September 8, 2015 - Bath, England

We took the train from Oxford to Bath this morning so we could see the Roman Baths and tour this beautiful city. When we arrived, we purchased the “Hop-on, Hop-off” bus tour tickets which also gave us an addition 10% discount on the Spa Museum tickets. If I haven’t mentioned it before, things are expensive in England, so we were happy with an additional discount!
Just across from the train station we caught the bus and took the tour of the City Center. One of the interesting areas we went through is known as “The Circus.” There are three curved buildings which were designed by John Wood the Elder, who also designed Queen Square in Bath. He died three months into the construction (1754), however, his son, John Wood the Younger, completed the project in 1768.

Wood was always fascinated by prehistoric stone circles, taking the Roman Coliseum as inspiration for his design. Notice all the columns?

The grassy area with trees in the center of The Circus was once a reservoir that supplied water to the surrounding houses, although this became a garden for the residents in the 1800s.

One of the things you notice when touring Bath is that most of the buildings are constructed from “Bath stone,” a type of limestone found nearby. It is grey to yellowish in color and still used today in construction around Bath.
One of the last sights on the tour before touring the Bath Spa Museum was the Pulteney Bridge. It is one of a handful of historic bridges in the world with shops built into it along the street-side.
William Johnstone Pulteney wanted a bridge to connect central Bath to land on the other bank of the River Avon where he had property. He saw the potential to develop the area in order to make his fortune. Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, (1729 – 1805), was a Scottish advocate, landowner and politician. He was reputedly the wealthiest man in the Great Britain.In spite of the bridge’s practical origins, it is supposed to be one of the most romantic bridges in the world.The view down river from the bridge is really interesting – there are three “steps” before a larger waterfall in the river. Needless to say, the boats do not go downstream!

On to the Roman Baths Museum!
The museum tour was really fascinating. It is self-guided using an audio guide, so we could stop anywhere and check things out for as long as we wanted. When I visited in 1997, the tour was guided and only about 45 minutes long. Tobey and I spent well over 2 hours!

According to legend, Prince Bladud was cured of leprosy after bathing in the hot muddy waters here. In gratitude, he founded the city of Bath around the springs in 863 BC! There are three hot springs beneath the city; the King’s Spring, supplying the Roman Baths; and the Hetling and Cross Springs, which can be bathed in at Thermae Bath Spa.
In 43 AD, the Romans started the development of 'Aquae Sulis' as a sanctuary of rest and relaxation, not a garrison town like most Roman settlements.

The Great Bath is a massive pool, lined with 45 sheets of lead, and filled with hot spa water. It once stood in an enormous barrel-vaulted hall that rose to a height of 40 meters. For many Roman visitors this may have been the largest building they had ever entered in their life.

The bath is 1.6 meters deep, which was ideal for bathing, and has steps leading down on all sides. Niches around the baths would have held benches for bathers and possibly small tables for drinks or snacks. A large flat slab of stone is set across the point where hot water flows into the bath. It is known today as the diving stone.
It is amazing that the Roman Baths were not discovered and explored until the late nineteenth century!

The Terrace which overlooks the Great Bath and is lined with Victorian statues of Roman emperors and governors of Britain. They were carved in advance of the grand opening of the Roman Baths in 1897. The view from the Terrace one of the first views we had, but it is less than a quarter of the entire site!

The Roman Baths extends under the modern ground level, beneath adjacent streets and squares.

More of our tour took us underground to see several of the other archeological finds here.

There is a section of the Temple Pediment which was found here. The pediment carries the image of a fearsome head carved in Bath stone and it is thought to be the Gorgon’s Head, which was a powerful symbol of the goddess, Sulis Minerva.
In another room was a gold sculpture of the Goddess Minerva.
The gilt bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva was discovered in 1727. It was an early indication that the Roman site at Bath was not a typical settlement. The statue of the goddess would have stood within her Temple beside the Sacred Spring where she may have looked out across the Temple courtyard to the site of the great altar. The statue may be an original object from the foundation of the site – around 70AD! There are 6 layers of gilding – the first two are fire gilding and the last four are gold leaf.

There were so many interesting stone sculptures, sacrificial relics, and tombstones, my camera seemed to take on a life of its own snapping pictures! More than 17,500 coins were found buried in the corner of a nearby building dating back to 32BC – one of the largest ever found in a Roman town!
Part of the Roman bath house contained a large tepid bath fed by water that flowed through a pipe from the Great Bath. A series of heated rooms was developed here where bricks were stacked and a floor laid on top. Fires were burned under the floors to keep the rooms heated. Slaves and servants had to crawl under the floors – between the bricks – to remove the ashes! That is not a job I would have wanted!

The Spring overflow carries surplus water from the hot spring to the original Roman drain, then on to the River Avon. The Roman plumbing and drainage system is still largely in place and shows the ingenuity of the Roman engineers. Lead pipes were used to carry hot spa water around the site using gravity flow.

At the end of the tour we had the chance to taste the hot “Bath” water … which we did.They posted a sign of the water analysis to explain why the water has the taste it does. I don’t need to rush out and look for it in the stores – one taste was enough!

 
The Bath Abbey is located adjacent to the Spa Museum building. The architecture is incredibly beautiful.

After a late lunch, we took the Hop-on, Hop-off Skyline Tour which took us around a portion of the city and into the countryside surrounding the town. The views back over the city were quite lovely!

Our last stop in town before catching the train was Sally Lunn’s House. In 1680, Sally Lunn came to Bath from France and found work with a baker in Bath. She introduced the baker to the French brioche type breads, or buns, that became famous and were associated with her name. The upper levels of the house are a restaurant where you can still purchase the buns, and there is a small museum (1 room) in the basement.

The tiny museum houses several items from the 1680s, as well as pottery and glass dating back to the Roman and Saxon periods. This display shows what the bakery might have looked like during Sally Lunn’s life.

While these cupcakes were not at Sally Lunn’s, they were really cute!

We caught the 5:15 train back to Oxford and arrived home about 6:45, shortly before Tyler.

The new screen for my I-phone arrived in the mail and Tyler repaired it in about 15 minutes. YEAH!!! We went out to dinner then walked through the St. Gile’s FunFair. It is held the first Monday and Tuesday of September and was a HUGE street carnival! There were more large rides than our county fair and lots of carnival games.

There were hundreds of people enjoying the rides, games, and food that went on for about 6 blocks! We enjoyed seeing them before heading home. Another great day in England!