Tuesday 28 April 2015

Roman Bath?

Reading other people's blogs, I'm loving hearing about so many museums that I've never heard of before. Like the Flora Twort Gallery mentioned by Lisa in her post, 'Day Tripping' to Petersfield, read it here. That is now on my 'to visit' list.
Then there are the places you didn't even know existed until you stumbled upon them in a city you thought you knew quite well.
Like the National Trust Roman Bath just off the Strand, London.


I was heading to Two Temple Place with a friend, you can read about our visit here, when we spotted this small sign above an archway. 'ROMAN BATH, DOWN STEPS TURN RIGHT'.
So we did.


And found ourselves in Strand Lane, a tiny alleyway, at The National Trust Roman Baths.
Walking down these deserted alleyways, if it wasn't for the sign, it kind of felt like we were discovering this two thousand year old Roman relic ourselves. 


These baths are 'said' to be Roman.
But the bricks used to build them are more like Tudor bricks
and it lies four foot six below ground level, Roman remains would usually be deeper. 


The first written record of these Roman Baths dates back to 1784, a "fine antique bath" in the cellar of a house in Norfolk Street in The Strand. And "William Wedell, a collector, died from a sudden internal chill when bathing there in 1792".
Dickens mentioned them too, in 1850. David Copperfield took many cold plunges in the old Roman Baths, "at the bottom of one of the streets out of the Strand".


At the end of the 19th century, these cold plunging baths were recommended by the medical profession as "the most pure and healthy bath in London ensuring every comfort and convenience to those availing themselves of this luxury". 

Not so much luxury today, but still cold. They are fed by a stream, with the rate of flow being about two thousand gallons a day. I still think there's a risk of a 'sudden internal chill'.
And the windows could really do with a bit of a clean.

To see them you have to turn the lights on


and look through very misty, grubby windows.



They sit here silently, looking dormant, but there's a serious amount of water flowing through this pool.


Roman Baths?
Their origin is a mystery. I'll leave you with a challenge set by the National Trust,
"...meanwhile it is open to the visitor to believe that it is indeed a relic of Roman London or to accept some such theory as set out above".
If you're passing, check them out and make your own mind up.
And National Trust, if you're passing, please give those windows a clean.

12 comments:

  1. Hello Katharine, That is such a cool place. I would be on the phone right away to set up an appointment to see inside up close.

    I love when I am just walking and come across some small landmark or museum. London is crowded with them, but so is Taipei. That is one of the reasons I always try to take a different route when I walk places.
    --Jim

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  2. Not one that I'm familiar with - I'll put it on the list! I echo the the thoughts of your reader above - apart from the bit about Taipei. You'd think the NT could afford a bit of Windolene, wouldn't you?

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  3. Well I never!!! A new place on me and definitely not one that is featured majorly by the NT! One of the great things about blogging is finding new places to go to and seeing others that you will never get to in real life don't you think! xx

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  4. Wow! And now it's your turn to introduce me to a place I have never heard of before, but actually worked around the corner from a few years ago! :D

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  5. I wonder if the Victorians (and earlier) called them 'Roman' baths in the way that we used to call things 'Turkish' baths (before anyone had heard the word sauna). That would be enough to get it/them marked on maps and the name would just stick.
    Nice find though. And thanks for sharing it.

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  6. What an excellent little find, I hope someone from the NT read this and dispatch a window cleaner. Thank you for the mention!
    Lisa x

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  7. Fascinating Katherine, in your blog, London is a city of treasure and unexpected destinations. I love the 'sudden internal chill', there is no way I would be even so much as putting a toe in there! Brrr.

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  8. How amazing, and what a great find. I love the fact that David Copperfield went there to bathe! We had a similar experience in Rome, at the Piazza Navona, walking along and saw a small sign for a Roman archeological museum, went down to it, and saw excavations from beneath the original arena. We also felt we had gone back in historical time.

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  9. Well I never knew! That is a lovely little find that I shall add to my list for when I am next passing.

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  10. I saw this on Pinterest and thought of you.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/11268400/Londons-secret-sights-16-more-odd-attractions-you-never-knew-were-there.html?frame=3155191
    Lisa x

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  11. I saw this on Pinterest and thought of you.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/11268400/Londons-secret-sights-16-more-odd-attractions-you-never-knew-were-there.html?frame=3155191

    Lisa x

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  12. Hmm..interesting.. So many hidden treasures in the city of London. I'm glad they are protected so that they can be enjoyed for years to come!
    www.queenbcreativeme.blogspot.com

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