The Cross Bath in Bath Street,

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, is a historic pool for bathing. The surrounding structure of the pool was built, in the style of

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

by Thomas Baldwin by 1784 and remodelled by John Palmer in 1789. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and was restored during the 1990s by Donald Insall Associates.

Geology

The water which bubbles up from the ground at Bath, fell as rain on the nearby

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the River Frome, Somerset ...

. It percolates down through limestone

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

s to a depth of between and where geothermal energy raises the water temperature to between and . Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone. This process is similar to an artificial one known as Enhanced Geothermal System which also makes use of the high pressures and temperatures below the Earth's crust. Hot water at a temperature of rises here at the rate of every day, from a geological fault (the Pennyquick fault).

History

The name Cross Bath is believed to commemorate the body of St

Aldhelm Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex ...

resting there on its journey from

Doulting Doulting is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361, in the county of Somerset, England. History The parish of Doulting was part of the Whitstone Hundred. The parish includes the village of Bodden, which was founded ...

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English religious houses with a continuous history from the 7th century throug ...

in 709. The healing powers of the bath were one of the reasons for the foundation of

St John's Hospital, Bath St John's Foundation was established in 1174 as St John's Hospital in Bath, Somerset, England, by Bishop Reginald Fitz Jocelin. It is among the oldest almshouses in England. The current building was erected in 1716 and has been designated as a G ...

around 1180, by Bishop

Reginald Fitz Jocelin Reginald Fitz Jocelin (died 26 December 1191) was a medieval Bishop of Bath and an Archbishop of Canterbury-elect in England. A member of an Anglo-Norman noble family, he was the son of a bishop, and was educated in Italy. He was a househol ...

, which is among the oldest

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s in England. In the 16th to 18th centuries the baths were frequently visited by royalty, increasing their popularity. In June 1688,

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena (; ) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James VII and II. A devout Catholic, Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was t ...

, wife of King James II, gave birth to a son, Prince James nine months after bathing in the Cross Bath. The Melfort Cross, was erected in 1688 to celebrate the birth. The structure surrounding the bath was built by Thomas Baldwin in 1784 and remodelled by John Palmer in 1789. The bath was refurbished in the 1990s, by Donald Insall Associates. Access is now administered in conjunction with the adjacent Thermae Bath Spa.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures completed in 1789 Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Ancient Roman baths Roman town of Bath Roman religious sites in England Spa waters Tourist attractions in Bath, Somerset 1789 establishments in England Public baths in the United Kingdom Mary of Modena 18th century in Bath, Somerset

Geology

History

See also

Further reading

References