Monument record 5003/2/16 - Site of Victorian plunge bath, Delapre

Excavation of service trenches along the north side of the north range at Delapre identified a Victorian plunge bath. A small building is depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map indicating it was constructed by 1885. By 1901 the building housing the bath had been demolished.

{1} A Victorian plunge bath was discovered during the cutting of a trench for the installation of new services. The bath is located to the north of the north range close to its west end. Situated outside the main structure, it must, when constructed, have been located within a purpose-built subsidiary building attached to the north wall of the range. Prior to its discovery no indications of it remained above ground in the form of scars in that north wall which might indicate its former height or other dimensions. Below ground a truncated brick wall footing to the west of the bath suggests the presence of a brick superstructure providing a covered space. The full dimensions of the bath house were not defined. The building is just visible on a photo taken before 1901.

The bath comprises a brick lined structure c2.5m east-west and c2.5m wide from north-south with a
connected flight of steps on the south side closest to the north range. Internally, the bath was lined with glazed white tiles. No pipework survived, but two empty sockets may indicate the positions of the hot and cold taps. A seat was provided on the west side. The materials used suggest a construction date within the last quarter of the nineteenth-century, a fact confirmed by the depiction of the bath house on the 1885 Ordnance Survey map.

<1> Soden, I and Prentice, J. with a contribution by Meadows, I, 2019, Archaeological monitoring, excavation, building recording and analysis at Delapre Abbey, Northampton 2014-19, p. 48-53 (Report). SNN111408.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 8:11PM