King's Bath
KING'S BATH, STALL STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1395194
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jun-1950
- List Entry Name:
- King's Bath
- Statutory Address:
- KING'S BATH, STALL STREET
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1395194
- Date first listed:
- 12-Jun-1950
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 15-Oct-2010
- List Entry Name:
- King's Bath
- Statutory Address 1:
- KING'S BATH, STALL STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- KING'S BATH, STALL STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 75053 64729
Details
STALL STREET 656-1/41/1606 (East side) King's Bath
(Formerly Listed as: ABBEY CHURCH YARD, King's Bath) 12/06/50
GV I
Open-air plunge bath. Medieval, probably C12, foundations, with mainly C17 super-structure; later alterations in C18, C19 and 1970's. MATERIALS: Limestone ashlar and rubble. PLAN: Open bath with seated recesses round sides. Remains of Jacobean strapwork balustrading around top, probably donated by grateful client, Sir Francis Stonor, in 1624. EXTERIOR: Niche contains worn statue, supposedly of Bladud, legendary discoverer of spring and healing properties, and thus ultimate founder of Bath's fame and fortune. Bath immediately above Roman reservoir built round spring head in late C1. HISTORY: Bath was first constructed during the Saxon period and used as a part of the bathing and curative establishment run by the monks of Bath Abbey, probably from the C10 onwards. They continued to control it until the Reformation when it passed first to the King (hence King's Bath), and then to the Town Council, who were granted the Prior's privileges by Elizabeth I in 1590. This was the major bath in use at this spring until the addition of the (demolished) Queen's Bath in c1576 and the opening of the (demolished) Kingston Baths in 1762. Thomas Johnson's 1675 view of the King's Bath (British Museum) depicts the statue, the arcading and the strapwork balustrade in situ. This bath was the principal attraction for visitors until the Pump Room was opened in 1706, and drinking the waters became an accepted part of any cure. Behaviour in the bath was considered scandalous, one of the aspects of Bath life to be regulated by Beau Nash. Nude bathing was prohibited in 1737, and the sexes were segregated in 1753. The present appearance of the bath is due to the lowering of the water level in the 1970s to facilitate the opening up of further parts of the Roman establishment as a part of the extensive programme of reassessment by Professor Barry Cunliffe and the Bath Archaeological Trust. SOURCES: Barry Cunliffe, `The Roman Baths - A View over 2000 Years¿ (Bath 1993); M. Hamilton, `Bath before Beau Nash¿ (Bath 1978), 32-45; Lees-Milne J and Ford D: Images of Bath: London: 1982-; -). Sited within the Roman Baths Scheduled area ref: OCN BA 82
Listing NGR: ST7505364729
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 510608
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 22-Jul-2026 at 08:30:12.
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