England: Somerset : Bath : Roman Baths

Town, Postcode, Attraction

The Roman Baths in the city of Bath are the city's most popular visitor attraction. The only natural hot springs in the United Kingdom of Great Britain first flourished in the first century and again in the fifth. During the Eighteenth Century Bath was in its heyday and underwent a dramatic transformation and many of the amazing buildings which appeared at that time remain today.

The Roman baths & pump rooms at Bath are among the finest examples in the whole of Europe. Today it is possible to walk on ancient pavements of stone around a hot steaming pool where once Romans relaxed and socialised. In fact the baths were the main place to meet in Roman times and were found in all of the most prominent Roman towns and cities. The richest members of Roman society would often visit the baths daily but even the poor would attend at least once a week. The baths were owned and maintained by the state and fees were kept at a low level to ensure they were accessible to all sectors of society. Many important social events of the day were held at the baths.

Virtually everybody knows that the Romans were incredibly technical and inventive. If you don't have much of a clue about Roman ingenuity then just watch the "what have the Romans ever given us" sketch in Monty Python's Life of Brian for a list of achievements.

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Roman Engineering

The engineering that went into the creation of Roman baths was considerably advanced for the time. The sense of public health issues were incredibly important to the Romans and they went to great lengths to implement their technologies for the benefit of the whole of society and this is clearly visible in the workings of the Roman Baths in Bath, England. The flowing heated water from the hot springs was brought up (from below ground) into the pools above through a clever system of pumps. Typically various equipment was made available for men to workout and train much like the health centres of today.

The photograph to the right shows the Roman overflow system for the baths at Bath. The way in which the spring forms means that the water reaches the temperature of 46 °C (114.8 °F) and the pressures created produces an upwards flow of well over a million litres a day. Such a huge volume of water needs to be redirected away from the baths and the centre of the city. The Roman solution was to create brick lined tunnels.

The overflow shown on the right displays the orange red colouring deposits/staining commonly seen throughout the system. The residue is actually iron from the water, as the water filters down through the limestone aquifers of the nearby Mendip Hills it picks up amounts of iron which are then deposited leaving the orange staining you can see.

The iron, and other minerals, found in the water from the springs is what is supposed to give the water its health promoting properties which made Bath such a popular place in the Eighteen Century. "Taking the waters" was an immensely popular pastime and "polite society" had a strict set of etiquete rules. Bath features in the writings of Jane Austen who lived in Bath at this time.

If you want to discover more places to visit please take a look at our main Bath page

Further down the page you will find listings of accommodation near to the Roman Baths

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Location

Junction 9 of M60, then follow the signs to quays.

Contact

Roman Baths
Abbey Church Yard
Bath
BA1 1LZ

Tel: + 44 (0) 1225 477 785
Fax: +44 (0) 1225 477 743
Email: romanbaths_bookings@bathnes.gov.uk

Site: www.romanbaths.co.uk

Opening

Jan-Feb & Nov-Dec 9.30am-4.30pm
Mar-June & Sept-Oct 9.00am-5.00pm
July-Aug 9.00am-9.00pm
Last exit 1 hour after close

Facilities

Toilets
Shop

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Hotels & Accommodation Near The Roman Baths

(Closest to Baths first)

Name	Miles	Location	Guest Rating	Star
Laura's Townhouse Apartments Abbey House, Abbey Green , Bath, BA1 1NR Apartments from: £125.00*	0	Bath		4*
Parade Park 8,9,10 North Parade , Bath City Centre, BA2 4AL Rooms from: £49.00*	0.1	Bath City Centre		3*
Abbey Hotel City Centre 1 North Parade , Bath, BA1 1LF Rooms from: £51.00*	0.1	Bath		3*
Saco Bath St James Parade 31-40 St. James'S Parade , Bath, BA1 1UH Rooms from: £94.00*	0.1	Bath		4*
Pratts Hotel 4-8 South Parade, Bath, BA2 4AB Rooms from: £60.00* Pet Friendly	0.2	Bath		3*
The Griffin Inn Monmouth Street , Bath, BA1 2AP Rooms from: £64.00*	0.2	Bath		4*
Mercure Bath Francis Hotel 6-12 Queen Square , Bath, BA1 2HH Rooms from: £80.00* Pet Friendly	0.2	Bath		3*
Hilton Bath City Hotel Walcot Street, Bath, BA1 5BJ Rooms from: £105.00*	0.2	Bath		4*
The Royal Hotel Manvers Street, Bath, BA1 1JP Rooms from: £90.00*	0.3	Bath		3*
Kennard Hotel 11 Henrietta Street , Bath, BA2 6LL Rooms from: £58.00*	0.3	Bath		4*
The Windsor 69 Great Pulteney Street , Bath City Centre, BA2 4DL Rooms from: £109.00*	0.3	Bath City Centre		5*
The Bath House Luxury Apartments The Apartments 17 and 18 James Street West, Bath, BA1 2BT Rooms from: £129.00*	0.4	Bath		4*
Bath Paradise House 86-88 Holloway, Bath, BA2 4PX Rooms from: £79.00*	0.4	Bath		5*
Amberley House B B 25 Pulteney Gardens , Bath, BA2 4HG Rooms from: £68.00*	0.4	Bath		3*
The Queensberry Hotel Russell Street, Bath, BA1 2QF Rooms from: £99.00*	0.4	Bath		3*
Crescent Guesthouse Crescent Guest House 21 Crescent Gardens, Bath, BA1 2NA Rooms from: £80.00*	0.4	Bath		4*
Chestnuts House 16 HENRIETTA ROAD , Bath, BA2 6LY Rooms from: £79.00* Pet Friendly	0.5	Bath		5*
Bay Tree House 12 CRESCENT GARDENS , BATH, BA1 2NA Rooms from: £75.00*	0.5	Bath	N/A	2*
Brooks Guesthouse 1 Crescent Gardens Upper Britsol Road, Bath, BA1 2NA Rooms from: £75.00*	0.5	Bath		4*
Bath Star Apartments Lower Ground Floor,17 Belvedere, Lansdown Road, , Bath , BA1 5ED Rooms from: £79.00*	0.5	Bath		3*
One Three Nine 139 Wells Road, Bath, BA2 3AL Rooms from: £85.00*	0.5	Bath		5*
Queen Charlottes Orangery 93a Sydney Place, Bath, BA2 6NE Rooms from: £115.00*	0.5	Bath		4*
Roban House 26 Lower Oldfield Park , Bath, BA2 3HP Rooms from: £75.00*	0.5	Bath		4*
Marlborough House 1 Marlborough Lane, Bath, BA1 2NQ Rooms from: £125.00* Pet Friendly	0.5	Bath		4*
Highways House 143 Wells Road, Bath, BA2 3AL Rooms from: £72.00*	0.5	Bath		4*
Oldfields 102 Wells Road , BATH, BA2 3AL Rooms from: £59.00*	0.5	Bath		4*
The Garden Studio The Garden Studio, STONERIDGE, FOREFIELD RISE, BATH, BA2 4PL Apartment from: £110.00*	0.5	Bath	N/A	4*
The Royal Crescent and The Bath House – Relais Châteaux 16 Royal Crescent , Bath, BA1 2LS Rooms from: £195.00* Pet Friendly	0.6	Bath		5*
Express by Holiday Inn Bath Brougham Hayes, Bath, BA2 3QU Rooms from: £92.00* Pet Friendly	0.6	Bath		3*
Greenways 1 Forester Road Bathwick, Bath, BA2 6QF Rooms from: £80.00*	0.6	Bath		3*
Dorian House 1 Upper Oldfield Park, Bath, BA2 3JX Rooms from: £99.00*	0.6	Bath		5*
Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel Sydney Road , Bath, BA2 6JF Rooms from: £110.00*	0.7	Bath		5*
Wentworth House Hotel 106 Bloomfield Road, Bath, BA2 2AP Rooms from: £65.00*	0.8	Bath		2*
Bloomfield House 146 Bloomfield Road , Bath, BA2 2AS Rooms from: £75.00* Pet Friendly	1.0	Bath		4*
Lavender House 17 BLOOMFIELD PARK , BATH, BA22BY Rooms from: £110.00*	1.0	Bath	N/A	4*
Bodhi House Bodhi House 31A Englishcombe Lane, Bath, BA2 2EE Rooms from: £90.00*	1.1	Bath		4*
Grosvenor Lodge Grosvenor Place London Road , Bath, Ba1 6ba Rooms from: £110.00*	1.2	Bath	N/A	4*
Ashley Villa 26 Newbridge Road , Bath, BA1 3JZ Rooms from: £55.00*	1.3	Bath		4*
Weston Lawn Lucklands Road, Bath, BA1 4AY Rooms from: £70.00*	1.5	Bath		4*
Three Abbey Green 3 ABBEY GREEN , BATH, BA1 1NW Rooms from: £105.00*	0.1	Bath		4*
Haringtons Hotel City Centre 8-10 Queen Street, Bath City, BA1 1HE Rooms from: £79.00*	0.2	Bath City		3*
Waterfront House Flat 8 Waterfront House, BATH, BA2 3DQ Apartments from: £120.00*	0.3	Bath		3*
Montreux House Bath Apartments 17a James St West , Bath, BA1 2BT Rooms from: £89.00*	0.3	Bath		4*
The Bath House Luxury B B 40 CRESCENT GARDENS , BATH, BA1 2NB Rooms from: £95.00*	0.4	Bath		4*
Number 30 30 Crescent Gardens , BATH, BA1 2NB Rooms from: £105.00*	0.4	Bath		4*
Lynwood House 6 Pulteney Gardens , Bath, BA2 4HG Rooms from: £45.00*	0.4	Bath		4*
Burlington Street Apartment 13 BURLINGTON STREET , BATH, BA1 2SA	0.5	Bath	N/A	3*
Cheriton House 9 Upper Oldfield Park, Bath, BA2 3JX Rooms from: £65.00*	0.6	Bath	N/A	5*
Villa Claudia 19 FORESTER ROAD Bathwick, BATH, BA2 6QE Rooms from: £100.00*	0.7	Bath		4*
Grove Lodge 11 Lambridge , Bath, BA1 6BJ Rooms from: £59.00*	1.2	Bath		4*

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