Bath Abbey

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Lonely Planet review

Bath Abbey was built between 1499 and 1616, making it the last great medieval church raised in England. The nave's wonderful fan vaulting was erected in the 19th century. The most striking feature of the abbey's exterior is the west facade, where angels climb up and down stone ladders, commemorating a dream of the founder, Bishop Oliver King.

The abbey boasts the second largest collection of wall monuments after Westminster Abbey. Among those buried here are Sir Isaac Pitman, who devised the Pitman method of shorthand, and Beau Nash. Also worth a look are the choir stalls, carved with mythical beasts.

On the abbey's southern side, steps lead down to the small Heritage Vaults Museum which explores the abbey's history and its links with the nearby baths. It also contains fine stone bosses, archeological artefacts and a weird model of the 10th-century monk Aelfric, dressed in his traditional black Benedictine habit.