[141] 



^be IRoinan Batba at Batb. 



By Major C. E. Davis, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. Soc. Ant, London. 



THE following is a short account of the discovery lately made 

 by me of the Ancient Baths and other remains in the city 

 of Bath : these form the most remarkable relics that have 

 hitherto been discovered, of the occupation of Britain by the 

 Romans. 



In 1878, the Corporation decided to purchase what was known 

 as the Kingston Hot Springs, etc. In making the excavations ne- 

 cessary to reach, if possible, the actual source of the Springs them- 

 selves, there was uncovered a work of surprising grandeur — the 

 Roman enclosure of these hot springs — built to enclose the various 

 sources within that area, and forming an irregular octagonal well, 

 50 ft. in length ; its walls 3 ft. 6 in. high, above the foundations ; 

 and when found was for the most part cased within with lead, 

 weighing not less than 30 lbs. to the square foot. A part of this 

 lead has been since sold, and a large portion of it was found to 

 be bruised and broken by the falling-in of the columns and roof; 

 indeed, the whole area of the springs was filled with Roman tiles 

 and masonry, sand, and organic remains, on which rests the 

 mediaeval floor of the bath now known as the King's Bath. There 

 were also found two square pedestals of stone marked with Roman 

 numerals, several broken shafts of columns, on one of which was 

 a deposit of iron pyrites, a large quantity of bones, some of them 

 of animals now extinct, as the Bos primige?iius, nails, and timber. 



But the greatest discovery of all, was that of a large Bath, with 

 a portion of its surrounding buildings. This appears to have been 

 connected on the north-west with the octagonal well just men- 

 tioned, by a channel or culvert, which conveyed the mineral 

 water into the Bath. The entire enclosure belonging to this 

 Great Bath, and forming its hall, is iii ft. long by 6d> ft. wide. 

 It lies east and west. There are three recesses, or exedrcE^ on the 

 north and south sides, the outer two of which were semi-circular, 

 and the centre recess rectangular. In these recesses were seats, 



