Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Royal Crescent, Bath
2
George III's more famous ill-advised policy was to excessively tax the North
American colonies to pay for his grandfather George II's wars. This, of course, led to
war with America in 1771 and defeat in 1781. The loss of the American colonies
ruined the king's health, and from 1811 his son the Prince Regent took control. He
was crowned George IV in 1820.
The
Regency style
covers the years 1811 to 1820, the period before the Prince
Regent's became king. It is best illustrated in Brighton's
Royal Pavilion
(p. 266), the
Prince's exotic India-inspired summer house on England's South Coast. Many of
Bath's beautiful Georgian buildings were also Regency haunts.
Bath became the most fashionable city outside London during the
Regency
period
thanks to its ancient spa. Novelist Jane Austen included the city's Assembly
Rooms (p. 338) in two of her novels—
Persuasion
and
Northanger Abbey.
There's now
a Jane Austin Centre at the handsome
Royal Crescent
(p. 336), built between 1767
and 1774 and regarded as the pinnacle of Palladian architecture in Britain. The whole
city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
With the British defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Britain was emerging as
the most powerful country in Europe. The Industrial Revolution had started around
the town of Ironbridge in Staffordshire, where the award-winning
Ironbridge Gorge
Museums
can be found (p. 486), and the world's first steam-driven passenger railway
was opened between Stockton and Darlington in 1825. A carriage from the line is on
display at the
National Railway Museum Shildon,
in County Durham (p. 655)
and the
National Railway Museum
in York has possibly the world's greatest rail-
ways collection (p. 644).
The Victorians (1837-1901)
England and Wales are still largely defined by the Victorian Age. Britain became the
most industrialized country in the world, fueled mainly by coal from Wales and
Northeast England. You can see these old mines work at the
Blaenavon World
HOW THE
georgians
BECAME
victorians
George IV
died in 1830 and was suc-
ceeded by his brother, William IV, who
ruled during a time of social unrest
caused by the appalling working condi-
tions of the industrial revolution.
Although he tried for social reforms at
the start of his reign, he had second
thoughts during the riots before the
1832 Reform Act was passed. This gave
the vote to male householders where
the house was worth more than £10,
which did nothing for the angry working
classes and left the popularity of the
monarchy dangerously low. William had
10 illegitimate children by his mistress
but no surviving children with his wife
Queen Adelaide, so when he died in
1837 his crown (and the resentment of
the increasingly vocal industrial work-
ers) was inherited by his niece,
Victoria.
