The Creation of the New Thermae Bath Spa

Paul Simons will relate how the famous thermal baths were closed due to pollution of the water, how this problem was resolved, the idea for a new thermal bath building, creating the brief, selecting the design team, frictions of a modern building in the historic centre of the city, construction problems and the “Four Tenors” delayed opening of the building and finally the successful delivery of the only thermal baths in Britain: the jewel in Bath’s crown, despite there being no medicinal use of the water.

Paul Simons has spent over five decades working in heritage management, historic building projects and tourism. He was Executive Director of Bath Tourism for the City of Bath from 1994 and then seconded by Bath & North East Somerset as Project Director of Thermae Bath Spa, Bath’s Millenium project, in 1998. Since 2003 he has been in consultancy and was Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Historic Thermal Towns Association (2010-2021), one of the Council of Europe’s Cultural Routes; between 2011-2021 he was the Secretary General of the Great Spa Towns of Europe, newly inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paul is Chair of the Cleveland Pools Trust in Bath, Chair of World Heritage UK, a trustee of the Oxford Literary Festival and a member of the Advisory Panel of the Railway Heritage Trust. He is also a member of ICOMOS and until 2015, was a Director of McCurdy & Co, a craft-based firm of historic timber framed specialists who built the replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.

Booking opens to members on Friday 2 October 2026. Seats are free to members.

Booking opens to the public on Monday 5 October 2026. Seats £5 plus £0.75 booking fee.