Retaining Walls to the Cold Bath, Octagon Pool and Watery Walk is a Grade II* listed building in the West Oxfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 August 1957. Retaining walls.

Retaining Walls to the Cold Bath, Octagon Pool and Watery Walk

WRENN ID
empty-turret-pearl
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
West Oxfordshire
Constituency
Bicester and Woodstock MP: Calum Miller (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
27 August 1957
Type
Retaining walls
Address
Retaining Walls to the Cold Bath, Octagon Pool and Watery Walk, Rousham
OS grid reference
SP 477 245
Coordinates
51.917, -1.30706
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The retaining walls to the Cold Bath, Octagon Pool, and Watery Walk were built around 1738-40 by William Kent. They are made of squared and coursed limestone. The walls surround the octagonal Cold Bath, which features an ashlar rim, and the larger Octagon Pond located in Venus' Vale. A serpentine stream, made of channelled limestone, flows from a spring near the Temple of Echo through the Cold Bath to the Octagon Pond. This serpentine stream is significant as it represents the earliest application of the Rococo "line of beauty" in garden design and reflects Kent's belief that "Nature abhors a straight line." It is known as both the Watery Walk and The Rill. These features are part of the landscape gardens designed by William Kent between 1733 and 1740.

Local climate

Retaining Walls to the Cold Bath, Octagon Pool and Watery Walk sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 69% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 66% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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  1. Lower Cascade in Venus' Vale Grade II* 28 m
  2. Statue of Faun in Venus' Vale, to East North East of Upper Cascade Grade II* 46 m
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