The Stench! Air Foul and Fair through Bath’s History – a talk given by Stuart Burroughs on Wednesday 5th July 2023, at BRLSI, Queen Square, Bath.

Bridgerton failed to mention it, Jane Austen only hinted at it; the foul-smelling air of Bath was thought bad enough to cause diseases, so it was just as well that the waters, and not the air, made Bath a health spa. Yet just how bad was the air quality of the city?

As the director of The Museum of Bath at Work, Stuart Burroughs specialises in celebrating the everyday – and none is more commonplace than the air we breathe. His talk spans the centuries it took to make Bath air more fit for human consumption and looks at why we can’t afford to be complacent now.