 Several areas of Bath had undergone development during the Stuart period , and development increased during Georgian times in response to the increasing number of visitors to the spa and resort town who required accommodation . The architects John Wood , the Elder and his son John Wood , the Younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares , the identical façades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical <unk> . Much of the creamy gold Bath stone used for construction throughout the city was obtained from the limestone <unk> Down and <unk> Down <unk> , which were owned by Ralph Allen ( 1694 – 1764 ) . 
