Parks and Gardens in Bath

Sydney Gardens:

Sydney Gardens is at the back of Holburne Museum so after seeing the exhibition we decided to explore the gardens.

The gardens are the only remaining 18th century pleasure gardens in the country. They are Grade II listed. They were laid out in the 1790s to plans by Thomas Baldwin and they included a maze, grotto, sham castle and an artificial rural scene with moving figures powered by a clockwork mechanism.

The layout was affected by the construction of the Kennet and Avon Canal in 1819 and the Great Western railway in 1840 which pass through the park. The gardens later fell into decline, but in 1908 the site was bought by the local council and reopened as a park. 

The Sydney Hotel, which was built with the gardens, was the centre for entertainment. It is now the Holburne Museum.

As always in Bath, you can see views of the hills that surround the city

Zooming in

Not a good photograph, but there is an extensive playground for kids in the park

with a nice castle for the kids

We walked towards the bridge

Minerva's Temple on our left

We saw the gate for the canal and decided to walk along the path for a bit

It was a nice canal walk but there so much to do in Bath

so we retraced out steps 

walked through Sydney gardens again, and started walking towards the Royal Crescent which was the next destination on our list for that day.

Parade Garden:

We got our first glimpse of the Parade Garden whilst walking along the Grand Parade.

I loved the shape of the topiary in the middle, and the bees, of course.

The Gardens started as a bowling green in 1770 and it wasn't until around 1880 that a bandstand was built and a lawn, used for pleasure and relaxation.

So we went down the steps to investigate.

We walked to the topiary first, which is in the middle of the gardens

Then, walked through the middle of the topiary ensemble

Past the statue of King  Blalud and his pig. King Blalud is acknowledged as the founder of Bath 1,000 years before the Romans. A famous legend surrounds Blalud, who as rightful king of the Britons, was unable to inherit the throne as he has lepsory. Banished from the royal palace as swineherd, he roamed the countryside with his herd of pigs.

Close to the place we now know as Bath, the pigs were cured of scurby and other skin conditions, after rolling in the hot mud around some springs. Bladud did the same and he too, was cured.

On becoming king he founded a city at Bath, dedicating the healing power of its springs to the Celtic goddess Sul. 900 years later the Romans called the city Aquae Sulis - the Waters of Sul.

From the Gardens one gets the finest views of Pulteney Bridge and Weir. Pulteney Bridge was built in 1774 bo Robert Adam's design. Lined with shops on either side, a pair of pavilions were constructed at either end.

Looking closer.

From here you can also get a partial view of the beautiful, terraced, V shaped weir. It was completed in 1972 as part of a flood alleviation scheme, together with the sluice gate on the other side of the river.

We saw some ruins on the edge of the gardens so went to investigate. They are all that remain of a mill that existed in the 13th century when the Abbey owned this land. 

Walked past the bees

Next, the statue of Mozart

Finally, the bandstand

In 2018, Bath-based charity National Heritage Ironwork Group (NHIG) staged a public forging event in the Parade Gardens involving teams of blacksmiths from all over the country and thousands of Bath city residents.

The focal point of this collaborative event was the live creation of a new balustrade for the bandstand. The musical score balustrate was forged in the fire by master blacksmiths from around the UK, who each designed the unique music-themed panels interspersed throughout the score. Alongside them, school children from all over Bath forged the treble clefs which adorn the finial on top of the bandstand.