Pink turban
Pub sign of the "Saracens Head Tavern", Bath, Somerset
Some background information:
The "Saracens Head Tavern", whose history dates back to the year 1713, is supposed to be oldest pub in the city of Bath. It is located at 42 Broad Street, but also has a rear entrance opening onto Walcot Street.
Once an old coaching inn, the pub is proud of its association with the famous British author Charles Dickens. Dickens stayed here in 1835 when he was working as a parliamentary journalist and following Lord John Russell through the country to report his speeches. At that time Dickens, who was still unknown, was obliged to stay in this back street inn whilst Lord John Russell doubtlessly sojourned at the "White Hart" - Bath’s most prestigious establishment. Later Dickens used his memories of Bath to write his first novel "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" (also known as the "Pickwick Papers").
Today the actual chair Dickens sat in, the actual jug he drank from, and the actual room he slept in are each shown with much ado to visitors. Also several anecdotes associated with the novelist’s visit on the occasion are re-told with perfect assurance of their truth.
The "Saracens Head Tavern" is owned by the Spirit Pub Company plc now. In August 2013 the company had 777 branded, managed pubs throughout the UK and a further 452 leased pubs. 112 of these pubs operate under the brand "Taylor Walker”, with the "Saracens Head Tavern" being one of them. The name of this brand is taken from the Taylor Walker brewery which was founded in 1730 in the London district of Stepney.
With its roughly 84,000 residents Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. It is situated 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol.
The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name "Aquae Sulis" by the Romans around 60 AD, about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain. But archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths' main spring was already treated as a shrine by the Iron Age Britons long before the Romans arrived. The shrine was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva. However, the name Sulis was also used after the Roman invasion.
A Roman temple was constructed between 60 and 70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. Probably in the 3rd century the city was given defensive walls. 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.
There are many Roman archaeological sites throughout the central area of the city, but the Roman baths themselves are about 6 metres (20 feet) below the present city street level. Around the hot springs, Roman foundations, pillar bases, and baths can still be seen, however all the stonework above the level of the baths is from more recent periods.
In 675 a monastery was set up in Bath by Osric, King of the Hwicce. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. During the reign of Edward the Elder (899 to 924) coins were minted in the town, based on a design from the Winchester mint but with "BAD" on the obverse, relating to "Baðum", the Anglo-Saxons’ name for the town, meaning "at the baths".
In the Elizabethan era the baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. In 1590 Bath was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth I. During the Stuart period several areas of the city underwent development, and this increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation. The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. Throughout the whole city the creamy gold and rather expensive Bath Stone was used for construction.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, the Old Orchard Street Theatre, which was rebuilt as the Theatre Royal, the along with the Grand Pump Room attached to the Roman Baths and assembly rooms. During the 18th century Bath became not only the leading centre of fashionable life in England, but also a popular spa town and residence of aristocrats and artists alike. For instance the painter Thomas Gainsborough and the author Jane Austen lived and worked in Bath.
In 1889 the city finally became a county borough, which gave it administrative independence from its county Somerset.
In 1987 the City of Bath was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, largely because of its complete Georgian architecture. It has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. Bath has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector, growing communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and its surrounding area.
Pink turban
Pub sign of the "Saracens Head Tavern", Bath, Somerset
Some background information:
The "Saracens Head Tavern", whose history dates back to the year 1713, is supposed to be oldest pub in the city of Bath. It is located at 42 Broad Street, but also has a rear entrance opening onto Walcot Street.
Once an old coaching inn, the pub is proud of its association with the famous British author Charles Dickens. Dickens stayed here in 1835 when he was working as a parliamentary journalist and following Lord John Russell through the country to report his speeches. At that time Dickens, who was still unknown, was obliged to stay in this back street inn whilst Lord John Russell doubtlessly sojourned at the "White Hart" - Bath’s most prestigious establishment. Later Dickens used his memories of Bath to write his first novel "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" (also known as the "Pickwick Papers").
Today the actual chair Dickens sat in, the actual jug he drank from, and the actual room he slept in are each shown with much ado to visitors. Also several anecdotes associated with the novelist’s visit on the occasion are re-told with perfect assurance of their truth.
The "Saracens Head Tavern" is owned by the Spirit Pub Company plc now. In August 2013 the company had 777 branded, managed pubs throughout the UK and a further 452 leased pubs. 112 of these pubs operate under the brand "Taylor Walker”, with the "Saracens Head Tavern" being one of them. The name of this brand is taken from the Taylor Walker brewery which was founded in 1730 in the London district of Stepney.
With its roughly 84,000 residents Bath is a city in the ceremonial county of Somerset in South West England. It is situated 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Bristol.
The city was first established as a spa with the Latin name "Aquae Sulis" by the Romans around 60 AD, about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain. But archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths' main spring was already treated as a shrine by the Iron Age Britons long before the Romans arrived. The shrine was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, whom the Romans identified with Minerva. However, the name Sulis was also used after the Roman invasion.
A Roman temple was constructed between 60 and 70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. Probably in the 3rd century the city was given defensive walls. 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.
There are many Roman archaeological sites throughout the central area of the city, but the Roman baths themselves are about 6 metres (20 feet) below the present city street level. Around the hot springs, Roman foundations, pillar bases, and baths can still be seen, however all the stonework above the level of the baths is from more recent periods.
In 675 a monastery was set up in Bath by Osric, King of the Hwicce. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. During the reign of Edward the Elder (899 to 924) coins were minted in the town, based on a design from the Winchester mint but with "BAD" on the obverse, relating to "Baðum", the Anglo-Saxons’ name for the town, meaning "at the baths".
In the Elizabethan era the baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. In 1590 Bath was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth I. During the Stuart period several areas of the city underwent development, and this increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation. The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. Throughout the whole city the creamy gold and rather expensive Bath Stone was used for construction.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, the Old Orchard Street Theatre, which was rebuilt as the Theatre Royal, the along with the Grand Pump Room attached to the Roman Baths and assembly rooms. During the 18th century Bath became not only the leading centre of fashionable life in England, but also a popular spa town and residence of aristocrats and artists alike. For instance the painter Thomas Gainsborough and the author Jane Austen lived and worked in Bath.
In 1889 the city finally became a county borough, which gave it administrative independence from its county Somerset.
In 1987 the City of Bath was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, largely because of its complete Georgian architecture. It has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year. Bath has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector, growing communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and its surrounding area.