Roman Haven: An Escape to Bath Spa

It takes just one and a half hours to get to one of England’s top spots for history, wellness and culture, making it the perfect weekend getaway, Elizabeth Finney discovers

As steam billows across the surface of the water, rays of sunshine highlight the rooftops of the city. From the seats in the Thermae Bath Spa rooftop pool, the Bath Abbey is clearly visible through the mist, bathed in golden light with the tail end of the Cotswolds’ rolling green hills visible in the distance. It’s 9am on the dot, and I’ve got the place to myself.

The City of Bath is the ultimate spa destination – beneath its cobbled streets bubble the famous hot springs, discovered by Prince Bladud in approximately 863BC. These healing waters – enriched with more than 42 different minerals – fell as rainwater around 10,000 years ago, sank to a depth of around 2km where it is heated by scorching rocks before shooting back to the surface in one of Bath’s three hot springs, situated at the heart of the city. For centuries, these springs have been utilised for both leisure and medicine by the Celts, Romans, Saxons and Georgians.