| Brunel, in bringing his Great Western Railway through the famous Roman and Georgian city of Bath, had to pay special attention to its architectural character and effect on its setting. Characteristically for a man of his generation, he believed in using a variety of architectural styles according to the context and the client’s wishes: so at Bath the great viaduct is in a castellated gothic style; the now-rebuilt ‘Skew Bridge’ over the Avon was gothic; the bridges next to Sydney Gardens are in a simple classical style, and the station itself is modelled on an Elizabethan country house. The line opened from Bristol to Bath in August 1840. |
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