Collection: The Roman Baths

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The origins of the museum date to 1727 when Minerva’s Head was discovered and displayed at the Guildhall along with further archaeological discoveries. In 1790 the Pump Room was extended and included the display of the Gorgon’s Head and other key objects from Roman Bath and the surrounding area.

  The museum was opened to the public in 1897 following the discovery of the Roman bathing complex in the 1870s and records mention the display of the Gorgon’s Head beneath the Concert Hall adjacent to the Roman Baths. Photographs show Roman stonework, leadwork and building materials from the excavations placed around the baths. From this time onwards, objects have been put on display to augment the understanding of the site for visitors to the Roman Baths.

  During the 20th century, the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution transferred assets including archaeological objects from Bath and the region to Bath City Council as the institution’s buildings were requisitioned and used by the Admiralty until 1959. The Roman Baths collection steadily grew over the following years as further excavations in Bath and the region revealed more archaeology, and other institutions and individuals transferred or donated items to the museum. The rich archaeology of Bath and North East Somerset gave rise to Bath Archaeological Trust, which became the primary excavator of archaeological sites up until the early 2000s, when the company was dissolved. At this time the entire archive of material and documentary finds from hundreds of excavations was deposited with the Roman Baths, giving rise to the documentation backlog that still exists today It is not clear what means of identifying the first objects in the collection was used as no form of documentation was used in the museum prior to 1962. A card index was then set up which briefly recorded (and sometimes misidentified) some 2340 archaeological objects in the museum, marking objects with RB numbers, some of which survive today. There are no records in the Museum archives about the objects in the collection during these years, but ongoing research into the City Archives held at Bath Record Office will provide further information.

  Between 1977-9 a new scheme was introduced with the MDA prefix of BATRM and cataloguing with MDA cards. Some of the RB-numbered objects were renumbered with A numbers (A standing for archaeology). Only 1267 objects were catalogued on object cards and sheets which were later bound. Corresponding RB numbers also were recorded at this point. The current system of accessioning and numbering by years was introduced in 1978 and has been continued to the present. In 1992 bound archival quality accession registers took over from the loose leaves used previously.

  In the late 1980s the collection management database, Micromusee, was acquired but few objects were recorded until 1998, when a review of the documentation procedures highlighted gaps and consequently new procedures and record sheets were introduced. Since this time, a programme of cataloguing and digitisation of archaeological boxed collections and digitisation of the numismatic collections has ensured the ongoing documentation of the collection, a process that was halted during the Coronavirus pandemic due to the staffing capacity, a pause in Collections volunteering and the subsequent retirement of the Collections Manager.

  Management of the collection first became curatorially led in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the museum’s management was remodelled to form Heritage Services a division of Bath and North East Somerset Council. Prior to this the site ran primarily as a visitor attraction, but this restructure allowed for the recruitment of a formal curatorial position. In 1990, the museum became a Registered museum and in 1999 the collection was Designated by Resource (Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries) as having a collection of national significance. In 2004, Registration became Accreditation. In 2014 ‘The Roman curse tablets from Bath – Britain’s earliest prayers’ were the first objects from Roman Britain to be added to the UK Register of the Memory of the World by UNESCO.

  As of 2022 the collections and curatorial staff at the Roman Baths are all new in post following the retirement of the Head of Service, Roman Baths Manager, and Collections Manager in 2021-22. This Policy maintains and looks to build on the existing high standard of collection management and museum best practice that the previous management team worked to develop over their tenure, in line with the new Heritage Services Strategy and the Roman Baths Forward Plan.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The Roman Baths collections are principally archaeological, but also include a diverse local history collection and a major collection of numismatics which together tell the story of 7,000 years of human activity around the hot springs at Bath. The collection is Designated in its entirety by ACE as one of outstanding national significance. The museum collection is recorded on the Collections Management Database, Mobydoc Micromusee. To date, there are 89,498 records on the database, which represent an estimated 182,899 objects as some bulk archaeological collections are catalogued at group level.

  Archaeology

  In the prehistoric collections there are flint and other stone objects, mostly from the downs to the north and south of Bath but including a small but distinctive group of Mesolithic flint tools found in excavations in and around the hot springs in Bath, and further finds from the site of the Southgate shopping development, together making a significant assemblage from the southwest. There is also Bronze Age metalwork, the most significant pieces being from the Monkswood Hoard. There are small quantities of prehistoric pottery, human and faunal remains including objects from the Iron Age hillfort at Little Solsbury, and Iron Age roundhouses at Batheaston

  In the Roman collection, the bulk of material relates to the Baths and Temple site in which the museum is situated, consisting of building blocks, architectural fragments, sculptural reliefs, inscriptions, ceramic building material and lead and bronze plumbing fittings. There are also thousands of coins and many smaller objects from the Sacred Spring thrown in as offerings to the goddess Sulis Minerva. Amongst these are fragments of over 130 curse tablets, the largest group known from within the Roman Empire and the first objects from Roman Britain to have been added to the UNESCO Memory of the World register of intangible cultural heritage.

  Roman objects from sites elsewhere in Bath include architectural fragments, tomb sculptures and stone coffins, as well as personal, domestic, and industrial objects. These include objects of copper alloy, iron and bone as well as substantial quantities of pottery, tile, human and animal bone and samples of wall plaster, mosaic tesserae and window glass. Notable is the Beau Street hoard of Roman silver coins, one of the largest from any town in Roman Britain.

  From elsewhere in Bath and North East Somerset there are objects from the Roman villa at Combe Hay and an important collection of material from Keynsham, including Roman objects and a nationally significant mosaic from the Durley Hill Roman villa and the Somerdale Roman house now believed to be part of the Roman settlement of Trajectus.

  The post-Roman collections include remains from a Saxon cemetery at Bath, and from the medieval settlement at Eckweek excavated in 1988 in advance of the Peasedown St. John by-pass. Important objects from the Medieval Abbey site at Keynsham include monumental stonework, building materials and a range of small finds representing life at the Abbey. The post-medieval objects in the collection are principally ceramic and glass, with material from Saw Close representing the lower socio-economic residents of Bath in the Georgian and Victorian periods. The collection includes stonework and industrial objects recovered from the Combe Down stone mines during archaeological recording that took place prior to the stabilisation project completed in 2009.

  The Roman Baths Museum is one of only two museums in the former County of Avon approved by Historic England for the deposition of excavation material and their associated archives. Much of the archaeological material excavated prior to the early 2000s was transferred from the Bath Archaeological Trust, and consists of the object and documentary archives of the Trust’s work in the region. The archaeological collections are added to continually through receipt of excavation material from development archaeology as well as occasional stray finds and through purchase via the Treasure Act.

  Numismatics

  The numismatic collection consists of approximately 30,000 objects. Most significant amongst these are the collection of Roman coins of which the most noteworthy are those excavated from the Sacred Spring at the Roman Baths and the Beau Street Hoard, both collections of national significance.

  There are a number of ancient coins (mostly Roman) from various sites around Bath and unprovenanced sources. Numismatics from later periods include coins from the Saxon mint at Bath and a representative collection of English coinage from the Saxon period to the 20th century, miscellaneous foreign coins, commemorative medals, jettons and reckoning counters.

  The collection includes a very comprehensive collection of local 17th, 18th and 19th century tokens, tickets, inn checks and banknotes from Bath and North East Somerset.

  Local History

  The local history collections consist principally of objects relating to the city and immediate environs of Bath. They include an important collection of Sparelated equipment rescued in the 1980s from the defunct Spa Treatment Centre, which was enhanced in the 1990s by the creation of an oral history archive for the Spa, and a large group of weights and measures transferred from Trading Standards.

  The collection includes historic furniture pieces produced by local makers during the 17th and 18th centuries for the buildings and venues in the care of Bath and North East Somerset Council, and notably the Tompion Clock made by clockmaker Thomas Tompion for the Pump Room.

  The collection also includes a significant and substantial collection of old photographs, postcards and glass negatives, mostly of the Roman Baths and Bath, as well as nearby villages.

  Title to the collection of civic regalia and silver of the former Bath City Council was transferred to the Charter Trustees upon local government reorganisation in 1996, but curatorial advice is still given to the Trustees by the Roman Baths Museum when required.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2024

  Licence: CC BY-NC