Initiative Overview
Bath Assembly Rooms
Sponsored by: Royal Oak's 2023 - 2024 Appeal
Goal: $1,000,000
Royal Oak Is Raising $1 Million to Support Britain’s National Trust in Restoring the Grandeur and Elegance of the Bath Assembly Rooms
Project Overview
Royal Oak Is Raising $1 Million to Support Britain’s National Trust in Restoring the Grandeur and Elegance of the Bath Assembly Rooms
Bath is one of the UK’s most loved and visited cities. Turn any corner across this UNESCO city of historical importance and you are surrounded by sites of breathtaking beauty and historical significance, from the Royal Crescent to the Roman Baths.
During the Georgian era, the famous and prestigious Assembly Rooms in the city of Bath were at the heart of fashionable society. Designed by John Wood the Younger, when they were completed in 1771, they were described as “the most noble and elegant of any in the kingdom.”
Bath Assembly Rooms were built for the delight of the polite society that developed during the 18th century, when the ceremonials of rank were broken down, the nobility mixed with the gentry and people passed their time together in agreeable conversation against a backdrop of strolling, dancing, playing cards and taking tea.
It was a place where marriages were made, fortunes won and lost, and society’s stories were shared and debated. Jane Austen, Dickens, Gainsborough, Haydn, Strauss, Sheridan, Linley, Herschel, Liszt, and Wilberforce are just a few of the notable individuals who frequented the Rooms.
The Grade I listed Assembly Rooms have been owned by the National Trust since 1931 and managed by the local authority since 1937. The council’s lease will end in 2023 creating the perfect moment for the National Trust to work with a range of partners to create a new future for this special place and restore the historical integrity of the Assembly Rooms.
The Assembly Rooms will allow contemporary visitors to immerse themselves in an evocation of a Georgian ball and explore histories of the time. The American Declaration of Independence, the First Fleet’s departure to Australia, and the French Revolution would all have been discussed and debated within the walls of the Assembly Rooms.
