Bath

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

a city of England. It is picturesquely situated in Somersetshire on the Avon, about due west from London and not over twenty miles from Bristol. There are famous saline and chalybeate hot springs . During the Roman occupancy of the island, the springs were known from their high temperature as Aquae Solis, waters of the sun. The Romans erected magnificent baths here. Five halls yet remain. The largest is 68 by 110 feet. They were heated by a system of flues beneath the floor. One of the tanks is lined with lead. The Roman watering place was destroyed by the Saxons. The Bath was rebuilt during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Under the leadership of Beau Nash it became the most fashionable watering place in England. Bath is now a modern city of 50,000 people. There is a fine abbey church in the "perpendicular" style of architecture. Large windows of rich tracery are set so close together that the edifice is called the "Lantern of England." Bath does not maintain its former reputation for fashion, but it is still the resort of invalids. The principal springs, four in number, supply over 7,000 gallons of water an hour. The temperature of the water is from 108 deg. to 117 deg. F. 2026 Editor's Note: Bath is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, cherished for its honey-colored Georgian crescents and the astonis hing ly preserved Roman baths still fed by the hot spring. It was the fashionable resort of Georgian England — Jane Austen lived and set novels here — and after nearly two millennia a modern spa again lets visitors bathe in the same thermal waters the Romans called Aquae Sulis . (Ed: BR 2026-07-04)