A circle of thirty-three Georgian townhouses arranged around a central garden of plane trees, the Circus is one of Bath's most striking pieces of urban design. The three curved terraces form a perfect circle, each decorated with three tiers of columns — Doric at the bottom, Ionic in the middle, Corinthian at the top — echoing the orders of the Colosseum in Rome.
Former residents include Thomas Gainsborough, Clive of India, and William Pitt the Elder. The Circus connects to the Royal Crescent via Brock Street and to Queen Square via Gay Street, forming a route through the best of Georgian Bath. Stand in the centre on a quiet morning and the acoustics are remarkable — sound bounces around the circle in unexpected ways.