General History of Bath. 491 



was part of the possessions of the Priory, was used for 

 " fulling" cloth* 



Several fairs and a right of market were granted to the- 

 Priory and the citizens, the bridge over the Avon at the- 

 bottom of Southgate street was rebuilt on its Roman founda- 

 tions, and an attempt, unfortunately unsuccessful, was made 

 to enforce the removal of the weirs and other obstructions, 

 which prevented the river from being navigated between the- 

 city and Bristol. 



It is not necessary that we should here speak in detail of 

 the Baths. The mineral waters were well known during the 

 14th and 15th centuries, and there were several establish- 

 ments for the reception of the afflicted who resorted hither, 

 and who were principally the victims of leprosy and other' 

 skin diseases. But the existence of the thermal waters was- 

 not a factor in the prosperity of the city. 



All the contents of the monks' library were 



The Ruber ruthlcssly Scattered at the time of the Dissolu- 



Codex. ' 



tion. It contained a valuable copy of the 

 works of S. Anselm, which was forwarded by the Prior to- 

 Cromwell in 1545 at Henry's special command. One book 

 alone is known to be now extant. This is known as the 

 Ruber Codex Bathoni^. It is a manuscript note-book con- 

 taining a variety of memoranda as to Bath affairs, com- 

 mencing from the 14th century. 



This interesting book was preserved in Bath until 1703,. 

 and then became the property of Viscount Weymouth. It is; 

 now preserved in the Marquis of Bath's library, at Longleat. 

 The contents are not all of an historical nature, but include - 



* The idea that Bath was a manufacturing town survived the reahty. In- 

 1566 Sir Thomas White, a clothier, and some time Lord Mayor of London, 

 settled some property upon trust to make loans, without interest, to working: 

 clothiers in thirty-three different provincial towns, Bath being one of them.. 



