David’s book on Twerton proves a hit
A popular history of working class Bath and a “brilliant piece of research and writing”, East Twerton Revisited became a pre-christmas best-seller.
The author, David Knight, was challenged to write about the history of Twerton in the Charmbury Arms public house in Brook Road and took five years to research and write the book.
“That’s five years of his life he won’t get back,” said one cynical friend on social media.
“At the very least there is something lasting to show for all the effort, and I am just a little bit proud of that achievement,” responded Mr Knight.
In 1742, the district that became East Twerton consisted of fields, but the parish map of 1807 showed a few dwellings clustered around Charlton Buildings.
As the district grew, it attracted two famous authors: Henry Fielding, who lodged on the Bristol Road, and Jane Austin, who preferred the country walks in Twerton rather than the city streets of Bath.
During the 19th century, the population expanded rapidly with the building of the Great Western Railway in 1840 and the Midland Railway in 1869-70. The burgeoning population was overspilling from the city and it was a time when our manufacturing industries were created.
The district of East Twerton, within the parish of Twerton, was established when St Peter’s Church was consecrated in 1880.
Until the turn of the 20th century, Twerton remained a parish within the shire county of Somerset and not part of the city of Bath.
In 1908, the city corporation petitioned the Government to extend the city boundary ‘in the interests of better government and improving the service to the people in those areas.’
The land grab became a reality in 1911 and certainly favoured the city, but arguably the people saw little benefit.
Despite two world wars, businesses both large and small flourished during the 20th century in East Twerton, giving employment to thousands in the manufacturing industry.
Twerton was the unsung ‘powerhouse of the city.’
East Twerton Revisited is more than another ‘then and now’ picture book. It also differs vastly from most other history books on Bath, which are packed with city centre architecture and period grandiosity.
The book is a comprehensive record of people who made the district fascinating, buildings that became worthy landmarks and a proud culture and identity that has been gradually eroded in time.
The book shows the district to be rich in history and not the ‘poor relation’ as it is generally portrayed.
The project turned into a weighty tome of 500 pages, with a comprehensive record of East Twerton’s development through its businesses, social activity and its inhabitants.
The book covers a murder in 1956 and tells the tales of Twerton families, above all the family of David’s maternal grandmother: the Trims.
The controversial final chapter, ‘Modern Living,’ makes compelling reading, and could be regarded as the ‘sting in the book’s tail’ because David pulls no punches in describing the ways the authorities have managed the district and treated its residents.
East Twerton Revisited is available at Oldfield Park Bookshop, Moorland Road, Bath. Call 01225 427722.