overlooking the King's Bath Archaeological evidence indicates that the site of the baths may have been a centre of worship used by
Celts; the springs were dedicated to the goddess
Sulis, who was locally
identified with
Minerva.
Geoffrey of Monmouth in his largely fictional describes how the spring was discovered by the pre-Roman
British king
Bladud, who built the baths there. Early in the 18th century Geoffrey's obscure legend was given great prominence as a royal endorsement of the waters' qualities, with the embellishment that the spring had cured Bladud and his herd of pigs of
leprosy through wallowing in the warm mud.
Roman Britain of Sulis Minerva as they would have looked at their greatest extent in 4th century AD The name Sulis continued to be used after the
Roman invasion, leading to the town's
Roman name of
Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis"). The temple was constructed in 60–70 AD and the bathing complex was gradually built up over the next 300 years. During the
Roman occupation of Britain, and possibly on the instructions of
Emperor Claudius, engineers drove oak piles into the mud to provide a stable foundation and surrounded the spring with an irregular stone chamber lined with lead. In the 2nd century it was enclosed within a wooden barrel-vaulted building, After the
Roman withdrawal from Britain in the first decade of the 5th century, these fell into disrepair and were eventually lost due to silting up and flooding. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle suggests the original Roman baths were destroyed in the 6th century. About 130
curse tablets have been found. Many of the curses are related to thefts of clothes whilst the victim was bathing.
Post-Roman use The baths have been modified on several occasions, including the 12th century, when
John of Tours built a curative bath over the King's Spring reservoir, and the 16th century, when the city corporation built a new bath (Queen's Bath) to the south of the spring.
Anne of Denmark came to Bath twice for her health. The court physician
Théodore de Mayerne bathed
Anne of Denmark in the King's Bath on 19 May 1613. She returned in August 1615. Anne of Denmark was surprised by a flame caused by natural gas in King's Bath, and thereafter used the New Bath or Queen's Bath where a column with a crown and the inscription "Anna Regnum Sacrum" was added in her honour. The spring is now housed in 18th-century buildings, designed by architects
John Wood, the Elder and
John Wood, the Younger, father and son. Visitors drank the waters in the
Grand Pump Room, a
Neoclassical salon which remains in use, both for taking the waters and for social functions.
Victorian expansion of the baths complex followed the Neoclassical tradition established by the Woods. In 1810, the hot springs were thought to have failed and
William Smith opened up the Hot Bath Spring to the bottom, where he found that the spring had not failed but had flowed into a new channel. Smith restored the water to its original course. The visitor entrance is via an 1897 concert hall by J. M. Brydon. It is an eastward continuation of the Grand Pump Room, with a glass-domed centre and single-storey radiused corner. The Grand Pump Room was begun in 1789 by
Thomas Baldwin. He resigned in 1791 and
John Palmer continued the scheme through to completion in 1799. The north colonnade was also designed by Thomas Baldwin. The south
colonnade is similar but had an upper floor added in the late 19th century. The museum and Queen's Bath including the "Bridge" spanning York Street to the City Laundry were by
Charles Edward Davis in 1889. It comprises a southward extension to the Grand Pump Room, within which some parts of the 17th-century Queen's Bath remain. ==Museum==