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The Roman remains at Bath are the most famous and
the most impressive monument of that period to survive in Britain. The warm
healing springs were known to the Britons before the Romans came, but soon
after the conquest a spa was built to which sufferers from rheumatic diseases
came from all parts of Britain and Gaul. It was named Aquae Sulis,
after the goddess Sul or Sulis, in whose honour a temple had been built.
Beside the spring an elaborate series of baths was constructed with heated
rooms and a large swimming pool, the Great Bath. The water was carried from
the spring in lead pipes, triangular in section and formed from a sheet of
lead folded and soldered along the top edge. The Great Bath was discovered by
archaeologists in 1880 and is 110 ft long by 68 ft wide and surrounded by
stone steps leading down to the water. Fourteen huge sheets of lead, securely
brazed together, line the bottom of the bath which is now open to the sky but
was at one time covered with a vaulted roof. There are three other principal
baths, oval, circular and square, as well as rooms heated by underfloor
hypocausts and rooms where the bathers could get cool. Arrangements were made
for people to drink the waters, but generally the cure involved bathing. In
modern times the value of the waters has been recognised as due in part to
their radio activity as well as to their mineral content. To the Romans they
had miraculous qualities of healing. but to this was also added all the
advantages of the baths as a meeting place for leisure and for serious
discussion. The town which grew up around the baths was never very large or
important. It was about 22 acres in extent and was protected by a defensive
wall, known to have been built quite late in the Roman occupation because it
included in its masonry many tombstones of earlier inhabitants. When the
Romans left Britain, the town and its baths soon fell into decay and became
covered with earth and rubble. Systematic excavation over the past two
centuries has revealed the extensive range of baths and connected buildings,
14 ft below the level of the modern city streets. A full appreciation of their
interest and significance can only be gained by visiting the baths and the
museum on the site.
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Map of Roman Baths at Bath