Talk:The Circus, Bath

The reservoir in the centre of the Circus

{Formerly untitled; title added by Steue (talk) 22:56, 2 August 2022 (UTC)}

The central area was originally paved except for a reservoir in the centre, which supplied water to the houses. The reservoir was covered over by 1772

I'm thinking of changing this, as none of my books on Bath (and I have quite a few!) make any mention of Wood originally intending an open reservoir here. So far as I can tell, the intention was always to have a covered reservoir, and the only time it was open was during the building works. The existing wording seems to imply a deliberate change to the scheme by 1772. But that's only four years after building finished, and is anyway quite consistent with the reservoir having been completed and covered some years earlier. Can we just say there was a covered reservoir there, underneath granite setts, and that the area later became a garden?--MichaelMaggs 08:40, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Now done.--MichaelMaggs 19:23, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Renaming to "The Circus, Bath" proposal

{Title clarified by Steue (talk) 23:01, 2 August 2022 (UTC)}

I suggest moving this page to "The Circus, Bath" as the use of brackets in article titles is discouraged by Wikipedia:Manual of Style (titles) and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (architecture). It would also make the title consistent with road naming elsewhere and sort out Category:Streets in Bath. Does anyone have any objections?— Rod ^talk 15:34, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

@ Rod

Not directly an objection; the solution would be OK for me, but the usual way to clarify such terms (as far as I have encountered them) would be parenthesis, like "The Circus (Bath)".

Steue (talk) 23:16, 2 August 2022 (UTC)

A quotation from Smollet

{Title more precise by Steue (talk) 23:05, 2 August 2022 (UTC)}
{And made into a 2nd level title, by Steue (talk) 23:18, 2 August 2022 (UTC)}

Not sure if this makes sense to add to the article as a near-contemporary comment on the Circus:

"The Circus is a pretty bauble, contrived for shew, and looks like Vespasian's amphitheatre turned outside in. If we consider it in point of magnificence, the great number of small doors belonging to the separate houses, the inconsiderable height of the different orders, the affected ornaments of the architrave, which are both childish and misplaced, and the areas projecting into the street, surrounded with iron rails, destroy a good part of its effect upon the eye; and, perhaps, we shall find it still more defective, if we view it in the light of convenience. The figure of each separate dwelling-house, being the segment of a circle, must spoil the symmetry of the rooms, by contracting them towards the street windows, and leaving a larger sweep in the space behind."

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett, 1771

Two improvements to the box at the top right corner

A: The *main* text (in the introduction) reads:
Wood surveyed Stonehenge, which has a diameter of 325 feet (99 m) at the outer earth bank, and designed the Circus with a 318 feet (97 m) diameter to mimic this.

However, the text in the *box* (at the top right corner) reads:
Width 325 ft (99 m).

Mistake?

B: A circular road/street has an 'outer diameter' and an 'inner diameter'.
These terms are clear/un-ambiguous. The term 'width' is 'not clear', is ambiguous.
Therefore: In the box, the term "Width" should be replaced by (probably) 'Outer diameter'.

Steue (talk) 23:09, 2 August 2022 (UTC)