The Water Walk - Prior Park lower entrance walk from Bath Spa
Bath & Bristol
Follow the sound of water from Bath Spa train station to the lower entrance at Prior Park.
Trail information
Total stages: 3
Total stages: 3
Start point
Bath Spa train station
Stage 1
From Bath Spa train station, turn left and make your way to the underpass on your left. Go through the underpass, then follow the path around to the left until you see a footbridge on your right that crosses the river, called Halfpenny Bridge. Cross the footbridge. As you cross the river Avon, pause on the bridge. To the left, this area now the site of a Travelodge hotel, was once the site of Ralph Allen’s stone yard (1720s). Ralph Allen was responsible for opening up the river at this point, to aid navigation, the route his stone would take through to Bristol and beyond.
Stage 2
Here you will need to cross a busy road, pausing two times at traffic lights. Once you have crossed the road, turn left onto Widcombe Parade. Here you will pass Widcombe's shops and cafes. Continue until you get to two mini roundabouts. Cross the first mini roundabout until you are in front of a pub called the White Hart Pub, then turn right and walk up Prior Park Road for 0.35 miles. At the end of Widcombe Parade look left towards the Baptist Church, this is where Ralph Allen’s tramway would have ended. Stone, quarried up the hill in Combe Down, would have been brought down the hill in carts on the tramway, before being unloaded at the stone yard and transported onwards by river, or used to build Georgian Bath. You will also see the White Hart pub here, built by Ralph Allen for his workers. As you walk along Prior Park Road, note Ralph Allen Cottages, the row of terraced cottages on your right. These were built by Ralph Allen in around 1740, to house his stone masons who worked nearby. Prior Park buildings, built in 1825 and an example of late Palladian architecture. Optional diversions: - At the Widcombe roundabout, follow the path to the left for approximately 60m to reach a viewing point on the bridge for the Widcombe Lock/Lock 7 – created as part of the Kennet and Avon Canal in the 1800s. Return to the roundabout at the end of Widcombe Parade to continue the walk. - On Prior Park Road, take the slope up to the right and then the path to the left to walk along Prior Park Buildings. The stream that runs along here has flowed down through Prior Park Landscape Garden and is on its way to the river. You will follow the water on the rest of your walk to the garden. At the end of Prior Park Buildings take the steps down to the left and rejoin Prior Park Road. Continue past Prior Park Garden Centre (you’ll continue to hear the water running alongside). Cross over the road and continue up the hill. The stream crosses the road at the car garage, and from here flows underground for a while.
Stage 3
Turn left onto Church Street. At the junction of Prior Park Road and Church Street note the house on the left side. This is one of two lodges, and marks the northern boundary of Ralph Allen’s estate. Part way along Church Street you will hear water flowing once more, the reemergence of the stream that will lead you to Prior Park. As you reach bollards on the road, you will find St Thomas a Becket Church on your right, built between 1490 and 1498, on the site of a Norman chapel. Turn right onto Church Lane, and continue for 0.27 miles until you reach the gates of the lower entrance of Prior Park Landscape Garden.
End point
Prior Park Landscape Garden, lower entrance
Trail map
Map of the walk from Bath Spa train station to Prior Park lower entrance | © National Trust
