If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 325

Roman Baths and Hot Springs, Bath, Somerset, England

Today’s unused postcard published for the City of Bath by the Bath City Council has photographs of the Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset, England.  The top left picture shows a northeast view of the pillar base of a portico leading to the sacred spring named for the Celtic goddess, Sulis, and associated later with the Roman goddess Minerva.  The lower left photo is a northwest view of the ruins of a structure adjacent to the sacred spring building.  The larger photograph on the right has two re-positioned corner stones of a sacrificial altar.  In background is the Pump room foundation, 1790.  The card has the number 1246 in the square where a stamp would be placed.  The baths are a major tourist attraction with more than one million visitors a year.

The Roman Baths are below the modern street level.  Entrance is through an 1897 concert hall.  Visitors can see the Baths and the associated museum but are no longer allowed to enter the water due to health concerns related to lead pipes and infectious diseases such as meningitis.  A newer Thermae Bath Spa, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners and the refurbished Cross Bath allow bathers to experience the waters instead.

The postcard below has a photograph of the Kings Bath viewed through the Roman arch.  This was probably built in the late 10th century for Edgar the first King of all England by the Benedictine Bishop of Bath.  It has been possessed and controlled by the City of Bath since 1554. The card was photographed and published by Unichrome and bears the identification number of 1169.

Where does the water come from and how hot does it get?  The water bubbles up from the ground at Bath falls as rain on Mendip Hills.  It percolates down through limestone aquifiers thousands of feet where it is heated by geothermal energy to temperatures between 156 and 204 degrees F or 69 and 96 degrees C.  The water then rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone.  There were three baths, the caldarium, hot bath; the tepidarium, lukewarm bath; and the frigidarium, cold bath.  Drinking the water is also considered a curative or health practice.  A new spa water borehole was sunk to provide a supply of clean, safe water for drinking in the Pump Room.  The neo-classical Grand Pump Room salon is still used for both taking the waters and for social functions.

The first shrine at the hot springs was built by the Celts.  The Romans constructed a temple (60-70 AD) and the bathing complex was gradually building over a period of about 300 years.  The baths have been modified several different times due to disrepair after the Roman withdrawal, flooding and silting.  In 1810 it was thought that the Hot Springs were failing or had failed but upon investigation it was discovered that the water had changed course.  Once the water was re-directed to its original course the baths filled in less time.

The museum houses artifacts from the Roman period including the remains of an elaborate hypocaust heating system that served the sweat rooms.   It is a little hard to imagine how large these bathing rooms were.  I have not been to these in Bath, but the Cluny Museum in Paris is built over old Roman Baths.  One is marked as a Roman bath outside the building but not labeled hot, cold or medium. The frigidarium or cold water bath, the warm and hot water rooms are identified and located on the lower level of what is currently the museum.  Perhaps the picture below from the Cluny will provide some perspective on size.  Originally there must have been walls like a modern swimming pool around the room edges but those no longer exist.  As far as we could tell the windows do not date from the Roman times but were added later.

 Roman Bath, Cluny Museum, Paris, France

These postcards were among those in a group of travel cards shared by J & K and much appreciated.  Thanks!

For more information and additional photographs, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Baths_(Bath)