Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Going to the Baths....


After frolicking in Oxford for a couple of days we decided to head for Bath. On the way through, we stopped at one of the region's great monuments, at Avebury.

The site at Avebury has a large "Henge", (a ditch and rampart), with a large stone circle, (over300 metres in diameter), enclosing two smaller stone circles.

Avebury has been adopted as a sacred site by many of the adherents of  recent quasi-religions such as Druids, Wicca and assorted heathens. These nutters people view the monument as a "living temple", which they associate with their ancestors, various assorted spirits of fhe place and strange astronomical and astrological theories that defy belief.
Typically, they hold frequent pagan rites at the site that are performed publicly and attract attention, particularly on major days of pagan celebration such as at the summer and winter solstices.

We watched the people in this pic performing a strange rock hugging, stroking and group hugging ceremony that consisted of mauling the rock and resting foreheads against the slab and muttering incantations, (for quite some time). They then formed something like a rugby scrum  minus the ball. The ceremony might have been more efficaceous if they had banged their heads against the rock or introduced a ball to the proceedings, (imo, anyway).


These two large stones were not part of the circles and were among several that were dotted about within various parts of the circle. What were they? We'll never know, but there are some looney theories about.


One of the inner stone circles.



The Red Lion with a nice new thatched roof. The pub is inside the main circle. The stones on the right are part of one of the inner circles.


This gives you a good idea of  the size of the henge. If you consider that it was dug out using reindeer antlers and wooden implements it gives some idea of the task.

After leaving Avebury we continued on to Bath, where we had a good campsite, close to the town and 2 pubs. The weather continued to be summery and was still warm enough at dinnertime to be sitting in one of the pub gardens.

The next morning we sobered up and went into the city to see the sights. The centre is very Georgian and most recent buildings have followed the same Georgian style and in doing so, have preserved the 18th century feel of the town.

The first site of any note was the Bath Abbey that dominates a square in the centre of the town.

The Abbey is right next to the hot springs that that were encompassed by the Roman baths in the 1st to 3rd century AD. Before this, the springs were part of a site dedicated to a Britannic Goddess - Sulis.

The Roman remains at the present site were largely buried until they were excavated in the 19th  century and renovated to some extent. The spring appears in what is called the "sacred pool" and then flows through the series of baths before departing to the local sewers.
About a million litres of water flow out of the spring each day and apparently take about 10,000 years to reach the spring after falling as rainwater on distant hills.


Most of the archaeology that has been uncovered and preserved is about 5 metres below the present ground or street level. How does this happen? Why is something that was at ground level 2000 years ago underground now? There are various suggestions as to how this occurs but they don't seem to be too plausible.


The main bath, with the Abbey in the background. The outside street level is now at the level of the balcony in this photo. The "Roman" statues are modern day reconstructions.

One of the customs associated with springs everywhere, is to throw coins or other offerings in to the waters, and make a wish or a promise. This has been happening for at least 3000 years at this spring and its associated waterways. A huge variety of these objects has been recovered that ranges from weapons, various possessions, money and other objects.

One interesting custom at Bath, was for people to inscribe curses onto small lead plates and then throw these into the spring, hoping no doubt, that the Goddess would take revenge on their behalf. There were several examples of these curse plates on display, including a very special one, (with apologies to Jose Mourinho).



The lead tablet of this curse was on display, but was unreadable. However, this poster had a blow-up, pic of the lead tablet and an explanation of what it is. I was very annoyed that it refers to "British Celtic", as there was no such thing as "Celtic" associated with British tribes until recently, when the usage has become fashionable.

I think it is very appropriate though, that the only piece of old Britannic language ever discovered, should a) be a curse, and b) be indecipherable! Who knows though, the romano-british version of the Rosetta Stone might be discovered at any moment and we will all re-discover our ancient curse heritage.


In the cellars beneath the baths we could see the old drainage systems and the sewers taking the water away. The iron in the water has led to the reddish colour of the deposits on the rock.

One of the final features as you complete the visit through the Baths is an opportunity to "take the waters". A constantly flowing spigot and paper cups is positioned that delivers the spring water for tasting. It tasted a bit sulphurous but wasn't too bad. I don't think it would sell like Evian Water though.

After leaving the baths, we visited the Abbey next door. The building is very impressive both externally and internally. It is about 500 years old and was restored recently after WWII bomb damage.

The Nave of the Abbey.


A closer view of the main window with 63? depictions of episodes in the life of Brian Christ.

Apart from the general churchiness, the interior history as evidenced by the tombstones, plaques and various memorials was pretty boring. There was nobody of any real historical note, (i.e. nobody that I'd heard of).
Well, not quite true. The first Governor of New South Wales, (Phillips) was buried here and this somehow merited an Australian Flag on the wall. (He is the one who Phillip Island is named after).
I got briefly excited when I saw a memorial plaque to an "Admiral Saumarez", as I thought this might have been Nelson's pal. However, this Saumarez was born in 1791 and would have only been 14 at the time of Trafalgar, so that ruled him out.

 
Finally, a picture from the bath level in the main Baths. The 3 people, in the upper left of this shot, were about to hurl themselves in a simultaneous back-flip, into the Bath. (OK, they weren't really but it would have been great to see)!

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