Roman Baths & Pump Room

Bath's Roman Baths close to visitors in the early evening, and from 7pm the Great Bath is let privately: guests take drinks on the ancient paving beside Britain's only naturally hot spring, lit by torches, with the steam rising off the water and the tower of Bath Abbey above the colonnade. The same spaces are let before 9am for sunrise ceremonies. The whole site belongs to Bath & North East Somerset Council, and its evening hire is run by the council's own venue team, Bath's Historic Venues.

Upstairs, the Pump Room was begun by Thomas Baldwin in 1790 and finished by John Palmer in 1795, the Georgian assembly room where Jane Austen set scenes of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. It takes up to 180 for dinner or 300 for a party, with a Steinway for musicians and staging in this room only. Next door, the Terrace looks down over the Great Bath and opens into the Reception Hall, John Brydon's domed concert hall of 1897. Together they seat 150 for dinner, and the Reception Hall may be used for dancing.

Searcys is the only caterer on site and cooks from seasonal British produce. Evening events run until 1am, with the bar closing half an hour earlier. The building is a scheduled ancient monument, so the rules are firm: a noise limiter is set at 96dB and cannot be switched off, bands and DJs bring their own equipment, and smoke machines are not allowed. The Terrace and the Baths are not let in the evening from mid-July to September.