Hotels near Bath Abbey

Bath Abbey stands about 20 paces from the Roman Baths entrance, so the two pair naturally. The current church was begun in 1499 by Bishop Oliver King, replacing a Norman cathedral that had fallen into ruin, and it is often described as the last great medieval church built in England. The fan vaulting over the nave, restored by George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s, is the feature people photograph. The west front is the odder one: carved stone ladders with angels climbing up and, notably, one climbing down, illustrating the bishop's dream.

Inside, 891 wall memorials make the floor and walls a dense record of Georgian Bath's dead. The Footprint project completed in 2021 relaid the collapsing floor and installed an underfloor heating system powered by the thermal springs next door, which is a neat piece of engineering continuity. Entry is by suggested donation of around GBP 8. The Tower Tour, roughly GBP 12, climbs 212 steps to a walkway directly above the vaulting and out onto the roof.

Pro Tip: Time the Tower Tour for the top of the hour and you will be standing next to the bells when they ring. Tours run roughly hourly and are capped at small groups, so book at the abbey shop as soon as you arrive rather than at the end of your Roman Baths visit.