His love of gambling was the trigger that fueled his desire to get the idle rich to help support his passion. He began as the aid to the Master of ceremonies and when death opened the door he was the natural successor. He became in time the "King of Bath". He set the fashion in Bath and during his reign at the head of the Social Season he was the arbitrator of both behavior and fashion. If you wanted to make a splash in Bath you had to win the approval of the Beau", losing his support caused the unfortunate to be ostracized and this was social suicide. Eventually, it was his gambling that was his downfall but his reign lasted 40 years and he left a significant mark on the city of Bath.
The current Assembly Rooms designed by John Woods were constructed in 1769 with the grand opening on September 30, 1771. They replaced the Lower Assembly Rooms of Beau Nash's day. Today the rooms are administered by the National Trust. The Assembly Rooms are free to visit, what you pay to visit is the costumes. The Assembly Rooms themselves can be rented out as a venue for meetings or a wedding reception.
The Assembly Room that you see today is the one that is featured in Jane Austen's novels. You may choose to take a headphone tour; it adds a great deal of information and sets the correct mood for your visit. If you enjoy becoming part of a historic venue then the headphone tour is a must. The tour begins in the Tea Room. This was where at 9 p.m. in the evening all the guest who had been invited to attend would congregate. Some came to dance, some to play cards but all came to be seen. If you didn't have an invitation to the Assembly then your consequence was considerably lowered in the eyes of all the people who really mattered in Bath. The magnificent chandeliers that adorn the room are the originals that were installed in 1771.
"In the evening, I hope you honored my toilette and ball with a thought; I dressed myself as well as I could, and had all my finery much admired at home. By nine o'clock my uncle, aunt, and I entered the rooms and linked Miss Winstone on to us. Before tea it was rather a dull affair; but then the before tea did not last long, for there was only one dance, danced by four couple. Think of four couple, surrounded by about a hundred people, dancing in the Upper Rooms at Bath." Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra.
The Octagon Room is where the gentlemen would retire for a game of cards and to get away from the dancing and the woman. There are portraits around the upper level of the room one of them is a Gainsborough of Captain William Wade. On the lower level of the room, there are four marble fireplaces.
The ballroom hosted up to 1000 people at these dances. You can still imagine the ghosts of Georgian men and women performing the minuet and dancing the country dances. The room is 105 feet long, 42 feet wide and 42 feet high. With all the crystal chandeliers it is breathtaking. Dancing began at 6 p.m. with the minuet, at 8 p.m. there would be lively country dances, at 9 p.m. everyone went to the tea room and all music stopped at 11 p.m. even if it was in the middle of a song.
Visiting the Assembly Rooms is as close as most people will ever get to feeling and understanding the social restrictions and the life of the "beau monde" in the time of Jane Austen. It is worth visiting just for its magnificent architecture.
Great reading your blog
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