2005.2: The Bridges over the Canal in Sydney Gardens

Hand-coloured aquatint, mounted, framed in carved and gilded wooden frame with Perspex glazing.

View of a canal curving away right then leftwards, between stone embankments.  Above the banks, overhanging trees and sky.  In the foreground, a single span iron bridge with decorative iron balustrade arches over the canal and footpath; in the distance, a second iron bridge is visible and a stone bridge where the canal curves out of sight.  In the foreground there is a rowing boat on the canal with three men and two ladies, and a punt with a man using a pole and a boy pushing off from the bank.

Plate 14 from Bath Illustrated by a Series of Views, J.C.Nattes, London, 1806.

The Kennet & Avon Canal was built between 1796 and 1810 to connect the Avon at Bath with the Kennet at Newbury, as part of the major waterway connecting Bristol (and hence the Atlantic Ocean) with London.  Its engineer was John Rennie who designed most of the bridges.  The elegant iron bridges were cast in Coalbrookdale and erected in 1800.When this print was made, the canal had not yet been completed.  Because of Bath's situation in a valley, the canal was forced to pass through Sydney Gardens, only a few years after it was first opened, despite strong opposition.  In fact, the canal only enhanced the charm of the gardens.  It was sunk low between stone embankments, so invisible from the gardens until the visitor passed over a bridge or came upon a balustrade, when they would be surprised by the winding expanse of water with its overhanging trees and pretty bridges.  The foremost bridge in this view was built in the Chinese style.  The two iron bridges carried the two footpaths, while the sturdier stone bridges carried the ride round the perimeter of the gardens.

Brenda Snaddon, The Last Promenade: Sydney Gardens, Bath, Bath 2000, pp.19-20

James Lees-Milne and David Ford, Images of Bath, Richmond-upon-Thames, 1982: Cat. 852; pp.126-7