Posted on 11/21/2009 8:08:32 PM PST by SunkenCiv
For two millennia the Great Drain has carried the mineral-rich waters of Britain's only hot spring from the Roman Bath in Bath to the nearby River Avon. The drain runs for nearly half a mile under the city but although parts of it are large enough for a man to walk through, it has never been fully explored. Archaeologists will have their first opportunity to get inside the previously inaccessible sections of the Great Drain this month when engineers open it up for repairs. A stretch of drain built long after the Romans is causing the difficulties. The extension was added when marshes were reclaimed from the Avon beyond the old city wall. It started to back up 18 months ago, causing a flooding risk in the city. The Roman structure has easily outlasted the work of more modern engineers. A final section dating from the Sixties collapsed two years ago and had to be rebuilt. Miles Barnes, of Bath council, said: "The Roman engineers really knew what they were doing. Most of the drain is in absolutely tip-top condition and still doing the job it was designed for." ...When the site of the Roman Baths was originally excavated in the late 19th century, finds made in the Great Drain included 33 carved cameo gemstones and a mysterious tin mask... When it was built the drain was only just below the level of the Roman streets. The original engineers installed square inspection hatches to allow it to be swept clean of sediment. After centuries of building in the city, the Great Drain is today at least 4m below ground level.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Who’s pulled the plug on the Roman Baths?
Daily Mail | Wednesday, November 19, 2008 | Cher Thornhill
Posted on 11/18/2008 6:20:13 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2134399/posts
|
|
|||
Gods |
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
||
|
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
“The Roman engineers really knew what they were doing. Most of the drain is in absolutely tip-top condition and still doing the job it was designed for.” ...
Geez - the Romans built the whole damn country and these idiots want to turn it over to Islam but that is also happening closer to home.
Insane what the Romans built and it lasted for many centuries.
I visited Bath in 1996. When we asked the hosts of our charming B & B for their recommendations for a good place to eat, they called a taxi and sent us to a fish place named “Toxique”. Imagine our surprise when we got there and we found that the restaurant was underground and built in an abandoned Roman sewer.
It had all been fixed up and painted chartreuse and other wild colors. Banquettes were built along the length of the drain, the tables were set with crisp white linen and fine crystal and silver, but the arched top of the original sewer and Roman stone work was still visible. The drain had been dug out and widened to make room for a kitchen, etc., and the floor leveled, but the dining area was definitely an old drain.
It was a very expensive restaurant, as I remember and it served only fish. THe combination of the sewer, the name “Toxique”, and the menu of “poisson” sort of set me back on my heels, but the food was good.
The Romans did not have to deal with trade unions.
The only Roman construction in Britain that basically vanished were the bridges, which were at one time pretty numerous. They fell into disrepair, but also were pulled apart for building stone because, hell I don’t need a bridge right now, and the next nearest source of stones is a mile from here. :’)
The old Roman roads used to plunge straight downhill, hit the bridge or ford, and keep on going, because the Romans were building roads to move troops, and they were on foot or horseback. Donkeys were also used to haul stuff, and the wagons and artillery (what we’d call catapaults and whatnot) were well made and had something like hand brakes installed.
In post-Roman Britain, the other reason the bridges weren’t kept up was that the barrows, carts, and wagons and such used to haul stuff couldn’t go straight down to the crossing. They had to take a slower, more deliberate, indirect route, which in British slang came to be known as a “birdfoot”. And the crossings were therefore moved.
After the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded, the island was cut up into a couple dozen small kingdoms, some British, some newcomer. The Heptarchy (uh-oh, I’m not gonna look this up, and haven’t thought about this in some time, so here goes) was Wessex, Essex, Sussex, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Kent (that was the Jutish kingdom). Welsh kingdoms included Dyved and, oh, I forget. Rheged was north of the Wall, and had the legendary King Coel (”was a merry old soul”). Cornwall was the Cornish kingdom (the Cornish language finally died out with its last speaker about a hundred years ago). There were others; Middlesex including London and environs, and was analogous to Washington DC, not belonging to any of the other kingdoms, but not being a full-fledged kingdom in its own right.
Commercial movement inside and between the kingdoms was on old Roman roads. Some of the major routes in use today were laid down right over the old Roman originals, which tend to run straight.
Augggggggh!
:’) Wow. Still, I’m a little jealous. :’)
;’) Not by that name, but they had to deal with organized street gangs which had territories and ran commercial activities (or had a piece of the action).
I told that kid not to wear a pocket protector on his toga.
Grzegorz Sobolewski wrote: Having been studying Roman culture for years, I think I can be sure guessing, that the 33 pcs or carved cameo gemstones were lost intentionally. They probably had functioned as facsimile of somone signiture - after his death, his lawyer, his family or a nearest friend was morally obliged to throw away the "stamp" of the deceased.
In that way, no one could ever produce a "fake-document" signed by the already dead, of for example donation of his house to his former lover. G.R. Sobolewski, Poland
LOL! That’s what the Brits like to call (and don’t think the Yanks can understand)....IRONY.
Toxique.
LOL!
Now I'm going to go re-read "1066 And All That"....... :)
I wonder if Harrogate is built the same way?
Romans built the roads there, too. You ought to try to drive on them! LOL!
It really is amazing what the Romans built that is STILL standing today; their roads are one of the more famous examples and (because we’re on the subject of roads) there are some ancient New-World roads which extend virtually laser-straight for miles and nobody knows how they were able to do it.
The English roads are very good and do not suffer the constant pot hole problem that we do in Wisconsin. That is because they are built over a very thick base that starts with the Roman road. I don’t think that this is any road in the US that holds up so well. Gotta keep those road builders employed, so US roads are built on a planned obsolesence plan.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
