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by Derrick Schokman

I was in England at the turn of the century when the theme of World Tourist Day (27 September) was for us today who enjoy the cultural treasures of the world to ensure their protection and preservation for all future generations, as the thirst for knowledge and first hand experience of the wonders of the world would continue to drive the cultural tourism sector.

I promptly took the opportunity to visit the World Heritage Site at Bath which centres around the famous hot springs which produce a quarter million gallons of water a day at a temperature of 46 degree C (118 degree F). The water contains 43 minerals and is said to have curative properties for rheumatism, govt., lumbago, sciatica and neuritis.

The springs are an awe - inspiring symbol of continuity through 2000 years of English history from the first century BC when the celts and their Druid religious priests believed them to be sacred to goddess Sulis.

When the Romans invaded Britain in the first century AD they took over the springs. They were a pragmatic people who were not insensitive to the gods and goddesses of the people they conquered. Nature deities were powerful forces that demanded respect. So what they did was to combine the Celtic goddess with their goddess of wisdom, Minerva, and create a magnificent temple to Sulis Minerva, along with a suite of luxurious baths. Abbey

When Roman power finally declined about the fifth century AD, Britannia dissolved into a confusion of warring factions and the baths and temple became increasingly derelict. Finally when the Saxons took over in the 7th century they built a Christian Monastery and Abbey on the site.

It was in this Abbey that Edgar was crowned the first king of England in 973 by St. Dunstan and St. Oswald. This event is commemorated in the present Bath Abbey, which was built in the same place in 1499, and may be seen in the window next to the high altar.

In 1973 Queen Elizabeth II visited Bath Abbey marking the 1000th coronation of her forbear. This event is recorded on a stone tablet below the Lectern from where the Bible is read.

After the Saxons, the connection with the springs was maintained by the Normans, who created a new bath - the King's Bath - which was fed directly by the waters bubbling up through tons of collapsed Roman masonry.

When the monasteries lost their power, their properties including the baths passed to civic authorities who promoted the curative powers of the bath attracting hoards of sick and needy.

Fashion

In the 17th century when royalty visited the spa it set the seal of aristocratic approval and turned Bath into a place of fashion. To cope with the new trend rebuilding schemes were set in motion to transform the place eventually into an elegant city of Georgian architecture and beautiful gardens.

A Pump Room was added as a place of entertainment and refreshment where visitors could assemble to view the bath, drink the water in comfort and prepare to descend to the bath via the changing rooms. Water from the reservoir beneath was pumped upto a fountain from where the pumper served those who wanted to drink.

The Pump Room was the place to be, to linger and converse, to see and be seen. A character in one of Tobias Smollet's novels (1771) said: "There you see the highest quality and lowest tradefolk jostling each other hail fellow - well met".

Jane Austen in "Northlanger Abbey" refers to the Pump Room as a place "where the ladies walked together, noticing every new face and almost every new bonnet in the room".

The interior of the present Pump Room is little altered. It lies directly over the Roman Temple precincts and sacrificed altar.

The precinct was excavated in the 1980s. The Temple itself lies six metres beneath the street on the way out.

Great Bath

The Roman Great Bath was excavated and restored, along with the Circular Bath and some other baths of the Western range in the late 19th century. The original connection bringing the water from the spring - reservoir to the bath was also restored, enabling the bath to be filled to its full height of 1.5 metres (5 feet). Steps lead down to the bottom from all four sides. The bottom is protected with lead to prevent cold ground water from cooling the bath.

The present colonnade around the bath, the open terrace and statues above were completed by J. M. Brydon in the closing years of that century, providing the city with a monument for which it is famous throughout the world. The original Great Bath had a vaulted roof.

The Baths are not in use today - they are only of antiquarian interest, a remarkable monument to the skill of the Roman engineers who built and maintained them over three centuries of public service.

There are plans however for a new sterling pound 17 million project supported by a grant from the Millennium Commissioner to convert the present tourist spot into a state of the art spa facility offering bathing, water therapy and special treatments.

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