Back in the 18th century, the area immediately to the north of West Bridge on the East side of the River Soar was laid out as pleasure garden. They were sometimes known as the Bath Gardens but more commonly as Vauxhall Gardens on account of their similarity to the famous gardens in London of the same name. From 1760, the gardens boasted planted walks, bowling greens, music galleries and baths for ladies and gentlemen as well a public house. The gardens became a favourite spot for recreation with rowing and boating being the major attractions.

In the middle of the 1790s, however, the whole site was offered for sale and by the end of the same decade warehouses and two wharves (known as Vauxhall Wharf and West Bridge Wharf) occupied the site. Bath Lane first gets a mention in the Directory of 1815 which also lists a pub in the lane called The Vauxhall Wharf - possibly the same pub referred to in the previous paragraph - but that pub finally appears in the 1831 Directory. A small portion of land retained the name of Vauxhall Gardens behind The Bakers Arms in Friars Causeway but this was swept away with the coming of The Great Central.

The Boat & Engine is first listed in the 1822 Directory (confusingly with Vauxhall Wharf as its address rather than Bath Lane). Pigots 1835 Trade Directory of Leicester gives one Joseph Gent as the landlord. This pub stood for many years and even survived a road improvement scheme in the 1870’s which saw Bath Lane being straightened out so as to form a continuation of Sarah Street. It was auctioned of at The Wellington Hotel in Granby Street in 1873 and finally appears under the name of The Boat & Engine in the Directory of 1878. The pub was renamed The Bath Hotel by 1880 - probably in recognition of the erection of new Public Baths on the West side of Bath Lane on the South side of the pub during 1879.

From 1907, The Bath Hotel was kept by Bill Sherriff a local champion boxer who fought under the name of “young Bruce” in Victorian times. Bill was a hard character who kept boxing traditions alive with booths and a training ring at the pub. Barry Lount recalls, “My father, Cyril, had been brought up at the pub for a time by his Uncle Bill (Sherriff) and Aunt Ada and used to tell me about the rare characters that used the pub. As with many hard men, Bill had a softer side to his nature and both he and Ada gained much pleasure from his large aviary where many song birds including Linnets were kept. As a boy, I would gaze at this large, gentle man talking to his birds.”

Bill Sherriff was once threatened with a 28 days prison sentence for allowing drinking during prohibited hours during the First World War. A breaking room” was at the rear of the pub where Bill would “break down” his spirits after buying them in bulk. The pub at this time was owned by All Saints Brewery.

From 1951, George and Vera Rudkin took over The Bath Hotel which had now become part of the estate of Everards Brewery. When the pub eventually closed in 1958, the Rudkins moved to a new pub called “The Dove” on Downing Drive in Evington.