Roman Baths and Pump Room
Once considered the finest baths in the Roman Empire, the Roman Baths & Pump Room are a unique preservation of Roman engineering and underline the illustrious history of Bath .
The springs that feed the baths originate in the Mendip Hills and, collecting mineral salts along their way, well up deep beneath Bath before emerging at a temperature of 46 degrees centigrade. Legend has it their curative properties were found by a Bronze Age swineherd in 860 BC who, following his pigs wallowing in the mud, was cured of leprosy. The Romans subsequently developed the spa from the 1st Century AD and over the next 300 years, Bath was the most celebrated spot for a dip and a paddle in the Roman Empire. However when the Romans left, the baths were gradually lost in the mists of antiquity, only to be uncovered in the 18th Century, by workmen digging a sewer, who were no doubt quite surprised to unearth a bronze head of the goddess Minerva! Extensive excavations were undertaken and in 1881 the Great Bath itself was found, still lined with the lead and with the same piping system the Romans put in place centuries earlier.
The open-air site of the Great Bath has been carefully restored to much of its former glory and is surrounded by 19th Century arcading. Tours take you around the ruins of the Temple of Sulis Minerva and recently excavated East Baths. The adjacent Museum houses artefacts excavated from the site including the temple altar, a carving of a Gorgon's head from the temple façade and the bronze head of Minerva.
The Pump Room dates back to the Georgian regeneration of the baths and was used to accommodate opulent balls and high society functions and is decked out with colonnades and chandeliers and a musician's gallery. Today this is still a function area and elegant restaurant in conjunction with the modern Thermae Bath Spa; visitors can sample the waters of the spa and unwind in the opulent surroundings of the Pump Room.
This attraction is included in the Great British Heritage Pass.
