Looking down at the Great Bath from the terrace above. This is the centrepiece of the Roman bath and temple complex located in the city of Bath. The Great Bath is a rectangular pool measuring 25 metres (82 feet) by 12 metres (39.4 feet) and with a depth of 1.6 metres (5.25 feet). The water comes from a hot spring making it continuously warm at around 35°C. The water’s green colour is due to the presence of algae. The surrounding buildings date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Also in view is the colonnade that surrounds the pool along with the terrace above. Late Victorian statues of Roman emperors look down from the sides of the terrace. In Roman times the pool was covered by an enormous barrel-vaulted roof that rose to a height of 20 metres (66 feet).On the terrace above the Great Bath looking over a stone balustrade into Kingston Parade, a public square at the east side of the Roman Baths complex.Visitors emerging through a door on to the Great Bath terrace. Away to the right, part of the south façade of Bath Abbey can be seen, including large Gothic windows and flying buttresses.Another view of Bath Abbey from the south-west with Kingston Parade in front. Bath Abbey’s tower can be seen rising to 49 metres (161 feet) in height. Today the abbey is an Anglican parish church but until 1539 it was a Benedictine monastery. It was originally founded in the 7th century with rebuilding occurring in the 12th and 16th centuries. Major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s. It is Perpendicular Gothic in style.Tony and Tatiana in front of the Great Bath.Again next to the Great Bath. Fragments of Roman stonework, including column bases and paving, can be seen at ground level. The 19th century columns that support the colonnade are incorporated into this historic stonework.A doorway leading from the Great Bath to the museum and other site facilities.Tatiana next to a Roman brick arch at the side of the Great Bath. This is the remains of one of the arches that originally held up the large roof above the Great Bath.A series of box tiles held together by mortar, another fragment of the Roman roof that once covered the Great Bath.
