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height cannot
be accurately deduced but, from the measurements of its
emplacement, its diameter could not have been much more than 6
feet, a size commensurate with the volume of hot water needed
in a plunge-bath the size of Room 58.
Room 46 did not continue in use after the reconstruction of
part of the bath building which marked the end of this phase
but, though it was neither destroyed, demolished nor entirely
abandoned, it is impossible to suggest what use it could have
been put to; it remained intact, however, until the very end
of Period III as the mass of mosaic fragments from the
destroyed frigidarium pavements and much building
debris, containing two coins of Nerva, lay directly upon the
soot and ash inside the furnace-room.
At the close of this phase, the boiler and the testudo tank
were removed, and the arch of the testudo was blocked
with bonding-tiles in the usual bright yellow mortar (Plate
IIIA); this helped to preserve the south-east wall of the
furnace-room in such good condition that it was retained and
incorporated into the bath building in Period IV; it survived
to a total height of some 7 feet.
At some time within this period, the dating of which is still
to be established, the bath building underwent one major
addition (Room 50) and several reconstructions of its existing
rooms in the course of the subsequent Phases B-E of Period
III; and, though the reasons for the addition of Room 50 are
fairly obvious, it is not possible to say what caused the
major reconstructions affecting the middle range of the bath
building to the south-east of the disused Room 46. No evidence
was found for any destruction by fire or decay in the
structure of the walls; quite to the contrary, the overall
impression gained is one of methodical reconstruction rather
than piecemeal repair. It could be that the size of Room 58
proved too large and uneconomic, and it was decided to convert
Room 28 into a hot plunge-bath replacing Room 58; all this,
however plausible, can only be conjectured since excavation
has provided the facts only but no clues to their causes.
PHASES B and C
During these two phases, steps were taken to provide an
adequate supply of heat for the laconicum, and Room 48
was then abandoned. The flue into the laconicum was
blocked with mortared ragstone. The north-west wall of Room 48
and the north-east wall of Room 47 were demolished and
levelled down before the laying of an opus signinum floor,
some 4-5 inches thick (Fig. 3, Section A-B, Layer 12), at the
same level as the floor of Room 60; this floor was extended to
the south-east as far as the south-east wall of the old Room
48 and, to the north-east, up to a newly-built north-east
wall, of standard thickness and construction, continuing the
alignment of the north-east wall of the baths. |