WE have all strolled along the Royal Crescent hopelessly straining our eyes to peer inside the spectacular Georgian terrace’s town houses.

Those who have not either have incomparable self-restraint or are simply lying.

After years imagining myself an honorary resident of the world’s most famous crescent, I was at last given the chance to find out what lay behind the imposing doors and majestic Palladian facade of the No.1 Royal Crescent museum.

No.1 was built to the designs of John Wood the Younger between 1767 and 1774 as the first house in the Royal Crescent. With furnishings and antiques borrowed from the likes of the V&A, the home of its first resident, Henry Sandford, is recreated in all its splendour.

Following his wife’s death and due to his increasingly poor health Henry moved to Bath in 1776.

My curiosity was duly sated as we explored the parlour, a gentleman’s retreat with its scientific equipment, the dining room laid with a feast, followed by the luxurious drawing room from which we enjoyed a stunning vista of the crescent (this is certainly something anyone could get used to if given the chance).

We made our way into the lady’s bedroom and finally up a flight of stairs to the gentleman’s bedroom.

Surprisingly, one of the highlights was exploring the kitchen, equipped with the latest Georgian cooking and roasting apparatus, and scullery – a rare sight in many grand houses, where the focus is on the ostentatiously dressed ‘show’ rooms.

After all, the life of any home was indeed its bowels; the servants’ quarters, scullery and hectic kitchen.

I was loath to leave this grandeur behind and yet satisfied to have at last glimpsed life, albeit of bygone days, on the Royal Crescent. – MARION SAUVEBOIS

 

Need to know
No 1 Royal Crescent is open Mon 12pm-5.30pm; 
Tue-Sun 10.30am-5.30pm. 
Last entry is 4.30pm.
Admission is £9 (£7 OAPs & students, £4 under-16s)
Visit no1royalcrescent.org.uk or call 01225 428126