The lead in sheets (of about 10ft. by 5ft. square) was turned up at the edges and burnt, not soldered together, but these joints are in many cases now imperfect. This well secured bottom, or floor, appears to have been placed in position, rather to keep the hot water from ascending into the bath from the springs beneath than to make the bath water-tight. Enclosing the bath all round the four sides are six steps, the sixth landing the bather on the Schola, or platform. The riser of the bottom steps varies in depth from 15in. to 11in., with a tread of 14in., the next riser is 14in. with a tread of 11in., as also is the next step and the one following. The step above has a rise of 12in., and a tread of 14in. This step was scarcely covered with water, but it is evident the water flowed over it when bathers agitated it. The riser or the step above, 10in. to 12in., completes the flight and helped to keep the water within proper bounds, giving a total depth of 6ft. 8in. to the bath, and from 5ft. 9in. to 5ft. 11in. for the water. These steps are quite devoid of lead (except, in places, the riser of the lower step and at the north-west corner), and it is not clear whether they had at any time such a covering, although I am inclined to think so, as it evidently went beneath the piers and under the central pedestal. At the bottom step, in the north-east corner, was a bronze sluice. The frame of this sluice, with an opening of 13in. by 12in., I found in position when I excavated my way up the drain, but I was obliged to remove it in order to force my way into the bath. It has not been replaced, but is preserved in the Pump Room, and weighs more than 1 cwt. 2 qrs. An overflow was provided, immediately above the hatchway, by a grating 15in. wide that was doubtless of bronze also, but it had been removed, the stud-holes in the stones alone remaining.[16] The extreme surface of the water measured 82ft. 10in. by 40ft. 11in. and was a parallelogram, except that the north-western angle was cut off by the steps being carried obliquely in three tiers from the bottom a length of 7ft. at an angle of 39° with the western end. Resting on the platform, formed by these three steps, is a quarter circle pedestal,[17] on which stands a large stone 6ft. 8in. long and 9in. thick, over-hanging its base, and presenting a concave line towards the bath with an ovolo section in its thickness. This stone spans a large channel 2ft. 3in. wide, within which is fitted a very thick lead pipe, gradually narrowed horizontally and turned up under the ovolo concave stone. Through this aperture the mineral water was thrown into the bath in a sort of spray, so that it might be cooled in its passage. A deposit from the water is incrusted over the stone and pipe several inches in thickness, until the petrification entirely stopped the flow of water, which was then compelled to flow over instead of under the stone.[18] The water was conducted a distance of 38ft. in the thickness of the lower pavement (which I shall presently describe) of the Schola, the stone being removed a width of 2ft., the bed being concreted. On this was laid a lead pipe which filled the whole orifice, but, unfortunately, a length of 25ft. of it has been removed. This conduit takes a diagonal direction, and leads direct to the north-west angle of the hall, turning beneath a large doorway in the western wall, when it again resumes its original direction (the pipe, where perfect, is 1ft. 9in. by 7in. deep), as far as the outer surface of the wall of the octagon well. At this point the wall of the well is not original work, and the pipe is cut off. I have no doubt that it was at one time carried up vertically until it reached the level of the surface of the water of the well, which was about 2ft. 6in. higher at the least, thus giving a sufficient elevation to the "spray" into the bath. Another bronze hatchway, which must have been here, has been stolen in mediaeval times, its having been less than 2ft. below the bottom of the King's Bath making it accessible, whilst the 25ft. length of the lead pipe beneath the schola must have been stolen much earlier, and in all probability on the destruction of the baths in the sixth century. In addition to the arrangement for the supply of mineral water to the baths, which must have been capable of affording a flow of water, very nearly, if not exceeding, the yield of the spring, there was also another, which I have every reason to think was for the delivery of cold water, and conveyed in a lead tubular pipe of 2¼in. in diameter. A length of 25ft. 6in. of this pipe, in its original position, has been found and laid bare. It is made with a roll along the top, and burnt, as was usual before the invention of "drawn pipes." This pipe is particularly interesting as there are also in it two soldered joints at intervals of 9ft. in the method of making which we have clearly not improved on the work of our Roman predecessors. This pipe starts from the same point in the north-west angle of the hall as the other supply, and is sunk in the lower pavement of the schola, which (wanting the pipe) is continued to the centre of the north side of the bath, where stands a stone pedestal 3ft. 3in. long, 1ft. 6in. wide, and 2ft. 6in. high. This pedestal has small vertical rails, or balusters, at the angles and on the shorter sides, and that towards the bath has some appearance of having once had a tablet of either bronze or marble inserted in it. At the top is a circular hole 3½in. in diameter, through which the pipe previously mentioned must have passed. The upper portion of this pedestal is sculptured, and much mutilated, and appears to me to be the drapery covering the feet of a figure that has perished. It is true that the work bears some resemblance to a small recumbent figure; but if so it is not worthy of the name of sculpture, as it is in the worst taste, and altogether out of keeping with the architecture or the other sculpture we have found.[19] There are several grooves in the schola for branches of this pipe: 1st. The continuation of it to the northern semi-circular bath of 1755. 2nd. From the first soldered joint to baths on the north of the Great Bath. 3rd. Along the western end of the latter to baths on the south, and along the schola to the south circular bath of Lucas's. Beneath the mutilated sculpture is a second pedestal, or plinth, perfectly plain, with the upper surface sunk to a level corresponding with a similar indentation on the third step. Within this must have stood a marble on bronze sarcophagus, the base of which was 6ft. 9in. long by 2ft. 5in. wide. The water flowing through the aperture previously described would run into the sarcophagus (I use the word in its modern sense) and from it into the bath. This water was not poured in sufficient volume to perceptibly cool the bath, but was provided for the thirst of the bathers. In the modern baths of Bath there is no such provision.
The hall enclosing the bath I have already spoken of as 110ft. 4½in. long by 68ft. 5in. wide. It has been completely thrown open since this paper was read at the British and Gloucestershire Archæological Society, in 1884. These excavations are open to the sky, excepting on the east end (over which Abbey Street, at a height of 23ft. is carried on a viaduct, which I have erected).[20] The platform, or schola, surrounding the bath (measuring the original surface of the upper floor) is 13ft. 9in. wide on the four sides. This platform was formed by a layer of large freestone 9in. to 10in. thick, laid on the level of the top step but one, on a solid bed of concrete. Above this was another layer of concrete, and possibly on this, when the baths were first erected, a mosaic of tesseræ; but that, if it ever was there, has all disappeared, and its place has been supplied with paving, mostly of freestone also, of inferior thickness to the lower paving. Very little of this remains, and what there is is much fractured and worn; indeed not only is this paving much worn, but the lower paving also where the traffic was the greatest. I have given in the plan ([Pl. VIII.]) almost every detail of these floors, and shall speak of them again further on. The general appearance of the place is symmetrical, but there are remarkable variations and inaccuracies that point to the fact that the juxta-position of this bath with other buildings, of which we have at present no knowledge, must have rendered these variations necessary, ultimately interfering with the completion, architecturally, of the building.
On either side, north and south, are three recesses, or exedrae, two of which are circular and one (the centre) rectangular. The south rectangular one is 17ft. wide by 7ft. deep; the north one is nearly a foot wider, and one foot less in depth. Greater variations exist in the circular recesses; for, commencing in the western one, on the south side, the width is 17ft. 3in., and the depth 7ft. 6in.; the eastern one is 14ft. 3in. wide, and 6ft. 9in. deep; the exedrae vis-a-vis on the north is 17ft. 3in. wide, and 8ft. 4in. deep; the remaining one, to the west, is 17ft. wide, and 7ft. deep. I give these dimensions irrespective entirely of the pilasters which are attached to the walls on either side the reveil of the recesses, and in the rectangular recesses in the enclosing angles also. Piers are now standing on the margin of the bath, dividing the north and south sides each into seven bays. These piers are built with solid block freestone, but as there are continuous vertical joints on either side of the central division of each pier, it is clear that an alteration was made in the design either previous to its entire completion or subsequently.
I will endeavour to describe the bath as originally designed. Along the margin of the bath, north and south, stood six piers, equally divided (about 14ft. apart), as far as the length of the bath, but allowing a lesser distance from the attached pilaster at either end. These piers are cut out of a block (in plan, 2ft. 10½in. from east to west by 2ft. 8in. from north to south), so as to form a pilaster of three inches projection on either face. As the original pilasters on the north and south walls do not correspond with these piers, I am led to conclude that the schola and exedrae, north and south, were not vaulted at first, and were the only portion of the hall that was roofed, and that the roof was only of timber, supported by an arcade, the arches not exceeding 17ft. in height, and that the eaves of the roof of about 22ft. in height dipped towards the bath. This was a very usual arrangement in the Atrium of a Roman house with the impluvium in the centre. A crypto porticus would thus be formed on the two longer sides of the bath, but the schola on the east and west ends was open to the sky. Practical experience, either on the completion of this plan, or previously to its entire execution, led to its abandonment. At any rate a roof over the whole was found essential to the comforts of the bathers. The piers were accordingly strengthened. Pilasters were erected, projecting 2ft. 9m. into the bath, with smaller pilasters on the other side projecting on the schola, 1ft. 4in. by 1ft. 11in. wide; and vis-a-vis to these pilasters corresponding ones were affixed to the side walls. Unfortunately this brought into prominence the irregularity of the size and position of the exedrae, and the pilasters were affixed correctly with reference to the arcade, as was absolutely necessary, but more or less trespassing on the width of the opening of these recesses, and notched into the original pilasters.
None of the piers, or pilasters, at present exist to a height exceeding 6ft. to 7ft. The base is a rude form of the Attic base; and we have found several fragments of the capital, or impost, of the smaller pilasters, from, which the arches sprang, but I have not been so fortunate as to recognise any of the larger capitals, and but few fragments of the cornices, and but one piece that I can identify as the frieze 1ft. 6in. deep by 2ft. 4in. long, on which are 5 incised letters 6¼in. long S SIL. The schola was then arched in north and south, and the bath spanned by an arch. The vaulting that spanned the side arcades, and the centre (where the abutment was not sufficient for arches formed in the ordinary way of tiles or stone), were built of brick boxes, open at the sides, and wedge-shaped, 1ft. long, 4¾in. thick, and 7¾in. wide at the wider end, set in the usual mortar, a greater or less number of rings of these boxes being used according to the span. These arches were made out by an extra quantity of concrete on the under side for decoration, and on the upper in the case of the great arch, so as to form a roof, the well-known roll and flat Italian tiles being embedded in the mortar. Many and large fragments of this roof were found lying on the deposit that had partially filled the ruins previous to the fall of the roof, and are still carefully preserved. A large fragment, 18ft. long by about 3ft. wide, and 1ft. 9in. thick, that has slipped down, as it were, from the western end, in the position in which it was discovered, was formed of solid tiles, with an arch of tiles 1ft. 8in. long,[21] the roof having sufficient abutment on this side for a solid construction.[22] This arch gives the form of the window that lighted the bath on the western end.
The vaulting of the side aisles, or rather that over the schola, was arched from pier to pier longitudinally and transversely, the quadrangular spaces being in all probability simply groined; but a fragment of box tiles found almost leads one to think that these spaces were vaulted by a domical vault, springing either from pendentives in the angles of the vaults, more common in later work, or from a slight cornice on a level with the apex of the arches. The vault, if there was one, over the semi-circular exedrae must have been hemispherical. From the number of roofing tiles of local stone, shaped into hexagons, found, I think these arcades were roofed in with them, placed overlapping each other, giving a very good effect. Similar tiles were dug up at Wroxeter, and I have found slates of the same shape in the Roman villa I have been excavating for Mr. Chas. I. Elton, F.S.A., M.P., at Whitestaunton Manor. The form of these slates deserves copying; a roof covered by them is far lighter than that of rectangular slabs and more picturesque. The walls on the sides towards the hall, and externally, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are covered with the usual red plaster, shewing that they were internal walls; but from a piece of dentilled, or rather blocked, cornice, which fits the curve of one of the exedrae, I believe the walls were carried up on the north and south above the roofs of the adjoining rooms and corridors of the baths, so that they formed a feature in the elevation and afforded a broken skyline to the composition. The vault over the centre rose considerably above these walls, a portion of the centre of which may have been partially open for the emission of steam and the admission of light. Some square blocks of lead, that were the yotting of bars of metal, rather favour this idea, and suggest that these metal bars were a portion of the machinery by which a brazen shield (clipeus) was suspended, or secured, so that by raising or lowering it the temperature of the hall might be regulated as described by Vitruvius. In the excavations we found an ante-fixa that must have fallen from some portion of the roof. It appears to be intended for a lion, but it is much broken.
I have prepared a sketch section of the bath (which I hope to communicate on a future occasion), transversely and a part longitudinally, in order that a description may the more readily be understood, adopting, in my restoration, the established rules of proportion of Classical architecture, which may, more or less, have been strictly adhered to when the baths were built; indeed, in the best specimens of Roman work a licence was given to the architect as to detail and proportion, that was refused him on the Classical revival. The pilasters of these baths spring, as I have said before, from an Attic base, of somewhat coarse proportions, 14in. high.[23] The attached pilasters that supported the arcade that was carried longitudinally along the bath are without a base; they must have been, within a few inches, more or less, not lower than 10ft. in height, including the impost moulding, of which there are fragments. The arches springing from them would be about 14ft. wide. I have not been able to find any fragments of the archivolt. The pilasters that supported the arches which crossed the schola have bases similar to the larger pilasters. I can hardly speak positively of their elevation or that of the arches, but I am inclined to think the height of the impost moulding was raised, so that the arch, although a smaller span, was the same in height as the longitudinal arches.
The great pilasters, fronting the bath, stand on plain pedestals, breaking forward into the water, on which rested the Attic base, the shaft with Doric (?) capital rising 18ft. above. A complete cornice, the architrave (which we have) and frieze, gave an additional height of nearly 5ft. This cornice ran over the arcade horizontally, but breaking forward the projection of the pilasters about 2ft. 7in. Over this cornice, I conclude, were semi-circular openings, of the same span as the arch beneath, with an architrave of 5 in. to 6 in. A circular vault crossed the bath from pilaster to pilaster, groined with the semi-circular arches just mentioned. Light may have been admitted divisionally in the centre of this great vault, as I previously mentioned, as well, as by the semi-circular arches in the "clear storey." The extreme height from the floor of the schola to the under side of the vaulting may have been as much as 23ft., whilst the height of the central vault above the floor of the bath could not, I estimate, have been less than 48ft. 2in., exceeding by 5ft. the height of the famous Ball Rooms of the Bath Assembly Rooms, and by 14ft. that of the Grand Pump Room.
Many architectural fragments have been found during the excavations of the Great Bath, several portions of columns 2ft. 6in. diameter at base, and several sections of Corinthian foliage with the volute of a capital, of unusually artistic and powerful work; some smaller columns, a fluted shaft, and a Composite capital of debased character; but the four most remarkable fragments are pieces carved on both sides out of blocks about 1ft. 9in. thick, by 1ft. 6in. high. They are each from 2ft. 6in. to 2ft. 9in. long, and are curved, the chord being about 1-9/16in., in a length of 2ft. 6in. The first fragment is a cornice, or impost, carved on both sides, in three tiers: the upper, a cima with a leaf; the middle division, a Greek fret, not quite similar on each side the stone, and below is a running ornament. The cornice does not project sufficiently to be the cornice of a building, and, as it is decorated on either side, it could not have been intended for a string-course, as none of the walls are so thin as these stones, although I at first thought it might belong to one of the semi-circular exedrae. The curve is struck with a shorter radius than even the smallest recess. I think it is the capping of the back of one of the semi-circular stone seats, called by the later Romans a stibadium. If this formed the seat in the north-western recess, there would be ample room behind it (3ft. 9in.) to pass by. The next fragment must have been fixed beneath this or a similar capping, and is also carved on each side; the convex side having an adaptation of the well-known honeysuckle fairly drawn, whilst the convex side of it, with the exception of a floriated panelled pilaster in the centre, is the work of an accomplished sculptor. On the right of this pilaster, slightly recessed to admit of relief, is the naked right thigh and leg of a figure that must have stood 1ft. 6in. high. Although only a fragment, this is a most charming piece of work, the action and anatomy of the limb being perfect. On the left side is a similar panel, a headless draped figure, with feet bare, holding a circular shield which rests on the thigh, whilst the limb is bent as if ascending a rock that is slightly indicated. On the third fragment the honeysuckle pattern is on the concave side, whilst the sculpture is on the convex, the arc of which corresponds with the last described. On this there are two niches only, and the figures are much more mutilated. The left figure has a flowing mantle, the only leg remaining being bare from the thigh downwards; the foot and the head are gone. The figure on the right is fully draped, the head is lost, and the right hand much mutilated; a musical instrument, like a guitar,[24] or rather a mandolin, rests against the left breast, held in position by the left hand. The fourth fragment has the honeysuckle on both sides, with the flower well carved on one of them. It is a great pity that so little of this superb work is left, and that what there is should be so mutilated.[25]
This account of the Great Bath will, I hope, be sufficiently complete if I describe the entrances and conclude with a few particulars of the pavement (although many discoveries of considerable interest might be made, I have no doubt, in the latter), omitting a detailed examination as being tedious.