Black Histories in Bath

An historical walking tour that aims to celebrate the wide-ranging but under documented contributions made by Africans and Caribbeans and people of African and Caribbean descent to the City of Bath.

The tour has been co-created through a collaboration between the Bath Ethnic Minority Senior Citizens Association (BEMSCA), Fairfield House Bath, and the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. Fairfield House was donated to the elder generation of ethnic minorities in the City of Bath by the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, following his time spent living in the city from 1936 to 1941 during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. BEMSCA is the heartbeat of the Fairfield House Community, formed in 1993 to provide community and support for older members of the Caribbean and Asian communities within Bath and North East Somerset.

In making this tour, members of BEMSCA generously shared many of their stories and histories. Fairfield House Bath’s vision is to promote a positive image of Black history and heritage in the city and across the UK. This has included the recent development of the Bath Windrush Centre, which can be found at the House.