I am incredibly grateful that I was able to go on my trip earlier this year. I had so many incredible and uncommon experiences that I might never have gotten to in the past. One of those things was doing the Bath Abbey Tower Tour. I know that a lot of people get bored with cathedrals, but I could spend days wandering ‘round them. And although the towers are inaccessible to the public, I finally made it up one! If you are lucky enough to find yourself in Bath, if you do nothing else, you must do a Bath Abbey Tower Tour.
Bath Abbey is an interesting building. Completed in the mid twelfth century, it has an interesting Reformation story. While most monasteries and abbeys were surrendered to the Crown because… well, it’s what they did to avoid bad things happening… Bath Abbey was not. The people of Bath didn’t feel like just handing the Abbey over, though. They melted down the roof and the rest of the lead, took the windows out, and handed the shell of the Abbey over. Fast forward to Elizabeth I’s reign where she raised funds nationally to have it restored. It was also restored in the nineteenth century with much interior work done. Many of the medieval buildings were almost touching the Abbey, so in the 1820s and 1830s many were demolished to make proper space for the Abbey.
Now, onto the tour itself! The Tower Tour was £8, which I think is very reasonable for the experience that we got. It was nearly an hour, we covered the cathedral from bottom to top and back again, with an entertaining and incredibly well-versed guide. Cathedrals are insanely expensive to maintain and continually restore, and I think these tours are a fantastic way to raise needed funds. Bath is also a beautiful city, and any chance you can get to see it should be taken! The tours happen on the hour every hour between 10am and 4pm during the week, and every half hour on Saturdays. (Do make sure to check ahead to make sure there aren’t closures, though!) If you want more history, you will get that. If you want music, you will also get that. And if you just want stunning views, look no further.
You start by standing right above the west doors of the Abbey. You get a fantastic view of the square, which can be good fun watching people wait hours for the Roman Baths. I loved this bit, because you can see several of the statues lining the front of the Abbey much closer. While there has been some damage, most are in remarkably good condition. I only wish I had known about the ladder when I was doing the tour, I could have scouted upside down angels!
You head further up, and actually get to walk along the roof of the church. It doesn’t sound that spectacular but it gets to be when you realise that you are walking along the body of the church and the floor is several metres below you. There are also some spectacular views when you stop to look out. Everything in medieval Bath is quite close together. On one hand, in means things get hidden when they are behind something taller. On the other hand, it also means that you can see so much more. I also loved getting a closer look at the roof of the chapel, and the details on the spires. The roof itself isn’t that interesting, but all of the carvings around it are something else. Bath stone is specific to the area, it is a type of limestone. I find that it’s yellow colouring gives the carvings a bit more depth, and they are beautiful to see up close.
We then moved up to the bell tower. Bells are omnipresent in a lot of churches but you rarely get to see them up close. I certainly learned the most in this part of the tour! So, it turns out that you can make sound with a bell in two different but very distinct ways. You can ring them, which is what we all of think of. However, you can also strike them. Striking them is just that, a hammer hitting the bell. This may seem like splitting hairs, but it makes quite a difference. You need one person per bell to ring the bells and play whatever tune is set. You only need one person to strike the bells with this handy contraption.
You may ask why it is important one person be able to play the bells. Well, apparently there was an occasion when several of the bellringers had indulged a little too much on Saturday evening and failed to turn up for their ringing shift on Sunday. So, although striking the bell produces a much quieter sound, it guarantees that the bells will still be played.
And now to my favourite part of the tour, the clock tower. Interestingly, the clock belongs to the people of Bath rather than the Abbey. It was light from behind until the late nineteenth century by candles, meaning that there had to be someone there who ensured it stayed lit. There was only one man willing to do the job, so he was luckily able to charge whatever he wanted for the job. There was only one problem, the oil from the lamp spilled and may have started a fire…
This black spot that you can see is the remnant of that fire! An interesting quirk of the position is that you were locked in the small room, in the case of a fire. Sure, it can’t spread but it won’t end well for the person in the room. Thankfully, the fire was quickly put out, but I can only imagine the panic that you would feel.
This photo above is my favourite picture of the tour- such a beautiful shot.
And then we finally climbed the last stairs to very top of the Abbey. Although it is quite windy, as you would expect at the top of any tall building, There are some truly breathtaking views up here. Bath is utterly beautiful. That light Bath stone is used throughout so much of the city, and seeing it all from above is just stunning. There are some little cut outs in the mesh wiring so you can take pictures from lower down, but the pictures from above can’t be beat. If at all possible, I would do it after you have had a chance to wander around Bath- you will be able to spot all of your favourite places!
Have you done the Bath Abbey Tower Tour?
Cheers,
The Historian
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