World Heritage Day celebrations in Bath

Celebrate World Heritage Day in Bath with free walks, talks and activities for all. This year’s World Heritage Day event will take place at the Guildhall on Sunday 21 April, and will focus on Bath’s landscape setting – one of the key reasons why Bath is a World Heritage Site.

The Guildhall’s Ballroom will be buzzing with stalls and activities from 11am to 3pm, with lots to see and do for all the family. Highlights include:

• Handle archaeological objects from the Roman Baths collection and see how the landscape has influenced centuries of life in and around Bath
• Learn about Bath Abbey, which has stood at the heart of the World Heritage Site for over 1,000 years
• Explore past and present views of the city in artworks from the Victoria Art Gallery collection
• Find out how Beckford’s Tower sits within its landscape setting, and have a go at decorating a pebble
• Discover the National Trust’s projects in Bath and make a badge to take home 
• See well-known and unusual views of Bath from the Bath Record Office archives
• Create a landscape collage using a ‘torn paper’ technique 
• Pick up a Bath World Heritage map or download the free app, and head out to explore what makes Bath a World Heritage Site
• Meet representatives from many more of Bath's great museums and heritage organisations

The Mayor of Bath’s Honorary Guides will lead 50-minute guided tours to see Bath’s landscape setting. Leaving from the Guildhall, the tours will run regularly from 11.30am to 2.30pm. They will include a visit to the Abbey’s plant room, normally closed to the public, to see its innovative new heating system, powered by waste water from the hot spring.

There will also be a programme of talks in the Aix-en-Provence Room throughout the day:

• Bathscape – The green setting of the World Heritage Site, 11.15am-12pm 
• Bath Preservation Trust – Purposeful perspectives – views by design, 12.15pm-1pm
• Museum of Bath at Work – How to make a local alphabet, 1.15pm-2pm 

Bath is rare in having two UNESCO World Heritage Site inscriptions: In 1987 the city was made a World Heritage Site due to its hot springs, Roman archaeology, Georgian buildings and natural landscape setting; and in 2021 Bath received a second inscription as one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe.

Professor Barry Gilbertson, Chair of the City of Bath UNESCO World Heritage Site Advisory Board, said: “Bath is a special, beautiful city. Having two World Heritage inscriptions, we are acknowledged as extra special – one of only 22 double-inscribed locations out of the 1,199 World Heritage Sites around the globe. World Heritage Day is an annual opportunity for us to celebrate our UNESCO status and to share, with other heritage organisations from around the city, just some of the important, interesting and valuable projects happening around us.”

To find out more, visit www.bathworldheritage.org.uk.