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All the United Kingdom England London Billingsgate Roman House and Baths

Billingsgate Roman House and Baths

A Roman spa buried deep beneath the City of London.

London, England

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AmunyAnkhesenra
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Billingsgate Roman Baths.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Billingsgate Roman House and Baths.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Roman House and Baths in the cellar.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Billingsgate Roman House.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Water cistern   Steve 55 / Atlas Obscura User
  Steve 55 / Atlas Obscura User
Air vent   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Mosaic flooring   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Bathing toiletries   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Hoof print   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Metal walkway   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Dog (?) footprint   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Tiles with animal footprints   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Boxes of discarded remnants   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Scale model   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Map of Londinium   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
  SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Stone bench   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Wood burning fireplace   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Scale model   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
Hypocaust of the Roman bath.   AmunyAnkhesenra / Atlas Obscura User
Floor plan   SEANETTA / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1848, workers constructing the new Coal Exchange in the City of London unearthed one of the best examples of Roman buildings found in the capital. Realizing the importance of what they had discovered, the Victorian Londoners preserved the remains in the cellar of the building. When the Coal Exchange was eventually demolished in the 1960s and replaced by a new building, further excavations were carried out, and the ruins were once more incorporated into a cellar.

Excavations determined that the Roman house was built in the late second century, and would once have looked out onto the Thames, the river back then being much wider than it is today. However, this pleasant view was eventually spoiled when riverside walls were constructed, and the house and its large courtyard were thus plunged into the shade for much of the day.

There is speculation that the bathhouse was erected to make use of the land after it lost its vista of the river. The baths would have been open to the public, though they were more like a modern-day spa or sauna than the pools of water their name suggests.

From the heat of a furnace, hot air would circulate through a hypocaust, heating a warm room, (tepidarium) and a hot room (caldarium). It’s likely the patrons used these rooms first, where they’d work up a sweat, massage themselves with olive oil, and then have their body hair plucked. After all this, they would enter the cold room (frigidarium), where the chill and water from a small cistern would help close their pores.

Soon after the withdrawal of the Romans in the early fifth century, their city of Londinium collapsed, with many of its buildings then decaying into piles of overgrown rubble. The Saxons would later build on top of these, only for their buildings to fall, and this cycle of building on the ruins followed by collapse would continue for around a thousand years. In this way, being deep beneath the ruins of several epochs of London’s inhabitants, the Roman baths and house survived both the Great Fire and the Blitz.

Related Tags

Underground Subterranean Sites Subterranean Roman Bath House

Know Before You Go

The Roman House and Baths are open to visitors on certain Saturdays, (April - November), for 45-minute guided tours by City of London guides. Tickets for tours must be booked in advance online to guarantee a place. The only access to the cellar is via a staircase.

The nearest stations are Monument Bank and Tower Hill.

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Added By

AmunyAnkhesenra

Edited By

SEANETTA, mathify, jooniur, Steve 55

  • SEANETTA
  • mathify
  • jooniur
  • Steve 55

Published

October 23, 2018

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Billingsgate Roman House and Baths
101 Lower Thames St
London, England
United Kingdom
51.509274, -0.083057
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