LXXXV. Some Account of the new Hot and Cold Baths at 
Ramsgate. By A ConnEsponDeENtT. 
IL has been remarked by intelligent travellers, that of all the 
situations on the coast of Great Britain, frequented for the pur- 
pose of sea-bathing, no where are the two great requisites 
of salubrity of climate and picturesqueness of scenery more 
strikingly united than in the isle of Thanet. The beautiful 
district of rising ground known by that name, is the most eastern 
point of land in England, and consists of a solid mass of chalk 
shelving into the German Ocean, above the level of which it is 
considerably raised, forming a romantic peninsula, having four- 
fifths of its boundary washed by the sea. 
In consequence of the immense beds of calcareous matter 
which compose this peninsula, the air is remarkably pure and 
free from moisture; as an effect of the rapid absorption of hu- 
midity by the soil, no stagnant water is to be met with, and the 
rain which falls disappears so rapidly, that the most delicate in- 
valid may walk out with perfect safety immediately after the 
ynost copious shower. 
The town of Ramsgate, which stands on the southern side of 
the island, enjoys all these advantages in a very eminent degree. 
From being built in a valley formed by an indentation in the 
cliff, somewhat in the manner of an amphitheatre, open to- 
wards the sea, it is completely screened from the cold winds to 
which the towns on the opposite side are exposed. Its sheltered 
situation promotes that luxuriant vegetation in the town and its 
immediate neighbourhood, which forms a striking contrast to the 
bleak and monotonous scenery of other bathing places. 
Notwithstanding the great number of persons, however, who 
annually visit Ramsgate for bathing and recreation, in conse- 
quence of its excellent beach and various other attractions, no 
establishment on a scale adequate to the rising importance of 
the place, has been hitherto formed for hot sea-water bathing. A 
building, from the designs of Mr. Meikleham, has therefore been 
lately erected at Ramsgate for warm sea-water bathing, which, 
from the scientific nature of its construction and arrangement, 
promises to be one of the greatest acquisitions to the public, 
since the introduction of the warm baths into England, 
» The new baths are situated on the west cliff at Ramsgate, 
and at an elevation of one hundred and ten feet above the level 
of the sea: they range with the other buildings of the Paragon, 
having the space between the front and the cliff laid out as a 
promenade. (Plate III.) 
A horizontal tunnel has been excavated in the rock, running 
: y at & 
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