Bath, Somerset : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Bath. You may be able to find further references to Bath in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Bath city, municipal and parliamentary borough Bartholomew
BATH a city and a district Imperial
BATH and WELLS a diocese Imperial
Bath Forum hundred Bartholomew
BATH-FORUM a hundred Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Bath within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Dorset and Somerset 16
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 2: Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester 8
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire 6
John Wesley 1739: Field-Preaching; "All the World my Parish"; Whitefield; Wales 6
Henry Vincent Feb. 26 to 27: Bath and Frome 6
Henry Vincent Apr. 8 to 13: Bath 6
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 2: The Peak District 5
William Gilpin Bristol to London 5
Henry Vincent Mar. 24 to Apr. 1: Newport and Stroud 5
Henry Vincent Apr. 1 to 7: Aftermath of the "fracas" 5
Charles Wesley 1749: Marriage to Sally Gwynne 4
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Shrewsbury to Bristol 4
Charles Wesley Apr. 3 - Sept. 22, 1741: Bristol and S. Wales again 3
Charles Wesley 1745: London, Bristol and South Wales 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 3
Celia Fiennes Bath via Warminster 3
Henry Vincent Feb. 28 to Mar. 9: Bristol, Cirencester and Stroud 3
Henry Vincent Apr. 29 to May 4: Trowbridge and London 3
Arthur Young 1776 Tour of South Wales and South Midlands 3
Charles Wesley Jan. 3 - Aug. 31, 1737: Devon, and around London 2
Charles Wesley Jan. 2 - Feb. 27, 1743: Bristol and Bath 2
Charles Wesley May 2 - Aug. 31, 1744: Cornwall 2
Charles Wesley Jan. 1- Apr. 27, 1747: Yorkshire, Manchester and Bristol 2
Charles Wesley Nov. 29 - Dec. 6,1753: London and Bristol 2
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 2
Henry Vincent Mar. 16 to 23: Wye valley, Newport and Devizes 2
Henry Vincent Apr. 1: The Devizes Riot 2
John Byng A Tour of Bedfordshire in 1794: May 1
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 1
William Cobbett Nov. 9th to 21st, 1821: Gloucester to Berghclere 1
William Cobbett Aug. 31st Aug to Sept. 4th, 1826: Salisbury to Highworth 1
William Cobbett Sept. 6th to 11th, 1826: Highworth to Malmsbury 1
William Cobbett Sept. 12th to 27th, 1826: Malmsbury to Worcestershire 1
William Cobbett Sept. 29th to Oct. 2nd, 1826: Ryall to Burghclere 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 1 - Nov. 6, 1739: Preaching around Bristol and Bath 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 31, 1743: The Midlands 1
Charles Wesley Jan. 1 - Aug. 31, 1746: Bristol and Cornwall 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 31, 1746: The Midlands and the North-East 1
Charles Wesley May 3 - Dec. 28, 1747: Wales and Ireland 1
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 31, 1748: London, Wales and Ireland 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 1- Dec. 31, 1748: Ireland and central Wales 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 1: London to Winchester 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 3: Worcester, Hereford and Wales 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland 1
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Bristol to Plymouth 1
Robert Gammage Eight months in Sherborne 1
Robert Gammage Hampshire, Lancashire, and final reflections 1
George Head The Peak District 1
John Wesley 1744-5: First Methodist Conference; Pressgangs and Mobs 1
John Wesley 1746-8: Severe Weather; Ireland; Wesley's Protest against Lawlessness 1
John Wesley 1757-9: "I do Indeed Live by Preaching"; Advice to Travelers; French Prisoners 1
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 1
John Wesley 1777-80: On the Isle of Man; City Road Chapel; Wesley Visits Lord George Gordon 1
John Wesley 1785-90: Collects Money for the Poor; Visits House of Lords; Reasons for his Long Life 1
Karl Moritz Chapter 10: Windsor to Oxford 1
Henry Vincent Apr. 15 to 20: Bristol and Newport 1
Arthur Young Sections 5-6: Of the Tenantry of Ireland; Of the Labouring Poor 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Holloway 0 2
Lyncombe 0 2
Widcombe 0 1
Bathwick 0 2
Twerton 2 3
Walcot 1 2
Combe Down 0 2
Hampton and Claverton 0 2
Monkton Combe 0 3
South Stoke 0 2
Bathampton 0 2
Weston 0 2
Claverton 0 3
English Combe 0 3
Charlcombe 0 2
Newton St Loe 0 3
Woolley 0 2
Midford 0 2
Combe Hay 0 2
Limpley Stoke 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Bath. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
AKMANCHESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
AKMANSTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
AQUAE SOLIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BADIZA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BATH John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BATHANCESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BATH AND WELLS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BATHE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BATH FORUM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BATHONIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAERE BADON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAER PALLADUR William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
HAT BATHAN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
THE BATH Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
THE BATHES William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
YR ENNAINT TWYMIN William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Y<SUP>E</SUP> BATH Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.