Roman Bathing

Roman baths combined the facilities of a modern leisure centre with the atmosphere of a social club.

A plan of the Roman town as it would have been laid out © English Heritage 
 After exercising, bathers entered the cold room (frigidarium), an area similar to a foyer, which was possibly open-aired.  On either side of the cold room there were changing rooms and latrines for men and women. Visiting the toilet was considered a social activity and a sponge on a stick was used in place of toilet roll.

The warm rooms (tepidaria) were positioned over a pillared hypocaust which allowed hot air to circulate beneath the floors. The bases of the tiled pillars which once supported the floor can still be seen.

Plan of the baths as excavated, Cutaway reconstructions © Jewry Wall Museum The hot rooms (caldaria), were closest to the furnaces and were where bathers could have taken a sauna, used the steam room or enjoyed a massage with scented oils. 

Bathers would then have used the semi-circular hot plunge pools next to the furnaces to rinse off, which are now hidden beneath the museum. There were also cold plunge pools and washbasins in the semi-circular room nearby.