30 CONTEXT 187 : MARCH 2026 Nestled within an enclosure of gentle rolling hills, at the most southerly point of the Cotswolds, is a remarkable place of worldwide significance, the world heritage site City of Bath. This global significance has been recognised twice, because Bath has two Unesco world heritage site inscriptions. Dual inscriptions are highly unusual: only 22 out of the 1,248 (as of October 2025) world heritage sites globally have been inscribed twice, so it is a rare event that Bath is justly proud of. Bath’s world heritage site story began in 1987 when the City of Bath inscription was achieved, and continued in 2021 with the Great Spa Towns of Europe. Bath also has a third Unesco inscription as part of the Memory of the World register, the documentary heritage equivalent of world heritage sites: the Roman Curse Tablets, kept at the Roman Baths Museum, were added in 2014. Bath’s story as a spa town resort started around 60–70 CE when the Romans founded Aquae Sulis, where they built a spa and temple complex, part of which can be seen today at the Roman Baths Museum, exploiting the natural thermal springs. There is evidence of human activity stretching as far back as 10,000 The relationship between Bath’s hard urban form and soft landscape remains one the key aspects of its value. (Photo: Casper Farrell Photography) The Roman Curse Tablets give Bath a place on the documentary heritage equivalent of world heritage sites. ADRIAN NEILSON Bath: a tale of two world heritage sites The significance of Bath is recognised worldwide, but the city faces pressures relating to housing, transport, biodiversity and climate change – and the divisive issue of its trees. years, and the use of the thermal springs as a spiritual place. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire towards the end of the 5th century CE, the Roman town, including the thermal spa complex, fell into ruin. While the thermal springs continued to be exploited, it was not until the 18th century and the beginning of the Georgian period that Bath was reinvented as
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