A Primer on Regency Landmarks Beyond London

After last week’s post about Regency London Landmarks, I realized there are a ton of places beyond Town that also get mentioned or visited all the time in historical romances.

So, let’s look at a few of the top spots to see and be seen around the British Isles during the Regency Era.
 

• Richmond – The hero is often seen offering to drive the heroine down to Richmond for a picnic or they travel to some ball being held there. Richmond is now part of London, proper, but it used to be a posh destination several miles southeast of Town.
• Bath – Located in Somerset, this spa destination was established by the Romans in A.D. 43 by the name of Aquae Sulis. Early 19th century references to Bath include taking the waters at The Pump Room or visiting the mineral baths next door. Other places to see and be seen were The Royal Crescent, The Circus, and Pulteney Bridge (across which Jane Austen would have looked from her lodgings on the other side of the river). And of course, the hub of fashionable Bath, the assembly rooms would have been a required visit. For a full list of landmarks there, see Wikipedia’s full list of places of interest in Bath. Of course, Sally Lunn Buns were a treat to be had there.
  

  

• Brighton – This quaint seaside town is located in East Sussex on the southern coast. The Royal Pavilion is a former royal palace expanded and renovated as a home for the Prince Regent during the early 19th century, under the direction of the architect John Nash. The Pavillion is notable for its exotic Oriental exterior and interior and at the time, a source of tension between the Prince Regent and Parliament as it was an enormous drain on funds.
• Cornwall – The rugged and fierce Cornish coast is the perfect spot to find pirates and smugglers.
• Dover – The white cliffs, check. Close enough to minimize crossing time and danger when the hero or heroine must cross the English Channel into France, check! The packets (smaller, quicker ships generally used to transport mail) sailed between Dover on the English side of the Channel and Calais on the French.
• Portsmouth – Another busy port on the southern shores of England. This was much more of a merchant’s port with a deeper harbor. If your hero or the heroine’s family is involved in shipping, you can bet they have offices in Portsmouth.
• Educational Centers, or where aristocratic sons were shipped off to school — women were not educated at public schools and the bluestockings who were educated had private tutors and extraordinary situations
• • Eton – Young boys of the ton began their education here, across the river from Windsor, home of Windsor Castle.
  • Cambridge – Applied mathematics was the name of the game at Cambridge from the late 17th century and well into the 19th century. Mathematics was required for graduation and sending your hero here, means he’s quite intelligent and versed in mathematics.
  • Oxford – A bastion of classical studies which saw a growth in science during the 19th century. The academic year is divided into three terms. Michaelmas Term lasts from October to December; Hilary Term from January to March; and Trinity Term from April to June. Young men were “sent down” which was akin to suspension or expulsion depending on the nature of their transgressions. Student were expected to dress in full academic regalia until the 1960s.
• Scotland – North of Hadrian’s Wall, home of sheep, Reavers and manly men in kilts. Only not so much by the Regency Era.
• • Gretna Green – Once the Marriage Act of 1753 was passed and required parental consent for anyone under the age of 21 to marry. The Act did not apply in Scotland. Gretna Green lies just over the line in Scotland. Many couples eloped without parental consent and were married “over the anvil” at the popular blacksmith’s shop in Gretna Green. After 1856, Scottish law changed to require 21 days’ residence for marriage.
  • Edinburgh – The capital city of Scotland with its own booming university and social scene. All those Scottish earls would be flocking there.
• Wales – If there’s mining, quarrying or iron manufacturing involved, it likely occurred in Wales. Cardiff and Swansea were important industrial ports during the Regency.

To explore further, the Wikipedia entry covers a number of places of interest and importance during the British Regency.

If you’re lucky enough to travel to the UK, you might want to visit some of these historic places:

• Richmond
• Bath
• Brighton and The Royal Pavillion and Museums
• Cornwall
• Dover
• Portsmouth
• Oxford and Oxford University
• Cambridge and University of Cambridge
• Windsor and Eton, home of Eton College
• Scotland
• • Gretna Green — more on the history of Gretna Green.
  • Edinburgh
• Wales

More information regarding a variety of other Regency-themed topics can be found on my Regency Resource page. If you’d like more information on a specific place or topic, please let me know in the comments section below.