This walking tour examines Bath’s connections with Britain’s slave economy in the 18th century. It explains how the Transatlantic Slave Trade and Britain’s integral slave economy came to impact Bath. As the city transitioned from being entirely reliant on its status as a spa and health resort in 1700 to a fashionable city and place of entertainment through the 18th century, it attracted plantation owners, sugar and tobacco merchants from neighbouring Bristol, and others directly involved in Britain’s slave economy.
The walk will look at how the need for fashionable accommodation to provide lodgings for the wealthy visitors to Bath ultimately attracted wealthy entrepreneurs to Bath, such as James Brydges, the Duke of Chandos, and Sir William Johnstone Pulteney. Both were directly connected to Britain’s slave economy and foresaw the profits to be made from the construction and provision of these new lodgings.
The tour, led by qualified Blue Badge tour guide Rob Collin (www.robcollinguide.co.uk), is an opportunity for locals and visitors to understand how the building of Georgian Bath, architecturally a new city, came from wealth derived from Britain’s participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the slave economy.
Start: Abbey Churchyard (BA1 1LY), in front of the big doors of Bath Abbey
Finish: Bath Abbey
Duration: two hours
Distance: around 1.5 miles
Suitable for wheelchair users: Yes
Gentle-paced walking, on pavements, with frequent stops.
Organised by Fred Mawer Tours (www.fredmawertours.co.uk).
Meet at Abbey Churchyard
