1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



349 



chamber is worked into an octagon by means of 

 arclies !it tlie aiifjles of tlie boundary walls, and 

 the whole is crowned by a hemispherical dome. 

 The floor of the bath is paved with marble slabs, 

 and the sides, up to the balustrade, are lined 

 with Dutch tiles. Tlie dome is of brick, orna- 

 niejited with coffers executed in plaster. 



To the uninitiated alone is it necessary to re- 

 mark, tliat Sir C. Wren has invested his buildiiug 

 with an ap|iropriate character; the interior, wliich 

 is beautiful, is stamped with an air of tran([uility 

 and cheerfulness liighly characteristic of the use 

 to whicli it is designed. Not only is the general 

 sdieme admirably conceived, but every detail, both 

 for usefulness and beauty, minutely attended to; 

 thus, the niches in the room itself are ornamental 

 seats; those in the sides of the plunging bath are 

 principally for the pui-pose of breaking the action 

 of the water, and preventing the latter from 

 spreading into the room wlien agitated by the 

 bathers; rings, for the purpose of holding-on in 

 the water, are so placed as to become real orna- 

 ments. A well-modelled lion's head conceals the 

 spout which admits the flowing stream; another 

 similar head masks the opening to a drain which 

 conveys away all grease and oiliness which are 

 apt to collect on the surface of a bath. There 

 was originally no aperture in the wall of the cham- 

 ber to admit light; hence a sense of security as 

 well as of seclusion was created, by which the 

 pleasure of the bath is greatly enhanced; the 

 dome — gracefully panelled — alone admitted the 

 light. The cornice to the chamber bears the im- 

 press of thought and study, the individual mould- 

 ings being so modified as to render them applicable 

 to an interior only. In short, to whatever point our 

 attention is directed in this unpretending and 

 diarming building, studious care and propriety of 

 motive are conspicuous, and, like all the works of 

 Sir Christopher Wren, this building of 200 years' 

 standing is still a model to future times. 



To many this bath is well known, it being in 

 full operation: to too many it is unknown. The 

 publication of the building may therefore be con- 

 sidered in some respects as a disinterment of a 

 monument of taste and utility. The City of Lon- 

 don abounds with hidden ornaments of this kiiul. 

 As the ivy is wont to grow round noble trees, veil- 

 ing the beauty of the latter, so many noble struc- 

 tures of by-gone times are concealed by the brick 



Flan of Bath. 



Profile of Cornice. 



and mortar incrustations of this latter age; and as it is the duty of a vigilant gardener to free the stems from parasytical plants, so 

 is it the duty of the architect to pierce through those excrescences which, through time and necessity, have encumbered the 

 choice fruits of architectural genius. 



A. W. H.^KEwiLr,. 

 Loudon^ October Wth, 1830. 



