The Roman baths beneath the A1(M) in Welwyn, Hertfordshire are part of the Dicket Mead villa complex. Discovered in 1960 by Tony Rook, excavations by the Welwyn Archaeological Society revealed a bath complex within a larger villa. This bath house is preserved under the motorway embankment. The villa dates from the early third century and fell out of use in the mid-fourth.
The baths feature three key rooms: the unheated frigidarium (cold room), the warm tepidarium, and the hot caldarium. A sophisticated hypocaust system provided underfloor and wall heating. Romans would progress through the rooms, using oil and a curved tool called a strigil for cleansing in the hot room. They’d rinse in plunge pools, hot then cold.
The baths weren’t just about hygiene. For wealthy Romans, bathing was a time-consuming social ritual. It could easily occupy an entire afternoon, combining relaxation with conversations and even business dealings.
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