The Temple Entrances of Bath

Bath’s small Georgian temple, or Aedicular, fronts.

Descendants of the ancient Roman shrines and temples of Aquae Sulis.

We pass by them every day. Some of us live and work behind them.

We enter between their columns to live our lives and celebrate our own personal rites and rituals.

So ubiquitous we may scarcely notice them. Like snowflakes not one is exactly the same. Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian — each adapted by the architect or stone mason to a particular location.

Similar, yes, but each bears its own particular marks and scars of a history exposed to weather or neglect.

But here they stand, carved and turned in the lovely limestone of Bath, lending us dignity and a gravitas to our ordinary lives.

They link us to the people who have gone before us in these buildings.

Our little temples.