BATH GREEN PARK Some myths dispelled!

In May this year, I received as a birthday present, a handsome book (republished 2018) in which it is claimed “the (Midland Railway) line opened to a temporary terminus in Bath in 1869. A permanent two-platform terminus...opened in 1870”. When I last looked (also this May), one entry in Wikipedia  stated much the same. Both are incorrect, but are by no means the only examples where this information has been misquoted. To get to the facts, we must first turn to a local newspaper report, viz:

“A Bristol paper understands the Midland Railway Company, upon completing their line to Bath, will erect a magnificent station at the lower end of Queen Square, and that the land required for the purpose has already been secured. Although we are not in a position to give a more positive contradiction to this statement, we nevertheless believe that it is incorrect. We have always understood that the station in question would be built at the rear of Seymour Street, and from the inquiry we have made, we believe we are correct.”

So reported the Bath Chronicle on Thursday, May 31, 1866. The paper’s understanding of the proposed location was indeed correct; the ‘magnificent station’ was to be built fronting the north-west side of Seymour Street, [1] around 200 yards to the south of Queen Square, immediately beyond the junction of Charles Street with James Street West.

Demolition

This would require the demolition of an entire terrace of nine late-Georgian period houses, comprising Nos. 10 to 18 Seymour Street. The location to which the misinformed Bristol paper attributed the proposed site – – was a narrow street called Chapel Row. The Midland Railway Company (MR Co) planned to demolish all the properties on the south-east [2] side of this street to improve (widen) the access from the upper parts of the city, via , towards their new station.