The 2023 City of Bath UNESCO World Heritage series

The 2023 World Heritage series of talks explores Bath’s six attributes of Outstanding Universal Value, ascribed to our City in UNESCO’s 1987 World Heritage Site Inscription. The city of Bath is one of only two entire cities inscribed as World Heritage Sites, the other being Venice, also inscribed in 1987. With the additional 2021 UNESCO Inscription as a leading member of The Great Spa Towns of Europe (trans-national)  World Heritage Site, Bath is one of only 22 double-inscribed World Heritage Sites out of the 1152 sites worldwide.

Chaired by Professor Barry Gilbertson, the series of six lectures will feature an individual expert speaker each week, focused on one attribute each week, describing the attribute in fascinating historical, archaeological, architectural, landscape or social detail. In addition, they will examine the relative importance that each attribute provides to Bath’s economy.

The six attributes: Roman Archaeology; Hot Springs; Georgian Town Planning; Georgian Architecture; C18th Social Ambition and the green Countryside Setting of our World Heritage Site.

Please click on the date of each event below (all Wednesdays) to find out more and book your tickets – you can add all the tickets to your basket and pay with one transaction when you’re finished.

Talks will be live at Queen Square or online and you can choose how you want to attend for each separate event.

22 March, 7pm: The World Heritage Status of Roman Bath – Peter Davenport BA, MPhil, MifA, FSA

29 March, 7pm: Georgian Architecture & the language of Classicism in Bath – Dr Amy Frost, Senior Curator, Bath Preservation Trust

5 April, 7pm: Georgian Town Planning – Bath and the Druid Connection – Professor Timothy Mowl FSA

19 April, 7pm: The Bath Hot Springs – Science, Source & Protection – Paul Saynor Director of Water Production at Wessex Water

26 April, 7pm: Eighteenth Century Social Ambition – Professor Elaine Chalus (FRHistS)

3 May, 7pm: The Landscape of Bath – Andrew Grant, Chair of the Bathscape Landscape Partnership.

Professor Gilbertson is the independent non-executive pro bono Chair of The City of Bath UNESCO World Heritage Site, appointed in 2017.  Barry also Chairs the Bath World Heritage Enhancement Fund. He was formerly a Trustee of the Bath Preservation Trust, and for six years an independent Trustee Governor of the University of Bath, as a member of the University’s Council.