A long list of relevant Wikipedia entries around Combe Down

Key dates in the history of Somerset

• 43–47 – Roman invasion and occupation
• 491 – Battle of Mons Badonicus (may have been fought in Somerset) (uncertain date)
• 537 – Battle of Camlann (sometimes located at Queen Camel) (uncertain date)
• 577 – Battle of Deorham (Dyrham, Gloucestershire) – Saxons occupied Bath
• 658 – Battle of Peonnum (Penselwood ?) – Saxons then occupied most of Somerset
• 710 – Battle of Llongborth (? Langport)
• 845 – First documentary reference to "Somersæte"
• 878 – Battle of Cynwit – Saxon victory over the Danes by Ealdorman Odda
• 878 – Battle of Ethandun – West Saxon victory over the Danes (uncertain whether in Somerset or Wiltshire)
• 878 – Treaty of Wedmore – after defeat of Danes by King Alfred the Great
• c900 – Kings of Wessex hold court at Cheddar
• 973 – King Edgar of England crowned at Bath
• 988 – St Dunstan buried at Glastonbury
• 1013 – Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard received submission of western thegns at Bath
• 1088 – Siege of Ilchester
• 1191 – Discovery of "King Arthur's" tomb at Glastonbury
• 1497 – Perkin Warbeck's rebellion supported by Somerset men
• 1643 – Battle of Lansdowne
• 1645 – Siege of Taunton during the English Civil War
• 1685 – Battle of Sedgemoor – Duke of Monmouth defeated
• 1685 – Judge Jeffries holds the "Bloody Assizes" at Taunton
• 1770 – Start of major enclosures of Somerset Levels
• 1805 – Somerset Coal Canal Opened
• 1827 – Bridgwater and Taunton Canal opened
• 1875 – Formation of Somerset County Cricket Club
• 1898 – County boundaries altered
• 1956 – Chew Valley Lake opened by Queen Elizabeth II
• 1974 – Formation of County of Avon, reducing the area of the County of Somerset
• 1996 – Abolition of the County of Avon, creating the unitary authorities of North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bath, Somerset, England.

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• Mesolithic – Human activity on Bathampton Down.
• Iron Age – Hillfort on Bathampton Down.^[1]
• 863 BC (traditional date) – In legend, King Bladud discovers the sacred spring at Bath.^[2]

• c. 60s – First Roman temple structures built, around the hot water springs; completed by 76.
• 2nd century
  • Early: Baths extended.
  • Late: Baths vaulted.
• 3rd century – By this time, Bath city walls are built for defence.
• 300–350 – Evidence for Christians in Bath.
• 5th century – Following the end of Roman rule in Britain, Bath is largely abandoned.

• 516 – Battle of Badon: A famous battle against the Saxons, where a progenitor of King Arthur is said to have been victorious; perhaps on Bathampton Down.
• 577 – Battle of Deorham: Bath is captured by the Saxons^[3] and, being north of the River Avon, then falls within the Saxon petty-kingdom of the Hwicce.
• 628 – Following the Battle of Cirencester, the Hwicce come under the rule of the kingdom of Mercia.
• 676 – Abbess Berta founds a convent under the protection of Osric, king of the Hwicce.
• 757 – Cynewulf of Wessex grants land in Bath to monks of St Peter.^{[clarification needed]}
• 781 – Offa of Mercia takes control of the monastery from the Bishop of Worcester.
• 878 – Bath becomes a royal borough (burh) of Alfred the Great, in his kingdom of Wessex (and also in the county of Somerset).^[3]
• c. 900 – Market active.^[4]
• 973 – 11 May (Whitsunday): Edgar, King of England 959–975, is crowned and anointed with his wife Ælfthryth at Bath Abbey by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury.^[5] The Church of St Swithin, Walcot, is founded at about this date.
• c. 980 – Ælfheah becomes abbot of Bath.

• 1087 – Town, Abbey and mint pass to John of Tours.
• 1090 – John of Tours, Bishop of Wells, moves the episcopal seat to Bath, giving it city status.
• Early 12th century? – King's Bath built.
• 1102 – Bath fair active.^[4]
• 1137 – Major fire.^[6]
• 1148–1161 – Abbey consecrated between these dates.^[6]
• c. 1174 – St John's Hospital founded.
• 1273 – Old Bridge extant.
• 1285 – Church of St Michael's Within built in St John's Hospital.
• c. 1333 – Monks of the abbey establish a weaving trade in Broad Street.^[7]
• 1371 – Market mentioned in charter.
• c. 1435 – Hospital of St Catherine established.
• 1482 – "Sally Lunn's House" built.
• c. 1495 – St Mary Magdalen, Holloway, built as a chapel to a leper's hospital.^[6]
• 1499 – Abbey found derelict by Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, who begins its reconstruction.^[8]

• 1533 – Rebuilding of Abbey substantially completed by this date.^[6]
• 1539 – January: Dissolution of the Monasteries: Abbey surrendered.
• 1552
  • King Edward's School founded as a grammar school.^[9]
  • Approximate date: First market house built.
• 1572
  • The roofless Abbey is given to the corporation of Bath^[6] for restoration as a parish church.
  • Dr. John Jones makes the first public endorsement of the medicinal properties of the city's water.
• 1576 – Queen's Bath built.
• 1578 – Drinking fountain installed in the Baths.
• 1590 – Bath chartered (city status confirmed) by Elizabeth I.^[10]
• 1597 – Deserving poor given free use of the mineral water.^[11]
• 1608 – Bellott's Hospital established.
• 1613 and 1615 - Anne of Denmark, wife of James VI and I, visits Bath for her health
• 1616 – Abbey Church consecrated.^[12]
• 1625–1628 – Guildhall rebuilt.^[13]
• 1643 – 5 July: Battle of Lansdowne fought near the city.
• 1657 – Regular coach service from London.
• 1676 – Dr. Thomas Guidott publishes A discourse of Bathe, and the hot waters there. Also, Some Enquiries into the Nature of the water, the first published account of the medicinal properties of the city's water.
• 1677 – West Gate pub in business.
• 1680 – Supposed origin of the Sally Lunn bun.
• 1687 – Mary of Modena, queen consort of James II of England, visits in the hope that Bath waters would aid conception; by the end of the year she is pregnant with James Francis Edward Stuart.

• 1702–1703 – Queen Anne visits.
• 1704 – First pump-room built;^[14] Richard "Beau" Nash is appointed Master of Ceremonies.
• 1705 – First theatre in the city built.^[13]
• 1707 – Bath Turnpike Trust established.^[15]
• 1708 – Harrison's Assembly Rooms, with a riverside walk, open.
• 1711 – Bluecoat school founded as a charity.^[7]
• 1712 – March: Ralph Allen appointed postmaster.
• 1715 – Church of St Michael's Within in St John's Hospital rebuilt to the design of William Killigrew.
• 1720 – Ralph Allen begins to farm the Cross and Bye Posts in the south west of England.
• 1717 – Approximate date: Green Street developed.^[16]
• 1721 – Bluecoat school opens.^[9]
• 1724 – James Leake (bookseller) in business.^[17][18]
• 1725–1727 – Guildhall extended.
• 1725
  • John Wood, the Elder, newly returned to Bath, presents his plans for the city to Ralph Allen.^[7]
  • Approximate date: William Oliver (physician) settles in Bath.
• 1726
  • Ralph Allen begins buying up Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines for building stone.^[7]
  • James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, buys Chandos House to let as lodgings.
• 1727–1728 – John Wood, the Elder, executes his first private commission in Bath, a new building for St John's Hospital.^[9]
• 1727–1736 – Beaufort Square laid out by John Strahan.^[19][20]
• 1727
  • Gilt bronze head from cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the Roman Temple is found by workmen excavating a sewer and placed in the guildhall.
  • 15 December: River Avon made navigable downstream to Bristol.
  • Approximate date: Construction of Ralph Allen's Town House begins.
• 1728
  • St John's Gate ("Trim Bridge") built.^[7]
  • First Bath Racecourse recorded.^[21]
• 1728–1736 – Queen Square laid out by John Wood, the Elder.^[7]
• 1730s – Parade Gardens laid out.
• 1731 – A tramroad is opened to carry building stone from Ralph Allen's Combe Down mine through his Prior Park estate down to the Kennet and Avon Canal.
• c. 1733
  • Thomas Warr Attwood becomes de facto first Bath City Surveyor and Bath City Architect.
  • First printing press established in the city, by Felix Farley of Bristol.
• 1734
  • Royal visit by William IV, Prince of Orange,^[10] marked by an obelisk of 1735.
  • Construction begins on Ralph Allen's house at Prior Park to the design of John Wood, the Elder.
  • 25 December: St Mary the Virgin opened near Queen Square as the city's first proprietary chapel (foundation stone laid 25 March 1732; designed by John Wood, the Elder).^[13]
• 1735
  • Construction of New Bridge to carry the Bristol Road over the Avon begins.
  • Gay Street laid out by John Wood, the Elder.^[7]
• 1738 – Royal visit by Frederick, Prince of Wales with Princess Augusta, marked by erection of an obelisk in Queen Square.^[10]
• 1739
  • Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (Royal Mineral Water Hospital, "The Min") established by an act of Parliament^[which?] as The Hospital or Infirmary in the City of Bath; it will be built to plans of 1738 by John Wood, the Elder.^[11]
  • Portrait painter William Hoare settles in Bath.
• c. 1741 – North Parade built by John Wood, the Elder.
• 1742
  • Ralph Allen elected mayor and his residence at Prior Park is completed.^[16]
  • Church of St Swithin, Walcot, rebuilt following storm damage in 1739.
  • William Frederick (bookseller) in business.^[17]
• 1743–1749 – South Parade built to the design of John Wood, the Elder.^[7]
• 1744
  • 27 February: The Bath Journal, the city's first newspaper and a predecessor of the Bath Chronicle, begins publication.
  • Sham bridge in Ralph Allen's Prior Park Landscape Garden estate designed by Alexander Pope.^[22]
• 1745 – Beau Nash forced to retire as Master of Ceremonies due to anti-gambling laws.^[7]
• 1747 – Bath Pauper Scheme originates.
• 1750
  • 27 October: Old Orchard Street Theatre opens as St James' Theatre.^[23]
  • Approximate date: Bath Oliver biscuit devised by William Oliver (physician).
• 1751 – Pump Room enlarged, truncating the King's Bath.
• 1752 – King Edward's School rebuilt in Broad Street.
• 1754
  • February: The Circus house construction begins to the design of John Wood, the Elder.^[24]
  • Old Bridge rebuilt.
• 1754–1755 – North and South Gates demolished (West Gate demolished c. 1776).
• 1755
  • Bath Advertiser newspaper begins publication.^[25]
  • Roman Bath rediscovered.^[26][27]
  • Kingston Baths built for Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull on the site of the Abbey cloister.
  • Palladian bridge in Ralph Allen's Prior Park Landscape Garden built to a design by Richard Jones.^[22]

• 1758–1774 – Portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough resident at 17 The Circus.^[19]
• 1759 – William Pitt, Secretary of State, from 7 The Circus, orders James Wolfe to capture Quebec City.^[19]
• 1760 – Gay Street developed.^[28]
• 1762 – Sham castle built as an eye-catcher in Ralph Allen's Prior Park Landscape Garden to a design by Richard Jones.^[22]
• 1762–1763 – Milsom Street built.
• 1765 – 6 October: The second chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is opened in The Paragon; George Whitefield is the first preacher.
• 1766
  • Christopher Anstey publishes his long satirical epistolary poem The New Bath Guide.
  • Astronomer William Herschel arrives in Bath, initially as organist of the Octagon Chapel (completed 1767); his house in New King Street is built.
  • 20 December: Royal Crescent house construction begins to the design of John Wood, the Younger.
• 1767–1768 – Brock Street built to the design of John Wood, the Younger.
• 1768 – The Theatre Royal, Bath (Old Orchard Street Theatre) and Theatre Royal, Norwich, assume these titles having been granted Royal Patents, making them officially England's only legal provincial theatres.^[29]
• 1769 – The Circus ("King's Circus") houses completed to the design of John Wood, the Younger.^[19]
• 1769–1774 – Pulteney Bridge constructed to the design of Robert Adam.^[28][19]

• 1771 – 30 September: New (Upper) Assembly Rooms, built to the design of John Wood, the Younger, open with Capt. William Wade as Master of Ceremonies.^[9]
• 1772 – 18 March: Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan elopes with soprano Elizabeth Ann Linley from her home in Royal Crescent.^[19]
• 1774 – Royal Crescent houses completed to the design of John Wood, the Younger.
• 1775–1777 – Hot Bath built to the design of John Wood, the Younger.^[7]
• 1775 – 15 November: Architect Thomas Warr Attwood is killed by the collapse of a derelict building which he is inspecting on the site of the intended new Guildhall and is succeeded as Bath City Surveyor by Thomas Baldwin.
• 1777–1779 – Wesleyan church built in New King Street.^[19]
• 1777
  • 28 August: Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce founded.^[30]
  • Church of St Swithin, Walcot, rebuilt to the design of John Palmer, opens.
  • Card room added to the Assembly Rooms.
  • Real tennis court opens in Julian Road.^[31]
• 1778–1782 – Sarah Siddons appears at the Old Orchard Street Theatre.
• 1778 – New Guildhall completed to the design of Thomas Baldwin and the previous one is demolished.
• 1779 – 28 December: Bath Philosophical Society founded; ceases 1787.^[32]
• 1780
  • 13 June: Anti-Catholic unrest.^[26]
  • Roman Great Bath rediscovered.^[27]
  • First record of the Sally Lunn bun.^[33]
  • Approximate date: Oxford Row built.^[16]
• 1781 – 13 March: William Herschel makes the first observation of the planet Uranus from his back garden in New King Street.^[34]
• 1783–1784 – Cross Bath built by Thomas Baldwin.^[35]
• 1784 – 2 August: John Palmer demonstrates his mail coach system.
• 1787–1788 – Camden Crescent built by John Eveleigh.
• 1788–1794 – Laura Place built by Thomas Baldwin and John Eveleigh.^[36]
• 1788 – Bath Casualty Hospital (a predecessor of the Royal United Hospital) opens.
• 1789–1793 – Lansdown Crescent built by John Palmer.
• 1789
  • July: Bath Improvement Act 1789 (29 Geo. 3. c. 73) passed by Parliament, giving the city council powers to purchase, demolish and rebuild.
  • South Colonnade for Grand Pump Room scheme completed by Thomas Baldwin.^[37]
  • Congregational church opened in Argyle Street.
• 1790
  • 9 April: Thomas Baldwin is appointed first architect and surveyor to the Improvement Commissioners formed under the Bath Improvement Act 1789.^[16]
  • North Colonnade for Grand Pump Room scheme completed by Thomas Baldwin.^[38]
  • Roman temple pediment discovered during work near the Baths.^[39]
  • Somerset Place construction begins to the design of John Eveleigh.
• 1791 – 31 March: Bath Street construction begins to the design of Thomas Baldwin.^[40]
• 1792
  • March: Norfolk Crescent construction begins to the design of John Palmer.
  • Bath City Dispensary and Infirmary founded.
  • Lansdown Course races begin.^[41]
• 1793
  • September: Laying out of Sydney Gardens begins to the design of Thomas Baldwin.
  • Bath bank crash.
• 1795
  • 11 May: Sydney Gardens open as Bath Vauxhall Gardens, commercial pleasure grounds. Sydney Hotel is under construction here.
  • 28 December: Grand Pump Room opens.^[42] Begun around 1789 by Thomas Baldwin,^[7] construction work is completed 1793–1799 by John Palmer.^[9]
  • Harmonic Society formed.^[43]

• 1796? – York Street opened.
• 1797–1798 – Cross Bath rebuilt by John Palmer.^[7]
• 1797
  • 30 May: Abolitionist William Wilberforce marries Barbara Spooner at the Church of St Swithin, Walcot, the couple having met on 15 April in Bath.
  • House of Antiquities opened to display archaeological finds.
• 1798 – 7 November: Christ Church dedicated as a proprietary chapel built to the design of John Palmer.
• 1799
  • By summer: William Smith produces the first large-scale geological map, of the area round Bath.^[44]
  • 8 August: Lace goes missing from Elizabeth Gregory's milliner's shop; Jane Leigh Perrot (Jane Austen's aunt) is charged with its theft.^[45]
  • 11 December: William Smith draws up a table of strata round Bath.^[44]
  • Sydney Hotel opens in Sydney Gardens to the design of Charles Harcourt Masters.
  • A new Philosophical Society is established.^[9]

• 1800
  • North side of Pulteney Bridge collapses in a flood.
  • S. W. Simms (bookseller) in business.^[46]
  • Approximate date:
    • Jewish congregation formed.^[47]
    • First houses in Sydney Place completed to the design of Thomas Baldwin.
• 1801
  • January: Jane Austen becomes resident in Bath when her father retires here; she will remain until summer 1806 living mostly in the new-built Sydney Place.
  • 1 May: Kennet and Avon Canal opens from Bath to Devizes^[48] (completion of the locks at the latter place at the end of 1810 creates through inland water communication to London).^[49]

• 1802 – Balloon ascents from Sydney Gardens.
• 1805
  • 1 January: Jane Austen's father, the Rev. George Austen, dies in Bath; he is buried at the Church of St Swithin, Walcot, where he had been married in 1764
  • Penitentiary established.^[9]
  • New Theatre Royal^[9] (replacing the Old Orchard Street Theatre) and Barker's Picture Gallery open.^[50]
  • De Montalt Mill, Combe Down, established as a paper mill.^[15]
• 1806 – East wing of Grand Pump Room completed.^[16]
• 1808 – New houses in Sydney Place completed to the design of John Pinch the elder.
• 1810
  • Lancasterian Free School established.^[50]
  • Union Street completed.
• 1812 – Jewish Burial Ground, Combe Down opened.
• 1813 - Claverton Pumping Station opens, allowing the Bath locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal to be used in periods of low rainfall.
• 1815
  • Cleveland Pools opened.^[51]
  • Stothert's iron foundry established.^[15]
• 1816 – 8 January: Third Bath Philosophical Society formed.^[52]
• 1817
  • Royal visit by Queen Charlotte.
  • Atkinson & Tucker (booksellers) in business.^[46]
• 1818 – Bath Gas Light Company established.^[15]
• 1819 – Masonic Hall dedicated.^[50]
• 1821 – 6 February: Original Assembly Rooms in Terrace Walk destroyed by fire.
• 1822
  • Norfolk Crescent completed to the design of John Pinch the elder.
  • Post office in Broad Street.
• 1823 – Jolly & Son, drapers, established.^[53]
• 1824 – Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution founded (given Royal status 1837).^[54]
• 1825
  • 19 January: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution opens its premises on the site of the original Assembly Rooms in Terrace Walk.
  • The Corridor, one of the world's earliest retail arcades, is built to the design of architect Henry Goodridge.^[7]
  • Mechanics Institute opens.^[43]
  • Lansdown Cricket Club formed.
• 1826
  • Bath United Hospital opens in Beau Street in a building designed by John Pinch the elder.
  • A. H. Hale's pharmacy in business in Argyle Street.
• 1827
  • Beckford's Tower (Lansdown Tower) is completed by Henry Goodridge for William Beckford.
  • Cleveland Bridge opened as a toll bridge.^[55]
  • John Loudon McAdam appointed Surveyor of the Bath Roads, a post which he holds until his death in 1836.^[15]
  • Partis College completed as almshouses for women by Ann and Fletcher Partis.^[16]
• 1829 – New basin at baths completed.^[16]
• 1830
  • Victoria Park is opened by the 11-year-old Princess Victoria as a private pleasure ground.^[56]
  • Prior Park College is opened as the Sacred Heart College.
• 1831 – Jolly's department store opens as The Bath Emporium.
• 1832 – Sydney Buildings constructed.^[16]
• 1833–1834 – George Phillips Manners restores the Abbey, replacing the pinnacles.^[6]
• 1834–1837 – St Michael's Without church rebuilt to the design of George Phillips Manners.
• 1834 – Stothert, Rayne & Pitt acquire the Newark Iron Foundry.
• 1836
  • 1 January: Local government reformed under terms of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835; city corporation is obliged to surrender control over Abbey appointments.
  • 28 March: Bath Poor Law Union formed and begins construction of a new workhouse at Combe Down.
  • 30 May: Major fire at Prior Park.
  • North Parade Bridge built in cast iron to the design of William Tierney Clark and Victoria suspension bridge built to the patent of James Dredge, Sr.
• 1837 – Victoria Column erected.^[57]
• 1839 – Isaac Pitman moves to Bath.
• 1840
  • 2 May: First Penny Black postage stamp sent from 8 Broad Street by Thomas Musgrave.
  • 6 June: Novelist Fanny Burney dies in Bath; she is buried at the Church of St Swithin, Walcot.
  • 31 August: Great Western Railway opened from Bath to Bristol Temple Meads; 30 June 1841 through to London Paddington.
• 1841
  • January: Major floods.
  • November: First "Daguerreotype Institute" (photographic studio) in Bath opened, in Subscription Walk Gardens.^[52]
• 1846 – City authorised to provide drinking water from springs at Bathampton and Batheaston.
• 1847 – Commercial Reading Room and Tottenham Library founded.^[43]
• 1851 – Kingswood School moves to Bath.
• 1852 – Bath School of Art founded.
• 1854 – Post Office in York Buildings, George Street (1750s).
• 1855
  • February: Bath Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club established by Leonard Jenyns.^[52]
  • Bath Quartet Society established.^[41]
  • Corn market built in Walcot Street.
• 1856 – J. B. Bowler, engineer and carbonated drink manufacturer, in business.
• 1859–1860 – New Bluecoat school built.
• 1861–1863 – St John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in South Parade is built to the design of Charles Francis Hansom.
• 1861 – Guildhall Market built.
• 1862 – 18 April: A major fire causes the Theatre Royal to be rebuilt.^[58]
• 1863 – Widcombe ("Halfpenny") footbridge first built over the Avon in wood.
• 1864
  • Bath United Hospital given its Royal prefix on opening of its Albert wing.
  • Locksbrook Cemetery opens as Walcot Cemetery.
• 1865
  • Bath Rugby founded by members of Lansdown Cricket Club as Bath Football Club.
  • Old Orchard Street Theatre becomes a Masonic Hall.^[23]
• 1867
  • Alexander Graham Bell rigs up a telegraph line in Bennett Street while teaching at Somerset College.^[52]
  • James Irvine records remains of the Roman temple of Sulis Minerva.
• 1869–1885 – Excavations of Roman Baths by Maj. C. E. Davis, the city architect.
• 1869
  • 4 August: Queen Square station opens to passengers as terminus of the Midland Railway's Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line.
  • Original White Horse Inn (opposite the Pump Room) is demolished.
• 1870–1873 – St Andrew's Church built to the design of George Gilbert Scott.
• 1874
  • 20 July: Somerset and Dorset Railway begins operating from Queen Square station.
  • Manvers Estate sold.
• 1875
  • Bath High School for Girls established by the Girls' Public Day School Company.
  • ?: Bath City Police established.
• 1877 – 6 June: Widcombe footbridge collapses, killing eleven, causing it to be rebuilt as a wrought-iron lattice girder.
• 1878
  • Bath College opens.^[41]
  • Corporation acquires Kingston Baths.
• 1880
  • 28 February: Bath Golf Club founded
  • 24 December: Bath Tramways Company begins operating horsecars.
  • Approximate date: Blaine's Folly built.^[22]
• 1881 – Population: 52,557.^[59]
• 1882 – Holburne Museum fine art collection bequeathed to the city.
• 1883 – Queen's Bath largely demolished revealing a Roman circular bath.
• 1886 – First telephone exchange.
• 1887 – Botanical Gardens opened in Royal Victoria Park.
• 1888 – Bath Photographic Society formed.^[60]
• 1889
  • 1 April: Bath becomes a county borough under terms of the Local Government Act 1888.
  • 21 June: William Friese-Greene, working in Bath since c. 1875, patents a "chronophotographic" camera, an early form of movie camera.^[52]
  • New douche and massage baths incorporating parts of the Queen's Bath and of the 1786 New Private Baths and including an arch over York Street completed to the design of C. E. Davis.
  • Landslide destroys nine houses in Camden Crescent.^[61]
  • Twerton Co-operative Society, a consumers' co-operative, opens its first shop.^[62]
  • Bath Association Football Club formed.
• 1890 – Electricity generating station begins operation.^[15]
• 1891 – Bath Fire Brigade and Ambulance Service established.
• 1892 – Technical training begins, origin of City of Bath Technical School and Bath College of Domestic Science.
• 1893 – Holburne Museum opens in Charlotte Street.
• 1894 – Major floods.
• 1896 – April: Bath Municipal Technical College and Bath City Secondary School established in a new north extension of the Guildhall.
• 1897
  • 18 October: Victoria Art Gallery foundation stone laid to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.^[19]
  • Henrietta Gardens laid out to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
  • Roman Baths and associated Concert Room designed by J. M. Brydon are opened to the public.^[6]

• 1900
  • Silcox Son & Wicks, furnishers, established.
  • May: Victoria Art Gallery and Reference Library opens.^[12][46]
  • New (redbrick) houses for the working classes erected in Dolemeads.^[7]
• 1901
  • Empire Hotel in business (designed by C. E. Davis).^[63]
  • Population: 49,839.^[10]
• 1902 – 25 July: Horse tram system closes for electrification, being temporarily replaced by horsebuses.
• 1904 – 2 January: Bath Electric Tramways Company begins operating.
• 1905 – 12 December: Midland Bridge, a replacement lattice-girder bridge over the Avon, is opened.
• 1907 – Bath School of Pharmacy established.
• 1909
  • c. February: Old Bath Preservation Society, predecessor of Bath Preservation Trust, set up.^[7]
  • 19–24 July: Historical Pageant staged in Royal Victoria Park.^[64]
  • St Winifred's Quarry built as a house on Combe Down to the design of Charles Voysey.^[6]
• 1910 – Jubilee Hall Cinema operating in Assembly Rooms.
• 1911 – 9 November: Twerton and parts of Charlcombe and Weston are incorporated within the city boundary under terms of the Local Government Act 1888.
• 1915
  • T. R. Hayes, furnishers, established.
  • December: Robert Atkinson (architect) is commissioned to produce a post-war plan for the city.
• 1916
  • Bath War Hospital set up at Combe Park.
  • Holburne Museum moves to the former Sydney Hotel.
• 1920 – Bath Tramways Motor Company set up to operate motor buses.
• 1923
  • Roman hot plunge baths excavated.
  • Kingston Baths demolished.
• 1925
  • Bath Corporation Act includes conservation powers.
  • Lansdown Water Tower built.
• 1927
  • 16 May: New Post Office and Telephone Exchange opens in Northgate Street.
  • 3 November: City war memorial dedicated.
• 1929
  • 20 June: Cleveland Bridge, having been acquired in 1925 by Bath Corporation and rebuilt, is freed of toll.^[19]
  • July: Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady & St Alphege completed in Oldfield Park to the design of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.
• 1931 – October: Assembly Rooms purchased by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings with funds provided by Ernest Cook and transferred to the National Trust for restoration and preservation.
• 1932
  • Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution moves to premises in Queen Square.
  • 11 December: Royal United Hospital opens on the Combe Park site^[65] and its former premises are taken over by Bath Technical College.
• 1934 – Bath Preservation Trust founded.
• 1936–1941 – Haile Selassie, deposed Emperor of Ethiopia, spends most of his exile in Bath.
• 1936 – North Parade Bridge rebuilt in stone-faced reinforced concrete.
• 1937
  • Bath Corporation Act includes additional conservation powers.
  • A school crossing patrol ("lollipop lady") is appointed, one of the earliest in the UK.
• 1938
  • 15 October: Assembly Rooms reopened after restoration.
  • Kilowatt House on Claverton Down, a unique example of modernist architecture in the city, is completed to the design of Mollie Taylor as a residence for electrical engineer Anthony Greenhill.^[6]
• 1939
  • 6 May: The Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company, operator of the Bath tramways, converts the last remaining routes to motor bus operation.
  • 3 September: On the outbreak of World War II, departments of the Admiralty begin evacuation to Bath.
• 1942 – 25–27 April: Bath Blitz: Three German aerial bombing raids as part of the "Baedeker Blitz" kill 417; among the buildings destroyed or badly damaged are the newly restored Assembly Rooms, St Andrew's church and All Saints Chapel.^[66]

• 1944 – March–November: John Betjeman is assigned to a wartime job working on publicity for the Admiralty at the requisitioned Empire Hotel.^[67]
• 1945 – Town planner Patrick Abercrombie produces A Plan for Bath for post-war reconstruction.^[68]
• 1946 – October: City of Bath Bach Choir founded.
• 1948
  • Bath Assembly (music festival) begins.
  • Queen Square is given to the citizens of Bath in memory of those killed in the Blitz.
• 1951
  • George Perry-Smith opens the innovative Hole in the Wall restaurant.
  • July–August: John Straffen strangles two young girls.
• 1955
  • Bath Terraces Scheme introduced to conserve the city's historic architecture.^[7]
  • Covered reservoir opens on Bathampton Down.
• 1958 – Bus station opened in Manvers Street.
• 1960 – December: Major floods.
• 1961 – Bath Crematorium opens.
• 1963
  • 23 May: Assembly Rooms reopen after post-war reconstruction incorporating the Museum of Costume.
  • 10 June: The Beatles play the Pavilion.
• 1965–Easter 1983 – Excavations of Roman Baths under the direction of Barry Cunliffe, including areas beneath the Grand Pump Room and in the sacred spring.
• 1965 – Town planner Colin Buchanan publishes Bath: a planning and transport study.^[69]
• 1966
  • 7 March: Bath Green Park railway station and Somerset and Dorset Railway close with effect from this date.
  • November: University of Bath chartered, work having started on its Claverton Down site in 1964.
  • Churchill Bridge replaces Old Bridge over the Avon.^[15]
  • Electricity generating station ceases operation.^[15]
• 1969–1972 – Original Southgate Shopping Centre built to the design of Owen Luder.
• 1969 – J. B. Bowler, engineer and carbonated drink manufacturer, ceases business.
• 1970
  • 16 May: Reopening of Widcombe bottom lock as part of the restoration of the Kennet and Avon Canal.^[48]
  • June: Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music held.
  • 20 June: No. 1 Royal Crescent opened to the public as an historic house museum by Bath Preservation Trust after a 2-year restoration.
  • 23–29 September: Adam Fergusson's essay criticising inappropriate development, "The Sack of Bath", is published in The Times newspaper by the editor William Rees-Mogg;^[7] it is subsequently expanded into a book with photographs by Snowdon and verses by John Betjeman.^[70]
• 1971
  • 25 April: Population: 84,670.^[71]
  • New semicircular Pulteney Weir in the Avon designed by Neville Conder is completed.^[7]
  • Bath gasworks ceases production.
• 1973 – 30 March: Beaufort Hotel (later Hilton Bath City Hotel) opens in Walcot Street.
• 1974
  • 1 April: Bath becomes part of Avon non-metropolitan county under terms of the Local Government Act 1972.
  • 9 December: Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in The Corridor.^[72]
• 1975
  • Bath College of Higher Education established.
  • Hermann Miller furniture factory built by Farrell/Grimshaw Partnership.^[6]
• 1978 – Spa baths closed due to contamination.^[7]
• 1979
  • 27 April: Bath Postal Museum opens in Great Pulteney Street.
  • Roper Rhodes bathroom accessories business launched.^[73]
• 1981 – Bath Fringe Festival and Bath Half Marathon begin.
• 1986
  • 26 July: Major fire at The Colonnades, Bath Street.
  • Bristol and Bath Railway Path laid out.
• 1987
  • 22 May: GWR FM Bath launches as an independent local radio station.
  • December: City of Bath inscribed as a World Heritage Site.^[7]
• 1989 – 11 January: Closure of Stothert & Pitt is announced.
• 1991
  • 21 April: Population: 78,689.^[71]
  • Summer: Major fire at Prior Park.
• 1993
  • April: Museum of East Asian Art opens.
  • May: Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution relaunched at its Queen Square premises; new public library opened in the Podium.
• 1995 – Bath Literature Festival begins.
• 1996 – 1 April: City becomes part of the Bath and North East Somerset non-metropolitan district. Charter Trustees of the City of Bath established.
• 1997 – Ustinov Studio (theatre) built.
• 1999 – 15 November: Bath FM launches as an independent local radio station, broadcasting until 24 March 2010.

• 2000 – New Wessex Water headquarters on Claverton Down built to the design of Bennetts Associates.^[6]
• 2001 – April: city population recorded by the census is 83,992.^[74]
• 2002 – Bath Times newspaper begins publication as a free weekly; it ceases publication by 2007.^[25]
• 2005
  • August: Bath Spa University gains full university status.
  • October: The Egg opens.
• 2006 – 7 August: Thermae Bath Spa facility opens.
• 2007
  • September: Bath Festival of Children's Literature begins.^[75]
  • October: Bath Chronicle changes from daily to weekly publication.
• 2008 – Beau Street Hoard found.
• 2009 – Bath bus station and SouthGate shopping centre open.
• 2011
  • April: city population recorded by the census is 88,859.^[76]
  • October: Occupy Bath begins.
  • Construction of Bath Western Riverside residential development on former Stothert & Pitt crane factory site begins.
• 2015
  • 9 February: A child and three adults are killed and four others seriously injured when a poorly maintained tipper truck runs away down Lansdown Lane into Weston.^[77]
  • April: City of Bath College renamed Bath College.
• 2021 – March: Clean Air Zone introduced in central Bath.^[78]

• c.953 – Ælfheah of Canterbury, archbishop (d. 1012)
• c.1080 – Adelard of Bath, natural philosopher (d. c.1152)
• 1704 – John Wood, the elder, architect (d. 1754)
• 1707 – Benjamin Robins, military engineer (d. 1751)
• 1728 – 25 February: John Wood, the younger, architect (d. 1782)
• 1732 – David Hartley, the younger, statesman and inventor (d. 1813)
• c.1738 – John Palmer, architect (d. 1817)
• 1742 – John Palmer, postal innovator and theatre owner (d. 1818)
• 1744 – 31 May: Richard Lovell Edgeworth, politician, writer and inventor (d. 1817)
• 1751 – Honora Sneyd, educationalist (d. 1780)
• 1754 – September: Elizabeth Ann Linley, soprano (d. 1792)
• 1771 – Frances Brett Hodgkinson, actress in the United States (d. 1803)
• 1773 – 14 January: William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst, diplomat and Governor-General of India (d. 1857)
• 1780
  • 3 June: William Hone, libertarian writer, satirist and bookseller (d. 1842)
  • Approximate date: Daniel Terry, actor and playwright (d. 1829)
• 1790 – 19 December: William Parry, Arctic explorer (d. 1855)
• 1794
  • 9 September: William Lonsdale, geologist (d. 1871)
  • James Dredge, the elder, civil engineer and brewer (d. 1863)
• 1796 – John Pinch, the younger, architect (d. 1849)
• 1807 – Robert Montgomery, poet (d. 1855)
• 1808 – 15 July: Henry Cole, civil servant and inventor (d. 1882)
• 1810 – 2 April: Edward Vansittart Neale, Christian socialist (d. 1892)
• 1816 – 17 March: Abraham Marchant, Mormon leader (d. 1881)
• 1820 – 22 June: Charles Lowder, Anglo-Catholic priest (d. 1880)
• 1835 – 2 April: William Eden Nesfield, domestic revival architect (d. 1888)
• 1840 – 29 July: James Dredge, the younger, civil engineering journalist (d. 1906)
• 1846 – 26 October: C. P. Scott, newspaper editor (d. 1932)
• 1872 – Edith Garrud, née Williams, pioneer martial artist and suffragist (died 1971)
• 1880 – 28 October: Thomas Ley, politician in Australia and murderer (d. 1947)
• 1881 – 7 July: Sidney Horstmann, engineer and businessman (d. 1962)
• 1888 – 15 June: Martin D'Arcy, Catholic intellectual (d. 1976)
• 1896 – 7 January: Arnold Ridley, playwright and actor (d. 1984)
• 1898 – 17 June: Harry Patch, supercentenarian and last surviving combat soldier of World War I (d. 2009)
• 1901 – 29 September: Caryll Houselander, Catholic lay mystic (d. 1954)
• 1903 – 17 October: G. E. Trevelyan, novelist (d. 1941)
• 1908 – 27 March: Semprini, conductor (d. 1990)
• 1935 – 24 March: Mary Berry, food writer and presenter
• 1943 – 3 April: Jonathan Lynn, stage and screen director, producer, writer and actor
• 1945 – 17 December: Jacqueline Wilson, née Aitken, children's fiction writer
• 1947 – 4 October: Ann Widdecombe, politician
• 1964
  • 24 February: Bill Bailey, comedian and musician
  • John Douglas Thompson, actor in the United States
• 1973
  • 11 April: Kris Marshall, actor
  • 14 May: Indira Varma, actress
• 1974 – 18 January: Princess Claire of Belgium, née Coombs, princess consort

• History of Bath, Somerset
• Timeline of Somerset history
• Timelines of other cities in South West England: Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth

Published in 18th century

• New Bath Guide, or, Useful Pocket-Companion. Bath: Printed by C. Pope, for W. Taylor. c. 1765.
  • New Bath Guide, or, Useful Pocket-Companion (New ed.). Bath: Printed by R. Cruttwell for W. Taylor. 1789. hdl:2027/hvd.hxjnl3.
• Christopher Anstey (1766). New Bath Guide: or, Memoirs of the Blunderhead Family (3rd ed.). London: J. Dodsley. OL 16314966M.
• Daniel Defoe; Samuel Richardson (1778). "Bath". A Tour Through the Island of Great Britain (8th ed.). London: J.F. and C. Rivington.
• Philip Thicknesse (1778). New Prose Bath Guide, for the Year 1778. London: Printed for the author. OL 23412268M.
• John Collinson (1791). "Bath". History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset. Vol. 1. Bath: Printed by R. Cruttwell.
• New Bath Directory, for the Year, 1792. Bath: W. Gye. 1792.
• Archibald Robertson (1792). "Modern Bath". Topographical Survey of the Great Road from London to Bath and Bristol. London. OCLC 1633468.

Published in 19th century

1800s-1840s

• Richard Warner (1801). History of Bath. Bath. OCLC 5837002.
• John Claude Nattes (1806). Bath, illustrated by a series of views. London: W. Miller and W. Sheppard. OCLC 32851779.
• Joseph Nightingale (1813). "Bath". Beauties of England and Wales. Vol. 13. London: J. Harris.
• Historic and Local New Bath Guide (4th ed.). Bath: C. Duffield. c. 1815.
• Pierce Egan (1819). Walks Through Bath. Bath: Meyler and Son. OL 7233349M.
• James Dugdale (1819). "Somersetshire: Bath". New British Traveller. Vol. 4. London: J. Robins and Co.
• Gye's Bath Directory. Bath: W. Gye. 1819.
• Robert Watt (1824). "Bath". Bibliotheca Britannica. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: A. Constable. hdl:2027/nyp.33433089888832. OCLC 961753.
• David Brewster, ed. (1830). "Bath". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Edinburgh: William Blackwood.
• "Bath". Great Western Railway Guide. London: James Wyld. 1839. OCLC 12922212.
• Thomas Bartlett (1841). "Bath". New Tablet of Memory; or, Chronicle of Remarkable Events. London: Thomas Kelly.
• "Bath". Mogg's Great Western Railway and Windsor, Bath, and Bristol Guide. London: Edward Mogg. 1841.
• And Co, Hunt E. (1848). Hunt & Co.'s Directory & Court Guide for the Cities of Bath, Bristol, & Wells.

1850s-1890s

• "Bath". Bradshaw's Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain and Ireland. London: W.J. Adams. 1860.
• John Earle (1864). A guide to the knowledge of Bath, ancient and modern. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.
• "Bath (Somerset)". Where Shall We Go?: A Guide to the Healthiest and Most Beautiful Watering Places in the British Islands (4th ed.). Edinburgh: A. and C. Black. 1866.
• William Henry Overall, ed. (1870). "Bath, Somerset". Dictionary of Chronology. London: William Tegg. OCLC 2613202.
• Smith, George; Thackeray, William Makepeace (July 1873). "Some Literary Ramblings about Bath: III". Cornhill Magazine. Vol. 28.
• James Tunstall (1876). Rambles about Bath and its neighbourhood (6th ed.). London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co. OCLC 12987741. OL 6919886M.
• John Parker Anderson (1881). "Somersetshire: Bath". Book of British Topography: a Classified Catalogue of the Topographical Works in the Library of the British Museum Relating to Great Britain and Ireland. London: W. Satchell.
• R. E. M. Peach (1883–1884). Historic houses in Bath, and their associations. Vol. 2. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. OCLC 5463468. OL 7096295M. Archived.
• Concise Guide to Bath. Bath: R.B. Cater. 1885.
• R. E. M. Peach (1888). Bath, Old and New. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Company.
• British Association for the Advancement of Science (1888). J. W. Morris (ed.). Handbook to Bath. Bath: I. Pitman and Sons. OL 19530108M.
• J. G. Douglas Kerr (1898). Popular Guide to the Use of the Bath Waters (12th ed.). Bath Herald. OL 14035086M.
• Bijou Guide to Bath. Bath: Tylee & Co. 1890. OCLC 12987828. OL 19368029M.
• Charles Gross (1897). "Bath". Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.

Published in 20th century

• Emanuel Green (1902). Bibliotheca Somersetensis. Vol. 1: Bath Books. Taunton: Barnicott and Pearce. OCLC 7080200.
• G. K. Fortescue, ed. (1902). "Bath". Subject Index of the Modern Works Added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881–1900. London: The Trustees.
• William Tyte (1903). Bath in the Eighteenth Century. Bath: Chronicle Office.
• Robert Donald, ed. (1908). "Bath". Municipal Year Book of the United Kingdom for 1908. London: Edward Lloyd. hdl:2027/nyp.33433081995593.
• Bryan Little (1947). The Building of Bath 47-1947: an architectural and social study. London: Collins.
• Walter Ison (1948). The Georgian Buildings of Bath from 1700 to 1830. London: Faber.
• Benjamin Boyce (1967). The benevolent man: a life of Ralph Allen of Bath. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• "Bath in the Eighteenth Century". Apollo. London. November 1973.
• Peter Coard (1973). Vanishing Bath: buildings threatened and destroyed (3rd ed.). Bath: Kingsmead Press. ISBN 0-901571-67-9.
• Adam Fergusson (1973). The Sack of Bath: a record and an indictment. Salisbury: Compton Russell. ISBN 978-0-85955-002-4.
  • Adam Fergusson; Tim Mowl (1989). The Sack of Bath and after. Salisbury: Compton Russell. ISBN 0-85955-161-X.
• Charles Robertson (1975). Bath: an architectural guide. London: Faber. ISBN 0-571-10750-8.
• Larry R. Ford (1978). "Continuity and Change in Historic Cities: Bath, Chester, and Norwich". Geographical Review. 68 (3): 253–273. Bibcode:1978GeoRv..68..253F. doi:10.2307/215046. JSTOR 215046.
• Bryan Little (1980). Bath Portrait: the story of Bath, its life and its buildings (4th ed.). Bristol: Burleigh Press. ISBN 0-902780-06-9.
• R. S. Neale (1981). Bath 1680-1850: a social history. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. ISBN 978-0-7100-0639-4.
• Christopher Pound (1981). Genius of Bath: the city and its landscape. Bath: Millstream. ISBN 978-0-948975-01-1.
• Barry Cunliffe; Peter Davenport, eds. (1985). The Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath. Monograph 7. Vol. 1: The site. Oxford University Committee for Archaeology. ISBN 0-947816-07-0.
• Barry Cunliffe (1986). The City of Bath. Gloucester: Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-86299-297-4.
• Tim Mowl; Brian Earnshaw (1988). John Wood: architect of obsession. Bath: Millstream Books. ISBN 978-0-948975-13-4.
• Peter Davenport, ed. (1989). Archaeology in Bath 1976–1985. Monograph 28. Oxford University Committee for Archaeology. ISBN 0-947816-28-3.
• G. A. Kellaway, ed. (1991). Hot Springs of Bath. Bath City Council. ISBN 978-0-901303-25-7.
• Peter Davenport (1999). Archaeology in Bath: excavations 1984–1989. BAR British series 284. Oxford: Archaeopress. ISBN 1-84171-007-5.
• Peter Borsay (2000). Image of Georgian Bath, 1700–2000. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-820265-2.
• Barry Cunliffe (2000). Roman Bath Discovered (3rd ed.). Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1902-1.

Published in 21st century

• Peter Davenport (2002). Medieval Bath uncovered. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1965-X.
• Michael Forsyth (2003). Bath. Pevsner Architectural Guides. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10177-5.
• John Wroughton (2004). Stuart Bath: Life in the forgotten city, 1603–1714. Bath: Lansdown Press. ISBN 0-9520249-5-0.
• Peter Borsay (2006). "Myth, Memory, and Place: Monmouth and Bath 1750–1900". Journal of Social History. 39 (3): 867–889. doi:10.1353/jsh.2006.0001. JSTOR 3790298. S2CID 144152506.
• John Wroughton (2006). Tudor Bath: Life and strife in the little city, 1485–1603. Bath: Lansdown Press. ISBN 0-9520249-6-9.
• Peter Wallis, ed. (2008). Innovation and discovery: Bath and the rise of science. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution; William Herschel Society. ISBN 978-0-948975-82-0.
• Cathryn Spence (2010). Bath – City on Show. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-5674-4.
• Dan Brown & Cathryn Spence (2012). Bath in the Blitz: Then & Now in colour. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-6639-2.
• Roger Rolls (2012). Douched and Doctored: thermal springs, spa doctors and rheumatic diseases. London Publishing Partnership. ISBN 978-1-907994-09-8.
• Cathryn Spence (2012). Water, History & Style – Bath: World Heritage Site. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-8814-1.
• Mike Jenner (2013). The Classical Buildings of Bath. Bristol: Redcliffe. ISBN 978-1-908326-03-4.

• "Somerset", Historical Directories, UK: University of Leicester. Includes Bath directories, various dates.
• "Libraries and Archives: Local studies". Bath & North East Somerset Council.
• List of Mayors of Bath, 1230-

51°23′N 2°22′W / 51.38°N 2.36°W / 51.38; -2.36

Wansdyke (from Woden's Dyke) is a series of early medieval defensive linear earthworks in the West Country of England, consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the ditch spoil, with the ditching facing north.

There are two main parts: an eastern dyke which runs between Savernake Forest, West Woods and Morgan's Hill in Wiltshire, and a western dyke which runs from Monkton Combe to the ancient hill fort of Maes Knoll in historic Somerset. Between these two dykes there is a middle section formed by the remains of the London-to-Bath Roman road. There is also some evidence in charters that it extended west from Maes Knoll to the coast of the Severn Estuary but this is uncertain. It may possibly define a post-Roman boundary.

Wansdyke consists of two sections, 14 and 19 kilometres (8.7 and 11.8 mi) long with some gaps in between. East Wansdyke is an impressive linear earthwork, consisting of a ditch and bank running approximately east–west, between Savernake Forest and Morgan's Hill. West Wansdyke is also a linear earthwork, running from Monkton Combe south of Bath to Maes Knoll south of Bristol, but less substantial than its eastern counterpart. The middle section, 22 kilometres (14 miles) long, is sometimes referred to as 'Mid Wansdyke', but is formed by the remains of the London to Bath Roman road. It used to be thought that these sections were all part of one continuous undertaking, especially during the Middle Ages when the pagan name Wansdyke was applied to all three parts. However, this is not now considered to be certain.

Among the largest defensive earthworks in the United Kingdom, Wansdyke may be compared to both Offa's Dyke (later, and forming a Mercian border with Wales) and Hadrian's Wall (earlier, and forming a border between Britannia and Caledonia). Nennius, an 8th-century Welsh monk who had access to older chronicles since lost, describes these defences and their purpose, and links them to the legends of King Arthur.^[1]

The earthwork is named after their god Woden (Odin), possibly indicating that the incoming Anglo-Saxons had no information about the origins of a structure that was there when they arrived, and which was of no significance to locals at that time.^[2] Its name occurs in charters of the 9th and 10th century AD. Its relationship to the expansion of the West Saxons was considered in 1964 by J.N.L. Myres, who maintained that Wansdyke was constructed by some sub-Roman authority.^[3] Fowler speculates that it was a fortification intended for use against invading Saxons in the 490s, and abandoned when the news of British victory at Mons Badonicus made it redundant.^[4] The name 'Woden's Dyke' eventually became Wansdyke.

East Wansdyke in Wiltshire, on the south of the Marlborough Downs, has been less disturbed by later agriculture and building, and is more clearly traceable on the ground than the western part. In places the bank is up to 4 m (13 ft) high and the ditch as much as 2.5 m (8.2 ft) deep. Since at least the tenth century, there have been gaps, "gates", in the work. The ditch is on the north side, so Wansdyke may have been intended by the Romano-Britons as a defence against West Saxons encroaching from the upper Thames Valley westward into what is now the West Country. Fowler suggests that its plan is consistent with those of Roman border fortifications such as Hadrian's Wall: not just a military defence but intended to control locals and travellers along the Wessex Ridgeway.^[5] He suggests further that the works were never finished, abandoned in the face of a political change which removed their rationale.^[4]

Lieut.-General Augustus Pitt Rivers carried out excavations at the Wansdyke in Wiltshire in the late 19th century, considering it the remains of a great war in which the south-west was being defended.^[6] In 1958, Fox and Fox attributed its construction to the pagan Saxons, probably in the late sixth century.^[7]

Although the antiquarians like John Collinson^[8] considered West Wansdyke to stretch from Bathampton Down south east of Bath, to the west of Maes Knoll,^[9] a review in 1960 considered that there was no evidence of its existence to the west of Maes Knoll.^[7] Keith Gardner refuted this with newly discovered documentary evidence.^[10] In 2007 a series of sections were dug across the earthwork which showed that it had existed where there are no longer visible surface remains.^[11] It was shown that the earthwork had a consistent design, with stone or timber revetment. There was little dating evidence but it was consistent with either a late Roman or post-Roman date. A paper in "The Last of the Britons" conference in 2007 suggests that the West Wansdyke continues from Maes Knoll to the hill forts above the Avon Gorge and controls the crossings of the river at Saltford and Bristol as well as at Bath.^[12]

As there is little archaeological evidence to date the whole section, it may have marked a division between British Celtic kingdoms or have been a boundary with the Saxons. The evidence for its western extension is earthworks along the north side of Dundry Hill, its mention in a charter and a road name.^[13]

The area became the border between the Romano-British Celts and the West Saxons following the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD.^[14] According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Saxon Cenwalh achieved a breakthrough against the Britons, with victories at Bradford on Avon (in the Avon Gap in the Wansdyke) in 652 AD,^[15] and further south at the Battle of Peonnum (at Penselwood) in 658 AD,^[16] followed by an advance west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett.^[17] It is however significant to note that the names of the early Wessex kings appear to have a Brythonic (British) rather than Germanic (Saxon) etymology.^[18]

A 1,330-yard (1,220 m) section of Wansdyke in Odd Down, which has been designated as an Ancient monument,^[19] appears on the Heritage at Risk Register as being in unsatisfactory condition and vulnerable due to gardening.^[20]

The Western Wansdyke gave its name to the former Wansdyke district of the county of Avon, and also to the Wansdyke constituency.

• Maes Knoll
• Bathampton Down
• Silesian Walls

• Fowler, Peter (2001). "Wansdyke in the Woods: An unfinished Roman military earthwork for a non-event". In Ellis, Peter (ed.). Roman Wiltshire and After: Papers in Honour of Ken Annable. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. ISBN 978-0-947723-08-8. Retrieved 12 May 2023.

• Wansdyke Project 21 – A project to preserve Wansdyke (the earthwork), last updated 2008
• Wansdyke – Devizes Heritage website, archived in 2010

Combe Down
Holy Trinity Church
Combe Down Location within Somerset
Population	5,419 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	ST763625
Unitary authority	Bath and North East Somerset
Ceremonial county	Somerset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BATH
Postcode district	BA2
Dialling code	01225
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Avon
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Bath
List of places UK England Somerset 51°21′40″N 2°20′31″W / 51.361°N 2.342°W / 51.361; -2.342

Combe Down is a village on the outskirts of Bath, England, in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority area, within the ceremonial county of Somerset.

Combe Down village consists predominantly of 18th- and 19th-century Bath stone-built villas, terraces and workers' cottages; the post World War II Foxhill estate of former and present council housing; a range of Georgian, Victorian and 20th-century properties along both sides of North Road and Bradford Road; and the 21st-century Mulberry Park development on the site of former Ministry of Defence offices.

Combe Down sits on a ridge above Bath, approximately 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the south of the city centre. The village is adjoined to the north by large areas of natural woodland (Fairy Wood, Long Wood, Klondyke Copse and Rainbow Wood) with public footpaths offering views overlooking the city. Parts of these woods are owned and managed by Bath & Northeast Somerset Council, but the majority are owned and managed by the National Trust; the Bath Skyline trail runs north of the woods.^[2] To the south of the village are views of the Midford Valley.

"Combe" or "coombe" is a word meaning a steep-sided valley derived from Old English "cumb" and possibly from the same Brythonic source as the Welsh cwm. "Down" comes from the Old English "dūn" or "dūne", shortened from adūne ‘downward’, from the phrase of dūne ‘off the hill’.^[3]

Formerly part of the parish of Monkton Combe, Combe Down was incorporated into the city of Bath in the 1950s.^[4]

There have been a number of boundary changes and local government changes affecting Combe Down.

• Before 1854: part of the ecclesiastical parish of Monkton Combe in the diocese of Bath and Wells and the civil hundred of Bath Forum in Somerset
• From 1854: part of the ecclesiastical parish of Combe Down in the diocese of Bath and Wells^[5] and the civil hundred of Bath Forum in Somerset
• Following the Public Health Act 1875: part of the civil hundred of Bath Forum in Somerset and Bath Rural Sanitary District
• Following the Local Government Act 1894: part of the civil parish of Monkton Combe in Bath Rural District Council in Somerset
• Following the Local Government Act 1933: part of the civil parish of Monkton Combe in Bathavon Rural District Council in Somerset
• Following the Local Government Commission for England (1958–1967): from 1967 part of the county borough of Bath
• Following the Local Government Act 1972 from 1974: part of the district of Bath in the county of Avon
• Following the Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995: from 1996 part of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset.

Combe Down has many local amenities including schools, churches, shops, local societies and pubs. It has two allotment sites: 64 plots on a privately owned site at Church Road, established in 1895, and ten plots at Foxhill owned by the parish council.

The local state primary school is Combe Down CEVC (Church of England Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, housed partly in a log cabin imported from Finland.^[6] The nearest state secondary school (with sixth form) is Ralph Allen School. The independent Monkton Combe School is in the nearby village of Monkton Combe while its prep school, pre-prep and nursery are all in Combe Down village. Prior Park College, an independent Catholic secondary school, is adjacent to the village.

The centre of the village has a range of shops and small businesses. The post office closed in 2006 despite public opposition and the nearest post office branch is now inside a grocery store in a row of shops on the Bradford Road.

There is an Anglican church (Holy Trinity^[7]) and a non-conformist chapel (Union Chapel^[8]). A Roman Catholic church (Saint Peter and Saint Paul) is on the edge of the village, adjacent to the Foxhill estate.

Combe Down has two rugby union clubs and a cricket club, a children's nursery, a doctors' surgery and a dentist as well as an active Cub and Scout Group (10th Bath) with its own Scouts' Hut. There are several societies, including an active local history group (the Combe Down Heritage Society), a branch of the Women's Institute and two art groups.

There is a private hospital, Bath Clinic (owned by Circle Health Group) on Claverton Down Road, based at Longwood House, the former home of the Mallet family of Mallet Antiques. Margaret Mary Mallett (1882–1959), who lived at Longwood House, and her daughters Margaret Elizabeth Mallett (1905–1991) and Barbara Penelope Mallett Lock (1896–1978) donated 347 acres (140 ha) of land on Combe Down and Claverton Down including Rainbow Wood farm, Klondyke Copse, Fairy Wood and Bushey Norwood to the National Trust.^[9] Opposite the hospital is a 4-star hotel and health club, Combe Grove Manor, with 69 acres (28 ha) of gardens and woodland.^[10]

A public open space (Firs Field) incorporates the village war memorial and a play area with children's play equipment. Three parcels of land make up the Firs Field open space, two of which are under the control of the local Council. The deeds state that the Firs Field is intended for the recreation of the residents of Combe Down in perpetuity.^[11] Firs Field was restored to meadowland status following the successful completion of the stone mine stabilisation works in 2010. A residents' group (The Friends of Firs Field) exists to ensure the appropriate representation of local residents' interests with regard to the management of the field. In 2015 Firs Field was granted "commemorative" status and designated an official Fields in Trust "Centenary Field".^[12]

In July 2014,^[13] the Ralph Allen CornerStone was opened. It is run by a charity, the Combe Down Stone Legacy Trust, as a sustainable building and educational centre. The Combe Down Heritage Society has museum-standard secure archiving space in the basement where it catalogues and stores unique local heritage material, and which can be accessed by researchers.^[14]

There are daily bus services to the village from Bath city centre. The privately owned Bath 'circular tour' bus passes the outskirts of the village and down Ralph Allen Drive on its route to the city centre. The Bath Circular bus passes through Combe Down and caters for students travelling to the University of Bath and Bath Spa University.

It is believed^[who?] that a Roman villa was situated on the southern slopes of the village somewhere below Belmont Road,^[15] the site of which was discovered in the 1850s.^[16] An inscription on a stone recovered from the area reads "PRO SALVTE IMP CES M AVR ANTONINI PII FELICIS INVICTI AVG NAEVIVS AVG LIB ADIVT PROC PRINCIPIA RVINA OPRESS A SOLO RESTITVIT". This can be translated as: "For the health of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus, Naevius the imperial freedman, helped to restore from its foundations the procurator's headquarters which had broken down in ruins." It is thought to date from AD 212–222.^[17] Many finds from the site were taken to the Somerset County Museum at Taunton.

John Leland, the 16th century antiquarian and traveller, noted some stone mining activity in Combe Down as he passed by.

By 1700, small open stone quarries were operating on Combe Down. Most of the land and the quarries were purchased by Ralph Allen in 1726 but there was as yet little habitation.^[18]

In 1791, John Collinson describes Combe Down as still undeveloped:

On the summit of Combedown a mile northward from the church [mc], among many immense quarries of fine free stone, are large groves of firs, planted by the late Ralph Allen, esq; for the laudable purpose of ornamenting this (at that time rough and barren) hill. Among these groves is a neat range of buildings belonging to this parish. It consists of eleven houses [De Montalt Place], built of wrought stone, raised on the spot ; each of which has a small garden in front. These were originally built for the workmen employed in the quarries, but are now chiefly let to invalids from Bath who retire hither for the sake of a very fine air-, (probably rendered more salubrious by the Plantation of firs) from which many have received essential benefit. The surrounding beautiful and extensive prospects ; the wild, but pleasing irregularities of the surface and scenery, diversified with immense quarries, fine open cultivated fields, and extensive plantations of firs...".^[19]

From their 1924 history of Combe Down, D. Lee Pitcairn and Rev. Alfred Richardson state that:

The houses in Isabella Place were built about 1800, and in 1805 when the De Montalt Mills were founded cottages were erected in Quarry Bottom and Davidge's Bottom to take the place of wooden booths which labourers and workmen had hitherto occupied for the day and in which they had sometimes slept during the week. From this time onwards the place began to develop little by little... In 1829 when the Combe Down quarries were disposed of by Mrs. Cruickshank, building further increased...".^[20]

The population increased from 1,600 in 1841, to 2,372 in 1901,^[21] and was 5,419 in 2011.^[22]

Combe Down village sits above an area of redundant 18th and 19th century stone quarries, many of which were owned and developed by Ralph Allen in the 1720s. These quarries were fully infilled and stabilised during a central government-funded project which took place between 2005 and 2010.^[23] Over 40 quarry sites have been identified on Combe Down.^[24] Only one working quarry (Upper Lawn Quarry) remains on the edge of the village, located off Shaft Road. This supplies high quality Bath stone to the city and across the UK.^[25]

John Leland, the 16th century antiquarian and traveller, wrote in the 1500s that he approached Bath from Midford "...And about a Mile farther I can to a Village and passd over a Ston Bridge where ranne a litle broke there & they caullid Midford-Water..2 good Miles al by Mountayne and Quarre and litle wood in syte..."^[26] which could be a reference to quarrying around Horsecombe Vale, between Midford and Combe Down.

The mines at Combe Down were Oolitic (oolite) limestone mines. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined out, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. The Bath stone used for many of the buildings in Bath – as well as for other important buildings around the United Kingdom including Buckingham Palace – was mined from beneath and around Combe Down. Many of these workings were once owned by the eighteenth century entrepreneur Ralph Allen (1694–1764). ^[27] The mines were closed in the 19th century but building work continued above ground, with some roads and houses eventually resting on only a thin crust – in places between only one and two metres deep – above large underground cavities with inadequate support.^[27]

A five-year central government-funded project began in late 2005 to stabilise and fill the abandoned mine workings. Bath and North East Somerset Council approved the planning application in June 2003 and approximately 760 village properties were included within its boundary.^[27] All mine workings inside the boundary of the planning application were stabilised using foam concrete to satisfy a 100-year design life while ensuring archaeologically important areas and bat habitats were protected. In some hydrologically sensitive areas, "stowing" – an infill with limestone aggregate – was undertaken. Archaeologically important areas were filled with sand and new bat caves and tunnels were created.^[27]

The £154.6 million grant for the works came from the Land Stabilisation Programme which was set up by the government in 1999 to deal with "abandoned non-coal mine workings which are likely to collapse and threaten life and property" and managed by English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency. The total amount included £22.7m which had already been used for emergency stabilisation work before the approval of the main project.^[27] Several public art projects celebrated the completion of the stabilisation works.^[27]

From 1935 to 2011, the Admiralty (later part of the Ministry of Defence) owned a 46 acres (19 ha) site called Foxhill (previously a farm) on the Bradford Road. In 2013, the Curo housing organisation purchased the site where it is developing 700 new homes (151 of those to be social homes) with open spaces and community facilities, to be called Mulberry Park. Foxhill already had nearly 900 homes, and in 2014 Curo wanted to redevelop Queens Drive, Kewstoke Road, local shops and Sedgemoor Road. In 2018, Curo decided not to demolish the Foxhill Estate and instead will improve the existing rented properties on the estate. The development of Mulberry Park continued and is set to complete in 2024, although many properties are already occupied and a school and community centre are in full operation.^[28]

Combe Down Tunnel was opened in 1874 and emerges below the southern slopes of the village. It was once the UK's longest railway tunnel (1,829 yards or 1,672 metres) without intermediate ventilation.^[29] The tunnel now forms part of the £1.8 million Two Tunnels Greenway walking and cycling path which opened on 6 April 2013. At over a mile long, the Combe Down tunnel is the longest cycling tunnel in Britain and features an interactive light and sound installation as well as mobile phone coverage.^[30] Its custodian is Wessex Water.

The Jewish burial ground is a site of historic value on Bradford Road and is one of only fifteen in the country to survive from the Georgian period.^[31] While the burial ground suffered a period of neglect since it ceased to be used in the early 20th century, much remains intact to serve as an important reminder of Bath's historic Jewish community. It dates from 1812, and the last recorded burial was in 1942. The site contains a small building, once thought to be a prayer house (Ohel), but more recent research by the Friends of Bath Jewish Burial Ground.^[32] who manage the site, have shown that it was a cottage used by the caretakers of the burial ground, and not used for religious purposes. English Heritage gave the Burial Ground a Grade II listing in 2006. The site contains two chest tombs and some fifty gravestones, dating from between 1842 and 1921, with both Hebrew and English inscriptions. Funds to restore the cottage, conserve the grave stones, repair the boundary wall, replace the gates and develop interpretation of the site have been obtained from a number of charitable sources and a series of restoration works have been undertaken in the period 2015-2022. The site is opened for public visiting several times a year and private access can be arranged by appointment through the Friends.^[32]

The De Montalt paper mill stood on the southern slopes of the village during the 19th century; it gradually fell into picturesque ruin until it was converted into housing during 2007. The mill was built on land owned by Thomas Ralph Maude, Viscount Hawarden (1767–1807) in the early 19th century and was owned by John Bally (1773 – 1854), (a bookseller in Milsom Street in Bath), William Allan or Ellan (1781 – 1832) and George Steart (d.1837), all trading as paper-makers under the name of John Bally & Co.^[33]

A print dating from the 1850s shows the mill which then possessed the largest water wheel in England, measuring 56 feet (17 m) in diameter. It has subsequently been discovered that most of the coloured papers used by J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) for a good number of his approximately twenty thousand drawings and watercolours were made at De Montalt Mill.^[33] The collection is now housed in The Turner Bequest at the Tate Gallery, London. The paper was of a very high standard and the watercolour boards were made without being pasted together which ensured they remained free from mildew; however, despite the early success of the business, it failed in 1834 .^[34] The premises were then sold to wholesale stationer William Jennings Allen (1807 – 1839).^[34] After his death it was sold to Charles Middleton Kernot (1807 – 1876) to be used as a ‘manufactory of patent interlocked and dovetailed felted cloths’.^[34] By 1859 it was used for a laundry run by the Bath Washing Company Ltd. and later used for a variety of purposes including market gardening (1871); and cabinet making from (1875) until the lease expired in 1905 and it closed.^[35] In the 20th century cows and pigs were being reared on the site.^[36]

Various parts of the mill have Grade II listed building status, including the southern range which consisted of the apprentice shops and stores,^[37] the main east block which was the printing works where notes were printed for the Bank of England – later converted to cabinet manufacturing^[38] and the chimney.^[39] De Montalt, an Italianate villa set in the grounds is also grade II listed.^[40]

The mill and its associated buildings were converted to residential use during 2007, with the main mill building being converted into four apartments.^[41] Elements of the conversion featured in the Channel 4 television programme Grand Designs.^[42]

A local woodland wild flower is the Bath Asparagus, also known as the Spiked Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum). The flowers appear in June after the leaves die; the leaves resemble bluebell leaves but are a softer green and not as glossy. The flowering spike is up to one metre high.^[43] At the unopened stage the flowers used to be gathered in small quantities as a fresh vegetable by local people; it was also occasionally sold in local markets, but picking the flowers today is not encouraged as wild asparagus is becoming rare. According to research carried out by Avon Wildlife Trust the plant is found throughout Europe but has only a limited UK distribution. It is possible that the flower was first brought to the Bath area as seeds carried on the wheels and hooves of Roman vehicles and animals.

Allium ursinum, also known as Ramsons or wild garlic, is abundant in the National Trust woodlands adjacent to Combe Down during the spring.2015.

There are 79 Grade I and Grade II listed buildings – a building officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance – on Combe Down, the earliest dating from 1729 and the latest from 1909. They are from three main phases of building activity.

The first phase was c. 1700–1742. These are the buildings at Combe Grove, and the buildings commissioned by Ralph Allen at Prior Park and at De Montalt Place on Church Road.

The second phase was c. 1800 – c. 1820. These are mainly buildings along Combe Road, Summer Lane, and Church Road at Isabella Place and from Claremont House to Hopecote Lodge, which were built soon after the death of Cornwallis Maude, 1st Viscount Hawarden (1729–1803) who died with substantial debts^[44] which led to the break-up of the De Montalt estate in Bath,^[45] as speculators in property and mining took the opportunity.

The third phase was Victorian, from c. 1830 to 1860. Combe Down had become known as a place for convalescence and "good air" (away from polluted cities) and, being only about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Bath, was perfect for this as well as for middle class professionals. These are mainly buildings along North Road, The Avenue, Belmont Road and Church Road east of Hopecote Lodge.

A list of these listed buildings with links to Images of England – an online photographic record of all the listed buildings in England at the date of February 2001 – is given below.

Henry John Patch (better known as Harry Patch, the "Last Fighting Tommy") was born in Combe Down in 1898; both his father and grandfather were Combe Down stonemasons. His family home is still in existence in Gladstone Road. Patch was briefly the third oldest man in the world^[120] and the last trench veteran of World War I, a status which earned him international fame during the early 21st century. He died in July 2009, aged 111, by which time he was the last soldier to have fought in the trenches during World War One as well as the second last surviving British war veteran and one of four surviving soldiers from the conflict worldwide. His memoir The Last Fighting Tommy (published in 2007) records his Combe Down childhood in some detail. His funeral cortège passed through Combe Down village on its way to his burial in Monkton Combe churchyard.

Herbert Lambert (1881–1936), society portrait photographer and harpsichord and clavichord maker.^[121]

Frederic Weatherly (1848–1929), the composer of the song Danny Boy, lived at Grosvenor Lodge (now renamed St Christopher )^[86] in Belmont Road during the second decade of the 20th century.^[122]

Charlotte McDonnell, once the most subscribed-to YouTube vlogger in the United Kingdom, grew up in Combe Down before moving to London in 2010.^[123]

Eliza Margaret Jane Humphreys (1850–1938), a novelist using the pen name 'Rita', lived in Richardson Avenue (now The Firs) in the 1920s before moving to the house called West Brow.^[124]

Rod Adams (born 1945), a former professional footballer who started his career in Foxhill Rangers.^[125]

Media related to Combe Down at Wikimedia Commons

Combe Down

Full name	Combe Down Rugby Club
Union	Somerset RFU
Founded	1896; 129 years ago (1896)
Location	Combe Down, Bath, Somerset, England
Ground(s)	Holly's Corner
Chairman	Jamie Knight
President	Kelvin Cox
Coach(es)	Chris Thompson
Captain(s)	Tom Wheatley
League(s)	Southern Counties South
2021-22	6th

Combe Down Rugby Club is an English Rugby Union Club found in Combe Down, Bath. Founded in 1896 the club currently play home fixtures at Holly's Corner. The club currently has two teams; the 1st XV who play in Southern Counties South (tier 7) following their promotion as champions of Dorset & Wilts 1 North at the end of 2018-19 season, and the 2nd XV play who play in Dorset & Wilts 2 North (tier 9).

No records exist of the circumstances regarding the club's founding, or who the moving spirits were behind its inception, but photographs showing the early teams, together with their playing records show that rugby on Combe Down was adopted with enthusiasm and played with instinctive ability.

The original team in jerseys of chocolate and gold played its first season on the Firs Field. Subsequent years saw the Club, with its colours changed to black and amber, playing on various fields on Combe Down from the Monument field to the water tank. A red letter day in the club's history came in 1957 when a long-held ambition was realised and the club was able to buy the ground at Holly's Corner which it had tenanted since 1922.

As the grounds were changed so were the headquarters and from the one time Church Rooms in Tyning Road they moved to the headquarters on Firs Field and to the King William IV. Finally the club became proud possessors of their own headquarters which were erected on the ground, and on 4 April 1966 the Combe Down R.F.C. Club house was officially opened by Alec Lewis, the old Bath F.C. international.

Combe Down has successfully fielded two senior teams since 1947 and a Third XV was formed in 1968 which has seen inconsistent appearances. There are currently two sides at the club.
Recent achievements saw the 2nd XV win Dorset and Wilts North 2 in 2014/15 and the 1st XV win Dorset and Wilts North 1 in 2015/16. In the same year the club enjoyed a tour to Oldershaw RFC in Wallasey, Liverpool.
Combe Down RFC is a family club with traditional rugby values at its core. Senior teams train on a Tuesday and Thursday evening and new players are always welcome.

John Horton - John played 13 times for England and made over 375 appearances for Bath, captaining the club in the 1979-80 season. He was regarded as being part of the team that changed the style of rugby at Bath, from a forwards game to a more open, running game. John spent several seasons at Combe Down RFC.
Brian Jenkins - Brian played 290 1st Team games for Bath Rugby Club and another 120 for the 2nd XV between 1970-1980. He also played 20 times for Somerset in the County Championship between 1975 and 1979 earning him the Somerset Cap. In his day job, Brian worked for Royal Mail and played for the National Side. Brian played over 100 times for Combe Down, captaining the club in 1982 and has been instrumental off the field in securing the club's future, holding several key positions on the committee (Treasurer 1984, Chairman 2000-2003, President 2004-2006) and is currently the disciplinary officer. Brian's brothers Peter, Alan and David also represented Combe Down and Bath.
Wyn Bailey - with over 1130 appearances for the club Wyn has been an integral part of the history. He was Club Captain in 1974, Honorary Fixture Secretary between 1971-1995, Chairman from 1993-1996 and President from 1998-2001.
Kevin Adams -grew up on the down and played for the colts. He also played for the 3rd, 2nd & 1st teams He went to school at Culverhay and in 1975 played for England U16 Schools. He then joined Avon and Somerset Police where he was selected for England Colts. He represented British Police, Somerset and played at Bath during the 1984/85 seasons before injuries forced an early retirement in 1986.

Jer Burns - father of Freddie and Billy Burns, Jer joined Combe Down in 2014 and has played alongside his other two sons Jack and Sam.
The club has had many players that have played for Bath Rugby over the years including Keith Ridewood, Simon Jones, Kevin Adams, John West, Roger Willcox, John Millman, Kelvin Cox, Bob Gay and Andy Burr. Another two notable players are Combe Downs current front row props Bill Chairman and Joel Lye aka the British bulldogs they currently hold the record for eating 80 portions Lou’s sausage surprise. They also drink at the cross keys. The last member of the notable players is Stuart Flint 2s loosehead who also has a vegetarian Abattoir.

1st team:

• Bath Combination Cup winners (4): 1984-85, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1996-97
• Somerset Senior Cup winners (2): 1987-88, 1990–91
• Western Counties champions: 1990-91
• Dorset & Wilts 2 North champions: 2011-12
• Dorset & Wilts 1 North champions (2): 2015-16, 2018–19
• Bath Combination Vase winners: 2015-16
• Bath Combination Vase winners: 2021-22

2nd team:

• Dorset & Wilts 3 North champions (2): 2011-12, 2014–15

A Colts XV was formed in 1974 but there were many years that this part of the club was missing until a recent rejuvenation with the help of Jerry King, Jamie Knight, and Lee Dyte, all who had sons playing in the U13 team for the 2008/09 season. Charlie Knight, Ed Hall and Sam Dyte all went on to represent the 1st XV in later years.
Current Club coach Dave Cobb and Committee member Giles White formed another U13 team the following season (2009/10) and also enjoyed success in later years by winning the U17 Bristol Combination Cup. They were also runners-up in the U16 Somerset Cup in 2012/13. From that group, James Vecchio and Tom Dabell represented Bath Academy.
Following the success of the junior section, a mini section was formed by Adrian Sprake in 2010, who is now Chairman of the junior section while Steve Cottle now leads the minis.

1. double/story-20062944-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

2. https://web.archive.org/web/20151216122701/http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Combe-RFC-14s-praised-Chris-Robshaw-award/story-26842016-detail/story.html

3. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Combe-celebrate-JD-Lettings-sponsorship-^{[permanent dead link‍]}

4. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-Rugby-150-mercurial-John-Horton-looks/story-28341894-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

5. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/run-teams/story-11334222-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

6. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Combe-Rugby-Club-minis-juniors-ndash-1013/story-15110779-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

7. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Combe-players-reunite-remember-Somerset-Cup/story-18644712-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

8. http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Combe-RFC-pink-Hope-4-Harmonie-Fairford-beaten/story-23622576-detail/story.html^{[permanent dead link‍]}

9. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/combedown/news/rob-lambern-trophy-match-1547263.html

• http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/combedown
• http://www.somersetrfu.co.uk/frontpage.php
• http://www.dorsetandwiltsrfu.com/

Combe Down and Bathampton Down Quarries

Site of Special Scientific Interest
Location within Somerset
Location	Avon
Grid reference	ST761625
Coordinates	51°21′40″N 2°20′41″W / 51.36106°N 2.34465°W / 51.36106; -2.34465
Interest	Biological
Area	15.37 acres (0.0622 km2; 0.02402 sq mi)
Notification	1991 (1991)
Natural England website

Combe Down and Bathampton Down Quarries (grid reference ST761625) make up a 6.22 hectare (15.37 acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Bath and North East Somerset, England, important for its bat population. The disused quarries date from the 17th and 18th centuries and were the source of Bath stone for the city of Bath and elsewhere in the UK. A five-year project to stabilise the quarry workings was largely completed by November 2009.

Combe Down forms a plateau capped by Great Oolite limestones between the valley of the River Avon and Horsecombe Vale. The geology of the region is dominated by rocks of Middle and Early Jurassic ages. The Great Oolite is the uppermost lithology, underlain by the clays of the Fuller's Earth Formation, which in turn is underlain by limestones of the Inferior Oolite and the Midford Sands of the Lias. The Great and Inferior Oolite formations provide effective aquifers (rock in which water can be stored and pass through) for public and private water supplies.^[1]