The Roman Bath is a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
in
St Sampson's Square, in the city of
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
, in England. It is built above an ancient
Roman bath house. The remains were uncovered during building work when the present pub was erected in 1929–31 replacing an inn. The exterior has
Tudor Revival features including applied half-timbering. The pub is however more notable for the Roman remains which can be viewed inside.
The bath house apparently served the military personnel of
Eboracum (Roman York). Not only was the facility in Eboracum's fortress (built in the 1st century AD to house a
legion of about 5,000 men),
but also tiles have been discovered at the bath house site which are marked with the identity of specific legions. The
Ninth may have constructed the facility. The last attested activity of the Ninth in Britain is in AD 108.
Baths dating from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD have been excavated at
Tanner Row on the other side of the
River Ouse: these are believed to have served the civilian population of York.
Access and conservation
The pub is a
Grade II* listed building.
It was listed in 1954, relatively early for a pub from the interwar period.
[ In 2015, Historic England listed a number of interwar pubs at which time it was noted that relatively few such buildings survived unaltered. See ] This suggests that the existence of Roman ruins was the main reason for listing.
The Roman remains may be visited. A fee is payable.
The
caldarium and some other features of the baths are visible.
Some of the other facilities would have been outside the corner site occupied by the pub: much of the baths have yet to be excavated. The site as a whole is protected through its location within the
walled city of York, designated as an 'Area of Archaeological Importance' (AAI) under Part 2 of the 1979
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act.
See also
There are other examples in the UK of Roman baths serving forts, for example the infrastructure at
Caerleon, also a legionary fortress, where there was a
frigidarium,
tepidarium and caldarium, as well as an open-air swimming pool.
in St Albans, is also built above a bath house, but the Roman remains are not on display.
References
External links
{{commons category, Roman Bath public house, York
Ancient Roman baths in England
Grade II* listed pubs in York
Archaeological museums in England
History museums in North Yorkshire
Museums in York
Tudor Revival pubs