Part Of Queen'S Bath, Including `Bridge' Spanning York Street

Part of Queen's Bath, including 'Bridge' spanning York Street

This is the surviving part of the Douche and Massage Baths, now integrated into the Roman Baths Museum. Built in 1889 by Major Charles Davis, it stands on the site of and incorporates elements of the Queen's Bath of 1576 and the New Private Baths of 1786. The building forms a link from the rear of the Grand Pump Room to York Street, with its western wall adjoining the Roman Great Bath, and it houses part of the excavated baths including a Circular Bath in the basement.

The structure is constructed of limestone ashlar. It presents two storeys to York Street and three storeys towards the Great Bath. The York Street elevation displays five bays of Ionic pilasters through the lower floor, with an attic storey containing sash windows with plain moulded architraves. The second window features an open pedimented head with a bust, breaking into a segmental pediment above and crowned by two obelisks. The ground floor contains a plain doorway in the first bay, a plaque recording the building in the second bay, and a pilaster supporting the 'bridge' in the fifth bay. A dentilled cornice with blocking course and urns runs across the facade, with fluted pilasters between windows.

The most distinctive feature is the elliptical arched 'bridge' spanning York Street. This ornate structure has a central broken pediment, panelled sides and soffit, and is surmounted by obelisks and urns. Despite its appearance as an eye-catching architectural flourish reminiscent of the Bridge of Sighs, it served a functional purpose as an actual conveyance for a hot water pipe from the spring to the City Laundry.

The elevation to the Great Bath shows three blocked arches at pool level, which lead through to the Circular Bath beneath. The ground floor displays four blind bays with Ionic pilasters supporting an entablature, while the first floor has four similar bays, each containing a six-pane window in an architrave surround.

Originally, this 1889 building extended to the corner of Stall Street and continued behind South Colonnade until its partial demolition in 1972. The Stall Street and York Street corner has been replaced with a three-storey building reproducing Thomas Baldwin's design of 1789, featuring three bays with a colonnade to Stall Street, five bays to York Street, and a modelled north wall facing the Great Pump Room.

Despite surviving only as a fragment, the building remains significant both as an example of the introduction of the latest German spa treatments—including steam and electricity—to Britain, and for the careful manner in which the City Architect preserved and displayed the Roman bath findings beneath. It is one of the most opulent High Victorian public buildings in the city, expressing the pride and excitement accompanying the rediscovery of the Roman baths. It attracted early criticism for its ostentatious display of Free Renaissance motifs. The site lies within the Roman Baths Scheduled area.