To mark Carlisle’s status as home to the largest fort on the Roman Wall, Emperor Hadrian himself arrived in town on Tuesday (3 May) to inspect the cavalry regiment stationed at Uxelodunum (Stanwix).
Upon finding he had missed his troops by approximately 1900 years, the Emperor asked to take a bath at the recently excavated Roman Bathhouse at the nearby Edenside Cricket Club. However, the Emperor’s plans were again thwarted after his courtiers discovered that Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse had closed several hundred years earlier.
Thankfully local Stanwix resident, Lynda Hepburn rode to the rescue and bundled the Emperor and his entourage into her trusty chariot for the short journey to the City’s opulent Turkish Baths.
Dressed only in a loin cloth and his imperial laurel, the Emperor braved the icy waters of the plunge pool before resting in one of the 113-year-old relaxation booths in the Frigidarium. Gazing at stained glass and tiled interior, whilst being fed peeled grapes and honey cake, Emperor Hadrian declared himself most pleased with the facilities.
Following his ablutions, the Emperor met with members of the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths who are taking part in the Hadrian’s Wall 1900 programme of events. The Friends are hosting a special talk tracing Carlisle’s history of bathhouses and bathing from Roman times to the Victorian fashion for Turkish Baths through to the resurgence of cold-water swimming on Friday 13 May at Cakes and Ale. Tickets are available from the Friends website carlislebaths.co.uk/tours-events/.
Member of the Friends Group, Lynda Hepburn said;
“The recent discovery in Stanwix of what is thought to be the largest Roman Bathhouse in the Northwest has reaffirmed Carlisle’s status as a significant place in Roman Britain. The fact that Carlisle was also home to what is thought to have been a private roman bathhouse located under the market hall and has one of only twelve remaining original Victorian Turkish Baths still in use, made it impossible to resist organising a talk on the history of bathing in the city as part of the 1900 Festival. The talk promises to reveal some little-known facts and guests will have the chance to see some of the discoveries unearthed during last year’s dig.”
Hadrian’s Wall named after the Emperor himself, represents the borderline of the Roman Empire at its furthest extent in the 2nd century AD. The 150-mile Hadrian’s Wall frontier area runs from the western Roman coastal defences at Ravenglass, through Whitehaven, Workington and Maryport to Bowness-on-Solway, along Hadrian’s Wall through Carlisle and Hexham to Newcastle, Wallsend and South Shields. Along the wall there were around 80 milecastles and 160 turrets, a ditch to the north and the great defensive vallum earthwork to the south.
