The King's Bath

Image: © Alan Walker Taken: Unknown

  Although much altered since, the King’s Bath was built in the 12th century within the remains of the earlier Roman building and using the lower walls of the Roman Spring building as foundations. Thermal (46.9°C) spring water rises in this pool at a rate of some 1,170,000 litres a day. This photograph (taken during the summer of 1974) shows the Kings Bath filled as if for use. It was in this pool that 'The Roman Rendezvous' was held. This event started during the Bath Festival in 1962 where, for a 5 shilling ticket, members of the public were allowed to swim in the pool and then join in the dancing in the Pump Room. The water has a greenish tinge because of the algae produced by the water's exposure to daylight. At the date of writing this comment the water level is much lower than shown here. Visitors today will see a definite change in the colour of the stone showing where the 1970's water level used to be. - - - See also these photographs by: Colin Smith: Image (1998), Colin Madge: Image (2008) and Steve Daniels: Image (2010). - - - Sources and other Web pages of interest: Bath In Time: http://www.bathintime.co.uk/image.php?id=312520&idx=6&fromsearch=true Pbase: http://www.pbase.com/seebee/image/22363836 CityOfBath.co.uk: http://www.cityofbath.co.uk/history/body_kingsqueensbath.html CityOfBath.co.uk: http://www.cityofbath.co.uk/romanbaths/body_kingsbathinbath.html The Roman Baths: http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/walkthrough/the_roman_site/the_kings_bath.aspx Hulton Archive/Getty Images: http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/84771755/Hulton-Archive Waymarking.com: http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM45BB_Kings_Bath_Bath_England_UK - - - This is a scanned image of a 35mm slide taken during the summer of 1974.

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