Historic England research records

Historic England Research Records

Chesters Bath House
Hob Uid: 1012586
Location : Northumberland Humshaugh
Grid Ref : NY9129070080
Summary : The site of the bath house associated with Chesters Roman Fort. The well-preserved masonry remains of a Roman military bath house, excavated and consolidated for public display. The bath house is visible as a demolished building on air photographs.
More information : (Previously recorded by the Ordnance Survey as NY 97 SW 5.1) (NY 9129 7008) Bath House (G.S.C.) (1) The main bath-house was built some distance outside the fort (of Cilurnum) on a shelf quarried out of the bank side a short way downstream from the bridge, with its main entrance opening onto the Military Way. The west wall of the building is standing up to 10ft high in places but elsewhere stone-robbing in post-Roman times has reduced it considerably. (2) Thirty-three human skeletons and an altar dedicated to the goddess Fortune have been found in former excavations. (3) A well-preserved bath-house in the care of the Ministry of Works and open to the public. Published survey (25") revised. (4) The bath house was discovered by chance and excavated in the 1880s (5a) and described in detail (5b). The structure was consolidated in 1957-8. Few fresh observations were made on the bath house in the course of the 1992-3 RCHME survey, except that it is considerably less rectangular than previously published plans suggest. The walls stand to a maximum height of 3m, indicating the depth of hillwash on the slope and suggesting that other buildings may be similarly masked. The discovery of human and animal bones in the bath house was apparently not adequately recorded and has not been discussed in the literature. A wall stub projecting from the W side of the excavation cutting has also been largely ignored. Further description and discussion is included in the archive account accompanying the 1992-3 RCHME plan. (5) A Roman bath house is visible as a demolished building on air photographs. The remains are as described by authorities 1-5. (7) Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (8)

Sources :

Source Number : 1
Source :
Source details : 25" 1964
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Source Number : 2
Source :
Source details : Birley, E 1959 Chesters Roman Fort (Ministry of Works)
Page(s) : 23-24
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Source Number : 3
Source :
Source details : Handbook to the Roman Wall, 10th edition (ed. I A Richmond) 1947
Page(s) : 91-95
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Source Number : 4
Source :
Source details : F1 D Smith 13-JUN-1967
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Source Number : 5
Source :
Source details : Mark Bowden/22-JAN-1993/RCHME: Chesters Roman Fort Survey
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Source Number : 5a
Source :
Source details : Holmes S 'On a building at Cilurnum, supposed to be Roman baths'
Page(s) : 124-7
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Vol(s) : 12, 1887

Source Number : 5b
Source :
Source details : Macdonald G 'The bath house at the fort of Chesters'
Page(s) : 219-304
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Vol(s) : 8, 1931

Source Number : 6
Source :
Source details : 14-Jul-97
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Source Number : 7
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Source details : NMR NY9170/110 (NMR 17688/22) 13-Mar-2002
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Source Number : 8
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Monument Types:

Monument Period Name : Roman
Display Date : Roman
Monument End Date : 410
Monument Start Date : 43
Monument Type : Bath House, Altar, Human Remains, Building
Evidence : Demolished Building, Sub Surface Deposit

Components and Objects:

Related Records from other datasets:

External Cross Reference Source : Hadrian's Wall Project Number
External Cross Reference Number : NY 9170/25
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : Scheduled Monument Legacy (County No.)
External Cross Reference Number : ND 28(17)
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : Scheduled Monument Legacy (National No.)
External Cross Reference Number : 26051
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : SMR Number (Northumberland)
External Cross Reference Number : 9276
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : NY 97 SW 102
External Cross Reference Notes :

Related Warden Records :

Related Activities :

Associated Activities :
Activity type : EXCAVATION
Start Date : 1884-01-01
End Date : 1886-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : EXCAVATION
Start Date : 1930-01-01
End Date : 1930-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : EXCAVATION
Start Date : 1957-01-01
End Date : 1958-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : MEASURED SURVEY
Start Date : 1988-01-01
End Date : 1993-08-01

Associated Activities :
Activity type : MEASURED SURVEY
Start Date : 1992-05-27
End Date : 1993-01-22

Associated Activities :
Activity type : AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH INTERPRETATION
Start Date : 2002-01-01
End Date : 2008-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : WATCHING BRIEF
Start Date : 2012-01-01
End Date : 2012-12-31

Historic England Research Records

Chesters Bath House