endlessrarities | It's Bath-Time...

Not long after our brief escape to Northumbria, the thorny question has been raised again: where will we go on our second main holiday of 2011? We have a short break in the Lake DIstrict pencilled in for some time in Jul-August, and another week to arrange in September.

The decision has now been made, and once again, there's an oddly Roman theme to this anti-Romanist's next Busman's Holiday.

WE'RE GOING TO SHREWSBURY!!! WOO-HOO!!!

Now, no doubt all you residents of Wales and the Welsh Marches will be scratching your heads and wondering what the fuss is all about, but...

I've never been to Shrewsbury. It's the land where Roger de Mumbygumby (or as we know him better, Roger de Montgomery) first set up shop as William the Conqueror's Chief Hired Goon in the West, and there's loads to see: Wroxeter Roman city, Much Wenlock Priory, and much, much more. Not to mention Shrewsbury itself, which has got a castle, and abbey and a lovely medieval town centre!!

I digress...

I thought I'd devote today's post to the bath-houses of Herculaneum. The best preserved of the two is currently closed to the public, but the other is not without its charms. To the changing rooms of the women's baths, first of all, which has the inevitable ribbed barrel-vaulted roof, and in situ bench for the ladies to place their clothes while they enjoy the baths:-

The floor sports a particularly nice mosaic, featuring Triton, with attendant marine beasts:-

Here's a close-up of the dolphin:-

The mens' baths aren't so well-preserved, unfortunately, but the structural remains are still impressive. Here's the changing area:-

And a view of the hot baths, the calidarium, with its circular stone seating area:-

Lastly, for the technically-minded, here's a detail of the heating system: I'm used to the raised floors with their hypocaust, but I've never seen one of these before - a series of vertical channels built into the walls which house a series of linked ceramic pipes. This presumably allows hot air to flow around the walls and warm the interior of the building.

And evidently, these buildings are barrel-vaulted so that the moisture condenses and slides back down the walls again, rather than dripping onto the heads of the bathers and causing much irritation. So said our guide at Vindolanda, and it sounded like a reasonable explanation to me.

Once again (apart from The Vindolanda Guide, pers. comm. section), all information comes from Herculaneum & Oplontis (Anon, Edizioni Kina Italia)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Why can't I get Roger de MumbyGumby, Chief Hired Goon in the West out of my mind?

Heh, heh.

Oh, very nifty indeed!

*g* The mens' baths aren't so well-preserved, unfortunately...
My immediate irreverent thought was, "well of course, men don't take as good care of things as women to."

Oh, that was cruel!!

Oh, I know. And sometimes one's first thoughts are not good to mention but I also thought it was amusing enough in an "oh that's wrong" sort of way that I decided to share it.

I love that they have sea creatures down on the bottom. I've often thought that modern-day swimming pools ought to do similar. It's so appealing!

Ooh! Gorgeous bichromes again! :o)

Know Shrewsbury quite well- there's not much left of the castle but there are a lot of older buildings and the Abbey church is well worth a look.

Wroxeter is well worth seeing (as is the local mediaeval church which I've mentioned before and as is the church at Atcham.

Much Wenlock is a delight and there's also Bridgenorth and Broseley (not to mention the Ironbridge Gorge) which are wonderful.

There's just so much in that part of Shropshire- our eventual retirement plans consider that area as a distinct possibility!

I think we're going to be running around like headless chickens trying to see everything. We're still wondering whether to pack the bikes - I have a horrible feeling the land will be rolling - to put it politely - which means miserable cycling (unlike Wells, which was wonderful).

I don't think we'll get to Ironbridge and Bridgenorth this time around - we'll probably concentrate our attention fully on Shrewsbury.

And there's a nice little hillfort at Oswestry which we missed last time we passed that neck of the woods.

It IS fairly hilly thereabouts as you dip in and out of the Severn Valley on the roads. The local bus services aren't wonderful either and the trains (courtesy of Dr Beeching) don't always get you where you want to go.

There's plenty to see in and around Shrewsbury, however! Don't miss out on over the river in the more Georgian part of town, which is also lovely.

Your summary of the topography sounds much as I'd expected it. The bikes will probably stay home then - we took them to Pately Bridge last year and they spent a week in the car...

I think we'll be spending a couple of days exploring the town itself.

I want to go and brush the dust off the floor where those lovely mosaics are.

Hooray, I can't wait to see your posts from Shrewsbury (and is it bad that I think of cookies when I see that name?).

And thank you for your posts. I appreciate the historic photos and the information you provide in each one.

Ooh! Someone else who's actually heard of a currant Shrewsbury biccie! :o)

Yep! Although I have to say I was ignorant of them until I came to NZ and saw them in the supermarket. But I did find a recipe online I'll have to try sometime!

Sounds nice and thanks for sharing.

Tradionally they're made with currants (anglospeak for dried red grapes) but dried rasberries also sound yummy.

On that sort of thing, I've just discovered dried morello cherries, which are to die for! :o)

I like currants but my wife doesn't. I love dried cherries, they would be good if I could find them. I also use a lot of (and eat) dried cranberries, which might be nice too. :)

It was a bit mucky, wasn't it?

It'll be a while before we get to Shrewsbury - but don't worry, there's still more to come from Italy in the meantime.

And Northumberland...

Those baths got some pretty mosaics.

And yay for visiting more Romans in Wales. I got some for my readers as well today. :)

I shall check it out soon! I'm not sure if my comments have been reaching you or not - the link doesn't seem to work!

Which link, LJ or Blogger?

LJ is wobbly more often than not, but in case it's Blogger, I may have to allow anonymous comments again. I got one comment by you so far, with your LJ account as login (and I screen comments after that porn troll attack last year, so it may take some time for it to appear).

LJ.

I've been there! I've got a photo of the same mosaic. :o)

That mosaic just asks to be photographed.

Pricks up ears at mention of Northumberland....waits Northumberland photos excitedly.

Now that's my idea of a bathroom! Wonderful!
Speaks as someone who loves to lie in the bath for longer than I should.

I've always associated Shrewsbury biscuits with currants although when it comes to biscuits I'm more than willing to experiment with different flavours.

Wikipedia, bless them, say they are "usually served several at a time."

Aren't all biscuits? :o)

Now you come to mention it, that's a very good point!:)

Wipes crumbs from laptop....

Currants or no, I'm going to have to try some Shrewsbury biscuits when I get to Shrewsbury...

[Please Note the plural...]

Plural noted.

Enjoy.

It's Bath-Time...

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