page_title: Bath Abbey
section_title: Tower
hierarchical_section_title: Bath Abbey / Architecture / Tower
caption_attribution_description: English: The Tower of Bath Abbey as seen from the Roman baths.
context_page_description: Bath Abbey is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries; major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It is one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in the West Country. The medieval abbey church served as a sometime cathedral of a bishop. After long contention between churchmen in Bath and Wells the seat of the Diocese of Bath and Wells was later consolidated at Wells Cathedral. The Benedictine community was dissolved in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
  The church is cruciform in plan and able to seat 1,200. An active place of worship, it also hosts civic ceremonies, concerts and lectures. There is a heritage museum in the cellars.
  The abbey is a Grade I listed building, particularly noted for its fan vaulting. It contains war memorials for the local population and monuments to several notable people, in the form of wall and floor plaques and commemorative stained glass. The church has two organs and a peal of ten bells.
context_section_description: The two-stage central tower is not square but oblong in plan. It has two bell openings on each side and four polygonal turret pinnacles. The tower is 161 feet (49 m) high, and is accessed by a staircase of 212 steps.
caption: Tower as seen from Roman Baths
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