Welcome to Queer Bath

The American Museum & Gardens was founded in 1961 by Anglo-American couple Dallas Pratt and John Judklyn with the ambition to showcase American decorative arts and dispel stereotypes of American culture. Today the site includes a Grade I listed Manor house which features collections from the United States including period rooms of American history, world-renowned folk art, quilt and Renaissance map collections; special exhibitions on a range of subjects from photography to dinosaurs to space exploration; 125 acres of green, rolling topography with stunning views across the valleys to the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; spectacular gardens designed by American landscape architecture firm Oehme, van Sweden; a children’s garden; extensive parklands including a woodland walk and the American Garden Deli with American inspired food.

Designed by John Wood the Younger, this Grade 1 listed building is a key part of the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath. The New or Upper Rooms as they were known, provided a place for people to meet and enjoy daily entertainments including balls, concerts, teas and gambling. In the Georgian period the city had a vibrant social scene including a thriving queer subculture. As the history of Bath Assembly Rooms is uncovered through extensive research being undertaken to inform the new Georgian visitor experience, hidden histories of same-sex relationships and queer life in Bath is being revealed.

The National Trust are working on a new visitor experience which will enable Bath Assembly Rooms to continue to be a place for assembly, connection and entertainment, welcoming in Bath’s visitors and residents. This redevelopment has a fundraising target of £3.2million. To date £2.4million has been raised through a range of sources including individuals and Charitable Trusts and Foundations.

As part of Queer Bath, BRLSI will present a digital showcase celebrating LGBTQ+ figures across science, literature, and thought. This series will explore the rich and often overlooked contributions of queer thinkers and trailblazers, shared through social media, blog posts, and e-newsletters throughout the festival. The digital strand will also tie in with BRLSI’s upcoming event in partnership with the National Trust: ‘Queer Georgians’, a talk by Dr Tim Moore, exploring hidden LGBTQ+ narratives from the Georgian era.

Beckford’s Tower was built between 1826-27 for the writer and collector William Beckford (1760-1844), and funded by the wealth he gained from his complicity in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved African people. Beckford has a role in the story of British LGBTQIA+ history and the building he created at Fonthill Abbey has been acknowledged as a significant queer space.  However, Beckford’s relationship with William Courtenay of Powderham Castle, (the public exposure of which led to Beckford’s ten-year exile from Britain), was an abusive one. At the Tower we are working on exploring Beckford’s contribution to LGBTQIA+ heritage and revealing the truth about his relationship with William Courtenay in a safe and affirming way. 

The Holburne Museum collection is diverse and eclectic; the Queer Holburne Trail and Bloomberg App will allow visitors the chance to explore items from the collection which have Queer themes, narratives and histories. The digital trail links objects on display in the museum with items in our stores, focusing on promoting discussion, discovery and an alternative look at the history of the Holburne Collection through the voices of the Holburne Future collective and the Queer community of Bath.

The Museum of Bath Architecture is housed in the Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel, built in 1765 for Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon. The Georgian Gothic Revival style of the building is one that has connections with the evolution of Queer Gothic in the 18th Century, although there were very few examples of it in Bath. The design of Queer spaces in Bath, and the work of designers and makers who contributed to the architecture of the City, does not have a presence in our collection, or at least not one that has been found yet, and that is something we would like to change through new research.

The Roman Baths is an award-winning museum and ancient monument at the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Bath. Home to Britain’s hottest geothermal spring, it boasts some of the finest Roman remains in Northern Europe. For centuries, people from all walks of life have shaped its story, drawn by the waters, the history, and the shared human experience it represents.

Alongside the Baths, the elegant Pump Room has long been a social hub. Built between 1789 and 1799, its Corinthian columns, glittering chandelier, and iconic spa fountain once welcomed Georgian high society, who believed in the healing powers of Bath’s mineral-rich waters. While the Romans bathed in the thermal springs, the Georgians made drinking the water a fashionable ritual—one that continues today.