WT7 - WALK: Walking With Death

Welcome to ‘walking with death,’ an alternative tour of the city of Bath, produced by the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath. 

During this walk you will encounter buildings, landmarks, people, and places, all of which shine a light on some of the perhaps lesser-known aspects of Bath’s history. 

The City of Bath is associated with its famous Roman Baths and healing waters – and tourism, pleasure, and leisure – a place to see and be seen. Its heyday was the eighteenth century, or the Georgian period, and many of the famous buildings you can still see, such as the Royal Crescent, Pump Rooms, and Assembly Rooms, were built. People visit from all over the world to admire the architecture and enjoy the spa waters to this day. 

But the city has other histories as well, including stories of disease, poverty, murder, suicide, and ghostly sightings.

In this walk we explore some aspects of dying and death in the city, to get a glimpse of how the end of life was experienced by both residents and visitors over the centuries. 

The walk begins at the front of Bath Abbey and is accessible and pavement based. It will last around two hours. It will be guided by Dr Molly Conisbee, visiting research fellow at the Centre for Death and Society, and author of No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality.