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BRLSI – inspiring minds since 1824
15 September @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Literary and Philosophical Institutions became popular in the 18th century for the discourse of topical and intellectual matters. In the early 19th century some prominent residents proposed that a permanent Literary and Scientific Institution be created in Bath.
In 1824, after a devastating fire destroyed Bath’s lower assembly rooms, the first incarnation of the Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution was set up on Terrace Walk. The initial site, elegantly designed by George Allen, was spacious enough to accommodate the Institution’s vast collection of Roman antiquities, expensive books and geological specimens. Bath at this time was considered to be the home of geology. Such was the sudden prestige of the Institution that in 1830 the man who was later to become King William IV conferred royal patronage on the Institution and in 1837, under Queen Victoria, the Royal was added to the Institution’s name. In the 1850s the public’s curiosity for natural history saw the founding within BRLSI of both a Geological Museum and Natural History Museum.
A new road building scheme in the centre of the city meant that the Institution’s building had to be demolished and its new and present home was relocated in Queen Square in 1932.
Join Andreas Wasmuht as he charts the past, present and potential future of BRLSI, placing the Institution in its times and places.
