilst the Hetling and Cross springs
can still be bathed in today at the Thermae Bath spa. By the 12th
Century hoards of sick people from across England came to Bath to wash away all
their ailments in the healing waters. The development of St. John’s Hospice by
Bishop Reginald of Bath and Wells in 1174 with accommodation provided for
visitors established Bath as amongst the first health and well-being
destinations. By the 16th Century the city was starting to attract
visitors from across Europe as well as from royalty. Visits from Princess/Queen
Anne to sample the waters turned the city of Bath into a fashionable premier
resort and it was in this period that the city began to grow to how it looks today,
through the ambitions of architects John Wood the Elder, Ralph Allen and Robert
Adams to develop the city’s neo-classical architecture out of Bath stone. The
oolitic limestone mined locally gave the city its distinctive light yellow
appearance, turning Bath into one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The
unique freestone which is only found in the region surrounding the city, can be
cut and sculpted in any direction to form building blocks. Bath Stone was used
extensively as building material in the city for churches, public buildings,
residential and industrial buildings throughout the 18th and 19th
century by John Wood the Elder and Ralph Allen to create many of Bath’s iconic
buildings, including Ralph Allen’s own mansion in Prior Park. John Wood the
Elders other notable work in Bath included Queen Square, North and South
Parades and The Circus, in the Palladian style to restore the city’s former
ancient glory to harmonise with the ancient Roman Baths. The Circus is a
circular space, divided into three segments of equal length with each curved
segment facing one of the three entrances ensuring that whichever entranced is
used by visitors there is a classical Palladian façade facing them. The grand
vision of John Wood the Elder and completed by his son Jon Wood the Younger was
that from above the Circus, along with Queen’s Square and the adjoining Gay
Street formed a perfect key shape, a masonic symbol of the time. John Wood the
Younger also went on to design the Royal Crescent, a row of 30 terraced houses
laid out in a crescent moon shape close to Victoria Park.
These iconic buildings, the
Roman Baths and the history of the city attract approximately 5.8 million day
visitors as well as 232,000 overseas visitors to Bath per annum. Visit Bath
exploits their history to promote the city’s spa culture to tourists as well as
their spa products for pampering on their relaxing spa breaks.
The exploitation of a
destination’s history and local traditions was amongst the many topics
discussed in the Weldest Project meeting, on how a destination can become a
successful health and well-being destination.
