Royal Bath and West of England Society
Encyclopedia
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Based at the Royal Bath and West of England Society Showground near Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, the society is a registered charity in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
(no. 1039397).
Nowadays the society offers a variety of services relating to agriculture and veterinary science including public and professional events, seminars and advice, scholarships, and a marketplace for countryside products.
Foundation
In 1775 Edmund Rack, a draperDraper
Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
and the son of a labouring weaver, moved from his native Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
to the city of Bath. Despite his modest upbringing Rack had developed interests both in literature and agriculture, and especially the application of modern methods to farming. He was struck on his arrival by the poor standard of agricultural practise in the West Country, and in a series of letters to the Farming Magazine and the Bath Chronicle
Bath Chronicle
The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily.-Name changes:...
argued that it was in the interest of all involved to make a concerted effort to improve productivity.
Thus on the 28 August 1777 the Bath Chronicle printed a notice addressed to "The Nobility and Gentry in the counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Wiltshire and Dorset in general, and the Cities of Bath and Bristol in particular". This notice, paid for by Rack, proposed the formation of a "Society in this City, for the encouragement of Agriculture, Planting, Manufactures, Commerce, and the Fine Arts...".
A number of philanthropists responded, and at a meeting on 8 September inaugurated the Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, nominating Rack as the society's secretary. The same year, the Aims, Rules and Orders of the Society were published, which set out the activities of the society for the years to come. These involved the improvement of areas such as animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
, farm implements and country crafts through education, experimentation and prize-giving.
In 1780 a site at Weston, Bath was taken over for use by the society as an experimental farm. Although this particular venture ended around a decade later, for the next 196 years the society's headquarters were located in properties within the city of Bath, until in 1974 its administration moved to a new permanent home in Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
.
18th and 19th centuries
The year 1780 saw the first major publication of the society when Volume I of the Letters and Papers appeared. These disseminated advice and scientific opinion on agriculture and other subjects of interest, and were printed irregularly until finishing with Volume XV in 1829. Later in its history the society resumed publishing with a full journal.In 1859 the decision was made to move the annual meetings of the society out of the city of Bath, and each year convene in a different town in the society's area. These were combined with annual agricultural show
Agricultural show
An agricultural show is a public event showcasing the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show , a trade fair, competitions, and entertainment...
s which proved enormously popular, and continue to the present day.
The society was then renamed in 1869 as the 'Bath and West of England Society and Southern Counties Association for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce' to reflect its influence in areas outside the vicinity of the city, and further name changes occurring in the 1890s finished with the 'Bath and West and Southern Counties Society'.
Present day
A final change of name created the present 'Royal Bath and West of England Society', and in 1994 the society was registered as a full charity under British law. The society continues to organise events around the west of England including a flower show and the Royal Bath and West ShowRoyal Bath and West Show
The Royal Bath and West is a agricultural show for the West of England. Held every year at its permanent show ground near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, it is one of a number of County shows in the United Kingdom...
, which in 2005 attracted 150,000 visitors. The current president of the society is HRH The Countess of Wessex.
The Royal Bath and West Showground is the location for many events throughout the year, including the New Wine
New Wine
New Wine is the largest UK network of charismatic churches and Christians. It originated in 1989 as a Christian festival run by two Anglican clergy from St Andrew’s Church Chorleywood: Bishop David Pytches and the Rev. Barry Kissell...
and Soul Survivor summer conferences.