The Cross Bath in Bath Street, Bath,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, England is a historic pool for bathing. The surrounding structure of the pool was built, in the style of

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

by Thomas Baldwin by 1784 and remodelled by

John Palmer John Palmer may refer to: People Politicians *John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician *Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician *John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York *John Palmer (1842–1905), ...

in 1789. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

as a designated Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, and was restored during the 1990s by

Donald Insall Associates Donald Insall Associates is a firm of architects, designers and historic building consultants. They have worked on contemporary and historic listed buildings, monuments and sites throughout Britain, and at UNESCO World Heritage Sites includin ...

Geology

The water which bubbles up from the ground at Bath, fell as rain on the nearby

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills o ...

. It percolates down through limestone

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteri ...

s to a depth of between and where geothermal energy raises the water temperature to between and . Under pressure, the heated water rises to the surface along fissures and faults in the limestone. This process is similar to an artificial one known as

Enhanced Geothermal System An enhanced geothermal system (EGS) generates geothermal electricity without the need for natural convective hydrothermal resources. Until recently, geothermal power systems have exploited only resources where naturally occurring heat, water, a ...

which also makes use of the high pressures and temperatures below the Earth's crust. Hot water at a temperature of rises here at the rate of every day, from a geological fault (the Pennyquick fault).

History

The name Cross Bath is believed to commemorate the body of St

Aldhelm Aldhelm ( ang, Ealdhelm, la, Aldhelmus Malmesberiensis) (c. 63925 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the ...

resting there on its journey from

Doulting Doulting is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History The parish of Doulting was part of the Whitstone Hundred. The parish includes the village of Bodden, which was ...

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution of the monasteri ...

in 709. The healing powers of the bath were one of the reasons for the foundation of St John's Hospital, Bath around 1180, by Bishop

Reginald Fitz Jocelin Reginald Fitz Jocelin (died 26 December 1191) was a medieval Bishop of Bath and an Archbishop of Canterbury-elect in England. A member of an Anglo-Norman noble family, he was the son of a bishop, and was educated in Italy. He was a househo ...

, which is among the oldest

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s in England. In the 16th to 18th centuries the baths were frequently visited by royalty, increasing their popularity. In June 1688,

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena ( it, Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; ) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younge ...

, wife of King James II, gave birth to a son, Prince James nine months after bathing in the Cross Bath. The Melfort Cross, was erected in 1688 to celebrate the birth. The structure surrounding the bath was built by Thomas Baldwin in 1784 and remodelled by John Palmer in 1789. The bath was refurbished in the 1990s, by

. Access is now administered in conjunction with the adjacent

Thermae Bath Spa Thermae Bath Spa is a combination of the historic spa and a contemporary building in the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, and reopened in 2006. Bath and North East Somerset council own the buildings, and, as decreed in a Royal Charter of ...

References

{{reflist Infrastructure completed in 1789 Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset Ancient Roman baths Roman town of Bath Roman religious sites in England Spa waters Tourist attractions in Bath, Somerset 1789 establishments in England Public baths in the United Kingdom

Geology

History

See also

References