Roman Baths South of the Thames

[Vindex]

For general interest...

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/...-in-london

[Nathan Ross]

Those are some pretty substantial remains! They must have been excavating for quite some time, by the look of it?

[Medicus matt]

They weren't excavating, they were clearing the area for new building projects. The bath complex only came to light a few days ago.
Major remains, South of the River....very exciting.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

but there is hardly any remains I can see... sad that it will be built on

[Vindex]

but there is hardly any remains I can see... sad that it will be built on

Erm...try looking a little harder Sam!! :wink: It's been a busy city with lots of occupation. It's amazing that there's anything left at all; and if they are consolidated and preserved in the footings, they'll last longer than the proposed new office block I imagine.

As Matt said it's because it is south of the river that it is especially significant.

[Titus Marius Secundus]

I see, I don't mean to be silly, um, south of the river is significant? Maybe because of floods or just the terrain is unsuitable for buildings to be preserved. I agree with you there, I'm sure the office block will go to slums within a year, with the smell of damp walls ( knowing the weather) cigarette smoke and coffee stains on the floor. Anyway!

[Crispvs]

Sam,

I think the significance might be that the Roman city of Londinium was on the north bank of the River Thames. For a substantial bath house to exist south of the river, it presumably means that something significant was going on outside the accepted boundaries of The City.

Crispvs

[Caballo]

Crispus is absolutely right- and maybe this pre dates Southwark's reputation as where early Londoners went for R and R in Medieval and later periods-eg the infamous Southwark's stews ( houses of ill repute) which were finally closed down c 1546. The Globe theatre just along the river woukd be another example.

The area south of the river was outside the control of the City of London, and perhaps this stretches back to Roman times?

[Medicus matt]

Whilst these aren't the first Roman remains from south of the river (Southwark was the location of both extensive commercial/port development around the Thames crossing point and a large domestic suburb), or even the first bathhouse remains (it's not clear yet whether these new finds are part of the previously known baths complex which came to light in the 1980s...which makes some of the comments from Chris Place a bot surprising), these certainly seem to be some of the best preserved bathhouse remains in the UK.
Anything that has elements of it's floor intact, let alone superstructure beyond bare walls and rubble is very exciting.

[Epictetus]

If it was outside the boundaries of the city, could it have been private, like part of a villa? It looks pretty big, though. Do we have any idea when settlements to the south of the river reached a stage where a public bath house would be viable?

[Medicus matt]

If it was outside the boundaries of the city, could it have been private, like part of a villa? It looks pretty big, though. Do we have any idea when settlements to the south of the river reached a stage where a public bath house would be viable?

Although outside of the walls of Londinium, the area around the bridge on the south bank was already well developed by the end of the 1st century AD.
Large-scale non-industrial/commercial development resulting in the clearing of 1st century structures was well under way by the early/mid 2nd century.

[ParthianBow]

Fascinating stuff - thanks Vindex.

[Caballo]

Had an interesting chat last night with one of the Roman curators at the Museum of London. The bath house is the second to be discovered south of the Thames with another one found under Billingsgate Market.

He believes that the prime users were the Roman military rather than the civilian population and that there was some evidence for auxiliaries being stationed south of the Thames. A fort south of the river is believed to exist- but so far has nit been found........

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

I heard or read something along those lines lately too. A few months ago, there was a paper or program discussing something about the military establishment south of the river.
i look forward to seeing the link when I get off next week!

[Caballo]

Heres a link to earlier work done on Roman baths and the Billingsgate baths - which actually seem to be north of the river. http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/...15_423.pdf

But they also show a second bath house south of the river.

Looking at various images, baths at Southwark would have made huge sense for weary travellers coming up from the South and the continent. Maybe a wash and brush up before going into the forum and basilica (which was the largest north of the Alps)? And a protective fort would also make good sense.