Bath Time! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aquae Sulis

The name Aquae Sulis can be translated into English as "the waters of Sulis" - Sulis being the Roman goddess associated with the area's natural thermal springs. The Romans capitalised on this natural phenomena to build an increasingly complex suite of public baths on the site over the 300 years that they controlled England. In addition to the caldarium, or hot bath, whose water was supplied by the thermal springs, the Romans were also able to wallow in a tepidarium (or warm bath) or take a very quick dip in a frigidarium (a cold bath). The site was also a temple to Sulis and Roman bath-goers would throw small tablets into the water carved with their message or plea to the goddess.

After the Romans left England in the 5th century, Bath's Roman baths were gradually built over and redeveloped. However, the hot springs meant that the city has remained a fashionable spa resort. It was particularly popular with the upper classes in the Georgian era and much of the city's famous architecture dates from the period. In the 21st century, people can still visit the city to take a swim in the natural hot water - although not in the Roman baths, the remains of which are now housed in a museum and whose somewhat murky water is best suited to being photographed by tourists.

The incorrect options were all Roman names for other English cities - Deva Victrix was Chester, Verulanium was St. Albans and Durolipons became Cambridge.

Answer: Somerset

Although Bath is the largest city in Somerset (nearby Bristol was declared a county in its own right by King Edward III in 1373), it is not the area's county town - an honour that falls to Taunton instead. The only other city in Somerset is Wells, which is home to a very large cathedral but has a relatively small population.

Ceremonial counties play little role in England's modern system of local government. Instead, a range of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties have county councils with responsibility for providing services to local residents. Although these latter types of county may share a name with the more traditional ceremonial areas, they often do not cover the same geographic area. Although the city of Bath is included in the ceremonial version of Somerset, it is not part of the non-metropolitan county of Somerset. In 1996, Bath instead became part of the Unitary Authority of Bath and North-East Somerset.

Devon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire are three of the four ceremonial English counties that border Somerset (excluding the city of Bristol). The fourth is Dorset.

Answer: Avon

Avon is one of the commonest names for rivers in England. It derives from the Celtic name 'Afon', which literally means 'river'. So an ancient Celt would likely be somewhat confused on visiting the city of Bath to be faced with a large sign noting the presence of the River River. The Avon that flows through Bath rises in Gloucestershire and flows south through Wiltshire and Somerset to Avonmouth, a suburb of Bristol located on the estuary of the River Severn.

The River Avon forms a dramatic centrepiece to Bath's city centre, particularly where it flows over the impressive V-shaped Pulteney weir. Although the weir complements the city's elegant Georgian architecture it was actually built in the early 1970s. Tourists can get scenic shots of the river and weir from the high Grand Parade on the west bank or from the Parade Gardens whose grassy slopes run down to the riverbank. River trips are also available, although thanks to the presence of the weir separate boats are needed for upstream and downstream tours.

The River Severn rises in Wales and flows into the Bristol Channel, the River Thames winds its way from Oxfordshire to London and the River Mersey is synonymous with the city of Liverpool.

Answer: Royal Victoria Park

Royal Victoria Park is located to the west of the city centre and covers around 57 acres (231,000 square metres), including some botanical gardens. It was opened by and named after Princess Victoria - the future Queen Victoria - in 1830. The eastern part of the park lies in front of Royal Crescent, a grand curving terrace of 30 townhouses built in Bath's distinctive honey-coloured stone. Royal Crescent was constructed by the architect John Wood, the Younger, in the 1760s and 1770s and granted Grade I listed building status in 1950. Well-known inhabitants of the houses include Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (the second son of King George III); the poet Edward Bulwer-Lytton (famed for his line "It was a dark and stormy night"); and Isaac Pitman of Pitman shorthand fame. No. 1 Royal Crescent became a museum of Georgian life in the late 1960s.

Alexandra Park is located on a hill to the south of the city and affords great views over the whole area and Henrietta Park can be found on the eastern side of the city. Sydney Gardens sit on the lower slopes of Bathwick Hill to the east of the city and are bisected by the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Answer: Milsom Street

The main route from north to south through Bath city centre's shopping district includes Milsom Street, Union Street and Stall Street. The grand buildings along Milsom Street were constructed in 1762 as residential three-storey townhouses but were soon converted for use as shops and boutiques. A department store named Jolly & Son opened on Milsom Street in 1830 and expanded into more of the street's shops over the next 70 years. Although the store was bought out by the high-street giant House of Fraser in the 1970s, the Jolly's name could still be seen on Milsom Street into the 21st century.

Since Bath is well-known for its association with the English novelist Jane Austen, it is hardly surprising that one of its best shopping areas warranted a mention in her works. In 'Persuasion', Austen described the heroine Anne Elliot's meeting with Admiral Croft outside "a printshop window" on Milsom Street and in 'Northanger Abbey' one of the characters mentioned seeing "the prettiest hat you can imagine, in a shop window in Milsom Street just now".

The incorrect options are all shopping districts in other English cities. Oxford Street is in London, the Shambles is in York and the Lanes are in Brighton.

Answer: Claverton Down

The University of Bath may have only gained its charter as a university in 1966, but its origins are much older as it started life as a technical school in Bristol in 1856 and was known as the Bristol College of Science and Technology immediately prior to its move to the city of Bath. The site on Claverton Down was purpose-built for the new university and as such it is fair to say that the campus does not share the elegant Georgian architecture associated with the city but instead reflects the "modernist" style (and significant use of concrete) associated with the 1960s. The university is known for concentrating on the sciences and is particularly noted for engineering, the physical sciences, mathematics and - somewhat ironically - architecture. It is also one of England's major sports universities and has served as a training base for a number of Britain's Olympic medallists, including hurdler Colin Jackson, modern pentathlete Stephanie Cook and skeleton racer Amy Williams.

Claverton Down is a predominantly rural area, despite being a suburb of the city of Bath. It sits around 190 metres (620 feet) above sea level and can be accessed from the city centre via Bathwick Hill. As well as being home to the University of Bath, tourists may also want to take a trip out to see the American Museum in Britain, which is based at Claverton Manor.

Bathampton Down, Combe Down and Odd Down are all other areas of high ground that surround the city.

Answer: Gothic

Although Bath is famed for its Georgian architecture, Bath Abbey (or the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath) predates this period by several hundred years and is in the Gothic style. In particular, it is an example of Perpendicular Gothic, a term that refers to the period of Gothic architecture characterised by vertical straight lines and a less decorative style. Bath Abbey was begun around 1500 and is therefore a relatively late example of Perpendicular Gothic, which first came into use in the mid-14th century.

The Bath Abbey that can be seen by 21st-century tourists is the third religious building to occupy the same city centre site. The first known building was an Anglo-Saxon monastery, dated to around 760 AD. This was followed by a grand Norman cathedral that was begun in the 1090s but was derelict by the late 15th-century. The current abbey was built on the site of the nave of its much larger Norman predecessor. However, the abbey's construction was not completed by the time of King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and the building was left in a state of decay until it was converted to a parish church for the city in the late Tudor period thanks to funding from Henry's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.

Answer: True

Shop-lined bridges were once a common sight across Europe, but relatively few examples have survived into the 21st century. They were mostly built in the 13th to 17th centuries, but Pulteney Bridge is a later example built by Robert Adam in the 1770s. Its design was inspired by a rejected plan for the Rialto Bridge by the famous Italian architect Andrea Palladio. A fourth example of a shop-lined bridge can be seen in the German city of Erfurt.

Pulteney Bridge has been remodelled since the 1770s to expand the size of the shops and to repair damage to the northern side from devastating floods in 1799 and 1800. As a result the southern side is much prettier to look at and it is that view, with Pulteney Weir and the River Avon in the foreground, that can be seen in most tourist photographs of the city.

The bridge was named 'Pulteney' after Frances Pulteney, the wife of Robert Adam's patron, William Johnstone and the heiress of William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath.

Answer: Bath Rugby

Bath Rugby (generally known just as 'Bath') were founded in 1865 and played their first matches at 'The Rec' a few years later. The team had significant success in the late 20th century, winning the Heineken Cup in 1997-98 and taking the English Premiership title six times in eight years between 1988-89 and 1995-96.

The Recreation Ground's rugby goalposts can easily be seen by tourists admiring nearby Pulteney Bridge and snippets of play at one end of the ground can be viewed without buying a ticket by the simple expedient of standing in the right area of the pavement on the other side of the River Avon. However, the rugby pitch and associated stadium only takes up a small part of the Recreation Ground's wider public park and a number of other amateur and local sports clubs use the site.

Bath Cricket Club were founded in 1859 and have played for many years at the North Parade Ground, just south of 'The Rec'. Bath City Football Club played at the Belvoir Ground in the final years of the 19th century before moving to Twerton Park. TeamBath F.C. were the football team of the University of Bath who made it to the first round of the F.A. Cup in the 2002-03 season, having been founded just three years earlier.

Answer: Limestone

The city of Bath was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1987 thanks to its Roman history and Georgian architecture. The Georgian architecture in question is characterised by the consistent use of Bath stone as the main building material and modern additions to the city have continued to use it in order to preserve the striking appearance of the city.

Bath stone is an oolitic limestone, a type of sedimentary rock. The name comes from the fact that it contains a large proportion of calcium carbonate and formed from round grains of marine sediment that became encased in lime over many millennia. It became a popular building material due to its 'freestone' properties that meant that it could be cleanly cut in any direction. Bath stone is not just found in the city of Bath; over the centuries it was extensively used across southern England, including in buildings such as Bristol Cathedral, Apsley House in London (the residence of the Duke of Wellington), and various stations on the Great Western Railway.

Granite and pumice are types of igneous rock while slate is metamorphic.