England Road Trip Part 2: Bath

Our next spot on our England road trip was Bath.  Bath's namesake comes from the natural hot springs here.  When the Roman Empire ruled here, it was a fashionable spot for people to come and enjoy a Roman bath spa experience.  Today, it's still just as fashionable and still a spot for spa treatments (though not at the Roman Baths site due to concerns about the water quality).  The site of the Roman Baths has been modified many times over the centuries and built on top of each other, but the street level buildings were built during the 19th century.  The Celts dedicated the springs to their goddess Sulis.  When the Romans invaded, they named the town around the springs Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") and decided that Sulis was a Celtic version of Minerva (so locally she became Sulis Minerva).  A Roman temple was built here around 60-70 AD and dedicated to Sulis Minerva.

We got audio tours and could listen to people interpreting the baths for us as if they were ancient Romans.  In Roman times there was a rounded roof over the main pool that rose to a height of about 20 meters - for many visitors, it may have been the largest building they had ever entered. 

The architecture was cool around the main pool, but I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't from Roman times.

 

 

There were statues situated around the rim of the deck over the main pool.  They each represented a particular famous Roman figure in the eyes of the 19th century designers of the Baths.  Having Bath Abbey in the background next to the Roman Baths makes for a pretty location.

 

 

 

I personally got more excited going down to the museum portion and the original depths of the baths as they were in Roman times.  This is a reassembly of the original stones from a pediment that stood over the 1st century temple.  The figure in the middle is known as the Gorgon's Head, but as gorgons in Greek and Roman mythology were all female (Medusa being the most famous), this one is obviously male.  Some believe this is actually a depiction of Oceanus (a sea god), the Green Man (a figure from Celtic mythology), or a local Celtic sun god.  Snakes entwined in the beard give a nod toward the gorgon Medusa - fitting since she was beheaded by Perseus and her head was affixed to Athena's Aegis shield and the site of the Baths was a temple to Minerva (Roman version of Athena).  Other aspects of the pediment facade have similar nods to Athena/Minerva like owls.  Ultimately, it would seem that the pediment is a fusion of Celtic and Roman iconography.

 

This is a gilt bronze head of Minerva from a statue that was at the Bath temple site.  It was apparently deliberately damaged at some point in later antiquity possibly by barbarians or Christian zealots.  One of the more entertaining sections of the museum was dedicated to curse tablets.  People at the baths could inscribe curses in metal tablets and toss them into the spring in supplication to Sulis Minerva to carry out justice for whatever wrong was done.  At the baths, the common crime was theft, often of clothing that was taken presumably while the owners were bathing.  Some of the creativity in the curses was admirable and also a possible indication of anger management issues.

• Solinus to the goddess Sulis Minerva. I give to your divinity and majesty [my] bathing tunic and cloak. Do not allow sleep or health to him who has done me wrong, whether man or woman or whether slave or free unless he reveals himself and brings those goods to your temple.
• Docimedis has lost two gloves and asks that the thief responsible should lose their minds [sic] and eyes in the goddess' temple.
• May he who carried off Vilbia from me become liquid as the water. May she who so obscenely devoured her become dumb. 

 

Here's the original source of the spring down in the depths of the Baths museum.  Naturally hot water rises from here at a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius (114.8 degrees Fahrenheit). The Romans used different rooms and pools for different purposes.  They had changing rooms, saunas, massage rooms, etc.  The caldarium was the hottest and had an innovative system of channels under the floor where hot coals were placed to heat the floor tiles called a hypocaust.  Water was routed through and turned into steam that came up through vents in the brick floor.  Temperatures in the caldarium reached 120 degrees F or more with near 100% humidity.  This was designed to open up your pores and cleanse you from impurities.  After that, bathers would go to the frigidarium where they would plunge into the cold pool and close off their pores.  I think the temperature shock of moving between these extremes would be too much for me.

 

 

We also got to drink some of the spring mineral water.  I wasn't overly impressed with the taste, but I'm glad I tried it - I can now say I have drank Bath water.  After the Baths, we visited Bath Abbey.  This Anglican church as it stands today opened in 1611, though a monastery started on the site in the 7th century.

I was impressed by the stone work with all the statues surrounding the cathedral.  It is famous for its depiction of Jacob's Ladder outside the front entrance with angelic statues going up to heaven and down to the Lord's people.

Inside it is noteworthy for the fan vaulting ceiling.  In addition to providing an interesting and beautiful architectural detail, the different blades/ribbons of the fan at the ceiling help distribute the weight of the tall ceiling and direct it toward the walls and support columns.  There are 52 windows, most with stained glass, to let in plenty of light.  The cathedral regularly hosts concerts and other performers in addition to being an active place of worship.  We were lucky to be there while a group was practicing an upcoming performance of show tunes from Broadway (well West End anyway since we were in England) musicals.  They were talented and we enjoyed sitting through them practicing.

In 975, Bath Abbey was the site of the coronation of King Edgar as the first King of all England.  They had a section with dress up clothes that Lydia and Derek enjoyed dressing up as royalty and re-enacting the coronation scene.

After the abbey, we continued our walk around sites in Bath.  This is Pulteney Bridge, completed in 1774, and designed to connect the city of Bath to land on the other side that was slated for development as the city grew.  Bath sits along the River Avon.  We learned a fun fact that there are so many rivers in England named Avon (and they don't all connect).  In Welsh, the word "afon" means "river", so "avon" likely came from an ancestor Celtic word.  I envision early cartographers and explorers asking locals about different landmarks and learning their names.  When they asked what the river was called, the locals would say "avon" meaning river.  This led to so many River Rivers throughout the area.

I liked this archway and the carved face at the top of it.

This is the Royal Crescent, home to 30 large townhomes arrayed in a crescent shape, and one of the most well known examples of Georgian architecture built between 1767 and 1775.  The crescent opens up onto a nice lawn that is set above the "riff raff" in the lower Royal Victoria Park.  Today, while some of the homes are still private residences, it now holds a 5-star hotel as well as a museum.

Tanja's eye was hurting this day so she borrowed my hat to block some of the sun.  I wish she were able to see more of Bath as it was a very beautiful city.  We continued our walk and found Jane Austen's former apartment, the Circus (a landmark of buildings arranged in a circle with a park in the middle) where we stood in the middle and clapped to hear the echo, and nice parks.

This Bentley parked on the street of the Royal Crescent is an indication of how fancy the area was.

After Bath, we visited the Farleigh Hungerford Castle.  This castle was built in the 1370s and expanded in the 15th century.  Most of it is in ruins now, but it was fun to explore.

The chapel was probably the best preserved portion of the complex.  Above the window is the Hungerford coat of arms and the painting to the right depicts St. George slaying the dragon (both paintings circa 17th century).  The silly boy in the foreground is Derek (circa 2025).

Once Derek got going exploring, it took a while to convince him to leave (he's down by the tower ruins below).

Karina took a break from reading for this picture.

I had never heard of this castle, but since we got a Heritage pass, we had free entry and I'm glad we took advantage of it. 

We then made our way back to our first rental we stayed at on our road trip.  Our home base for this portion was a cute shepherd's cottage in a small town called Vobster.  I liked the colorful flowers, but wished it had air conditioning.

It did have a hot tub heated by a wood fire which was a neat feature.  It was on the property of an inn with a pub along with a few other similar cottages and a couple yurts.  Some might consider it glamping.  I thought it was charming.