What went down the Roman Baths' Great Drain?

Parts of an ancient underground drain that takes Bath's famous hot spring water from the Roman Baths to the River Avon are to be explored for the first time in a project to survey parts of the Great Roman Drain, a scheduled ancient monument and fundamental part of the Roman Baths complex. Parts of the drain have not been explored for hundreds of years.

Built by the Romans to prevent central Bath from flooding, the Great Drain still performs its original purpose, discharging water from the natural hot springs to - Bluestonehenge's - River Avon.

It definitely needs to be mentioned that it is not the Roman-build part of the Great Drain that is currently causing a flooding risk, but a more recent extension beyond Bath's old city wall.  Previous surveys have uncovered some stunning archaeological finds including carved cameo gemstones and a mysterious tin mask.

Miles Barnes, the Bath & North East Somerset Council Project Manager responsible for the survey, said: “This is an important and exciting project for Bath & North East Somerset Council. The Great Drain has played a crucial – but largely hidden – role in the life of the city for hundreds of years, and it’s crucial that we determine its condition so that it can continue to function as the Romans designed it.”

Mr Barnes said in an interview with the Times Online that "Although the drain is pretty clear there are sections where it bends or narrows where sediment will have built up that has not been disturbed for 2,000 years, so who knows what else we will find." So let's hope the Romans dropped some more archaeological valuable items down the drain!

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About The Author

Ann Wuyts

Ann 'Vint' Wuyts is looking after the Heritage Key community and avatar health & entertainment. She is slightly fascinated by everything to do with 3D technology and what's commonly defined as 'Web 2.0'. When she grows up, Ann - eventually - wants to be a mummy.
Favourite game: Buzzword Bingo / Favourite book: 56 different ways to draw Mummies / Favourite toy: her DSLR / Worst fears: MySpace & Google data-world-domination / Favourite website: Heritage Key & Flickr.

Last three pieces by this author: Light Up video footage from Illuminating Hadrian's Wall, Illuminating Hadrian's Wall - Top 10 Flickr Photographs from the Light Up, CSI Britain - Dorset's 51 Decapitated Viking Skeletons

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Interesting Publications

Bathing in the Roman World

Cambridge University Press (31 Oct 2009)

by Fikret Yegül

The Essential Roman Baths

Scala Publishers Ltd (2006)

by Stephen Bird, Barry Cunliffe