Designed by John Wood the Younger and opened in 1771, the Assembly Rooms are a magnificent set of public rooms that once formed the centre of Bath's social life. The four main rooms — the Ballroom, the Tea Room, the Card Room, and the Octagon — are lit by enormous crystal chandeliers and give a vivid sense of Georgian high society. The Ballroom alone is over thirty metres long.
The rooms were badly damaged by bombing in 1942 and carefully restored after the war. They are managed by the National Trust and free to visit when not booked for private events. The Fashion Museum, one of the world's leading collections of historical dress, was formerly housed in the basement but has relocated — check locally for its current location.