Buildings and architecture of Bath
The buildings and architecture of Bath, a city in Somerset in the south west of England, reveal significant examples of the architecture of England, from the Roman Baths (including their significant Celtic presence), to the present day. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, largely because of its architectural history and the way in which the city landscape draws together public and private buildings and spaces. The many examples of Palladian architecture are purposefully integrated with the urban spaces to provide "picturesque aestheticism". It is the only entire city in Britain to achieve World Heritage status, and is a popular tourist destination.
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath is served by the Bath Spa railway station (designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel), which has regular connections to London Paddington, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Swansea, Exeter St Davids, Plymouth and Penzance (see Great Western Main Line), and also Westbury, Warminster, Salisbury, Southampton Central, Portsmouth Harbour and Brighton (see Wessex Main Line). Services are provided by Great Western Railway. There are suburban stations on the main line at Oldfield Park and Keynsham which have a limited commuter service to Bristol. Green Park station was once operated by the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway, whose line (always steam driven) climbed over the Mendip Hills and served many towns and villages on its run to Bournemouth; this example of an English rural line was closed by the Beeching cuts in March 1966, with few remaining signs of its existence, but its Bath station building survives and now houses a number of shops.