070705.Bath, King’s Circus

July 5, 2007 at 1:36 am | In Architecture, Bath, Columns, Corinthian Order, Doric Order, Ionic Order, Walcot, somerset |

061029.042.Somset.Bath.Walcot.John Wood the Elder's Circus.1754-1758

Littered with Druidic and Masonic symbols, John Wood the Elder’s final masterpiece was the King’s Circus, built on Barton Fields outside the old city walls of Bath that enclosed the Bimbery. Here, uniform facades and rhythmic proportions in conjunction with classical principles of unerring symmetry were followed throughout the city.

070314.068.SO.Bath.BldgsofBathMus

The orders are stacked, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, paying homage to the Coliseum, which is in fact what the structure aims to be…and inverted Coliseum. Naming it a circus denotes his lack of a classical education, as circuses were elliptical. Similarly, his theories on Druidic culture were equally wrong. Nevertheless, this first circus was copied throughout the world, and has been referred to as the model for all urban roundabouts.

070213.18.Somset.Bath.Bath At War 061029.059.Somset.Bath.25 Gay St.Jane Austen Centre.Watercolor by SH Grimm.1773 070314.193.SO.Bath.BldgsofBathMus 070314.192.SO.Bath.BldgsofBathMus

posted by JosyC

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8 Comments »

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  1. I think it’s ridiculous for me to be commenting, since I’m the one who’s posting… but James, that image at the top is a beautiful photo.

    Comment by JosyC — July 5, 2007 #

  2. une belle photo, j’aime la perspective de cette photo.


    a beautiful photograph, I like the prospect for this photograph.

    Comment by Olivier — July 5, 2007 #

  3. Love the top photo. I like how the builing curves.

    Comment by Barb — July 5, 2007 #

  4. that top pic is great! i’m confused though…is joycie going for world domination??

    Comment by pod — July 6, 2007 #

  5. MUA HA HA HA HA! It’s only a matter of time…!

    Seriously, though, James is vacationing in Rome or something, so I’m piecing his [slightly incoherent] photos and writings into posts. And posting them.

    Comment by JosyC — July 6, 2007 #

  6. STUDYING.
    thank you for posting my incorence. iàm sorry for it all. they were all writtenn and uploaded a few hours before i took the bus.

    Comment by james in rome — July 7, 2007 #

  7. They’re MOSTLY coherent. Don’t worry. It’s better than I could’ve done under duress. :)

    Comment by JosyC — July 7, 2007 #

  8. its not eliptical because its not meant to be,nor has it much to do with the Coliseum, more to do with a stone circle

    Comment by eskimonose — August 3, 2007 #

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