Today was Home Education Wiltshire’s First Trip to the Roman Baths in the City of Bath.
Thomas Took a selection of Photo’s of some of the things he really liked about Bath.
Thomas took photos of different types of Architecture while we Drove around to the carp 
and the Cathedral he is really enjoying learning about photography and is getting a lot better even if he is using my phone at the moment but hopefully we will find a new charger for his Camera soon and he will get a bit more practice.
He also took the four above while we were walking around but once we were in the Baths he lost all interest in taking photo’s because as you can imagine there was far too much to be seen. 
I Took this photo because Thomas wanted one of her but as he went to take the photo someone put some money in her pot and scared Thomas so much he nearly dropped my phone as he ran away bless him he didn’t realise she was a real person and even after he regained control of himself again he still wasn’t keen on getting close enough although jess and Emily did slowly creep close enough to put some Money in her pot and the Lady moved again and blew them all some kisses.
We got there a little early so the children got to have a little look around and they even found a Santa’s grotto outside the doors for the Roman Baths.
Emily all excited because she had found Santa’s house after running around that for a while she went in search of Jessica and chased Jessica back to see Santa’s house.
Puddle Jumping in the puddles around the front of the entrance to the Roman Baths waiting for the lady who organised the trip and the other Home Educators to show up and to go in and have some Roman fun.
Once Everyone had arrived we headed in and went up to the Education suite where the children were given a mat each and had the chance to hold some Roman Items (replica’s made exactly how the originals would have been but obviously the actual Items themselves are far to fragile and precious to be handled themselves).
These are off Jessica looking at the types of building materials the Romans used and some real Roman Mosaic tiles as well as looking into a copy of a piece of flooring found within the Roman Bath Complex that shows two Animal Prints thought to have been Dog prints (most probably something along the line of a Greyhound in shape and size)
Thomas waiting very patiently waiting for the clay tile with the Animal prints in it and then studying it before passing it on. Thomas asked on route home to make a tile of our Dog charms print so looks like we may have a future Project.
While the Children were listening to the Lady from the Roman Baths talk about the all the pieces she was passing around the group Emily who had not long woken from a short nap started to investigate the Rocks behind where we were sat all of the sort used around the site. she really seemed to like the larger stone with lines on it as she was happily stroking the rock and seemed completely amazed that it was so soft.
They also got a chance to look at some Roman Coins as a picture of Roman Daily life at the Baths was slowly being Painted. Both Thomas and Jessica both brought themselves a Roman coin from the gift shop last time we came and were both really pleased when the coin passed around was just like theirs. 
These Items I found Particularly Interesting as it consisted of a pair of Tweezers a small Brass scoop and a couple of other pieces strung together on a piece of leather. these I found interesting because we had also seen these Items in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum as well as pictures in the books they read about Romans when we were covering the Romans a couple of years ago. The most interesting part was finally finding out what it was that they were used for the tweezers I just asummed would have been used for removal of splinters and such not really thinking that removal of hair would be that much of an essential to the Romans but in fact they were used for just that the woman used it for the removal of hair (lip, arm pits arms and legs) and men for the nose hair and ear hair. The little Scoop was for cleaning out their ears! Erm no thank you lol.
These pictures are off the children investigating a scraper used to remove the dirt after being covered with oil. I don’t mean in an XXX kind of way a servant would cover her Mistress in the oil and rub it into the skin before using the scraper to remove the dirt along with the excess oil.
Thomas is holding a glass container which would have held oils, scents used in by the servants on their masters/ mistresses. Thomas spent a a while looking at this he really like the colour but also he was intrigued how they would get the liquids in as this one has a very little hole.
These show Jessica with the glass jar and also with a large muslin sheet which would have been what the Romans would have used as a towel.
After show and tell the children had a chance to have a go at Mosaic tiling Jessica did a Z pattern in 3 colours.
Thomas went for a patterned border with a picture inside it for his Mosaic.
Emily on the other hand just did random tiles but still grasped the Idea very well for a 3 year old.
After the Mosaics they were talked through the types of clothes the Romans wore and who wore what before letting them all dress up Jessica is wearing a Tunic and Stola Thomas is Wearing a Tunic and Toga both Tunics are belted in the middle.
Emily also dressed up in a Tunic and Stola too but she was too small to fit a belt on it lol.
After they had their chance to dress up it was time to say goodbye to the two lovely Ladies from the education Department and investigate the Baths.
We picked up an audio guide and headed to the first check point where the children listened to the guide and read the boards before moving on.
You then head out onto a Balcony directly above the baths.
Then we followed this around listening to the Audio Guide as we went before it leads you through some doors the other side of the Corridor you exited to get out on to the Balcony.
The balcony is surrounded by these Elegant Roman Soldiers and Nobility stood surrounding the Baths as if the guard not so much those who would have used it but the actual Baths themselves each one completely unique and each face completely different expressions but all giving this same look of Guarding something incredibly great.
just before you go down the Stairs to the Museum you can look down into the Sacred Spring (more pictures lower down as you walk past it again after going through the changing and dressing Rooms)
you then head down the stairs and the first thing you see is part of the original floor with a projection on the wall behind it of Romans, dogs, Ladies etc walking past.
Above is a Scaled model of what the Roman Baths and Temple would have looked like when it was last in use and below is a model to show how the water is moved around the Baths and Temple buildings.
after here you walk down more steps which have an amphitheatre feel to them and you are welcomed to what the entrance to the Temple is thought to have looked like.
If you sit down in the middle of the steps and watch the Projection it shows up as pictured and completes the puzzle pieces that have survived all this time.
then you come to the only real interactive part of the Museum where the children really enjoyed being able to touch a mosaic’s and Emily even laid down talking to the animals on it,
they also used the wheels which lit up a map to show where different things were made or came from.
The museum has loads in it including these above and just before you exit out to the actual Baths there is a Gift shop too.
just before you leave this section and go out to the Baths you can seen the Drain system. (left Hand Dec 2012 Right July 2011) and the far Right is the Sacred Spring overflow.
top left is of the Main Baths the other five are off the children investigating the pool surroundings.
Unfortunately I didn’t actually get chance to take very many photo’s this time as I had all three by myself but i tried to get ones different to the ones I got when we went as a family outing in July 2011 so I have mixed both together to give an all round view of the trip but this being so I don’t actually have any except the next few taken last time of the baths from Bath level.
I Don’d know if I missed these this time around or if they had been taken away but when we went in July 2011 the kids loved these the Idea is to show the children how heavy raising the stone into place was.
All of these pictures are from July 2011 but I cant really continue the tour around the Roman Baths without actually having a picture of the Baths from their level :0). the Picture on the Far Right is off a Roman Lady who tells you all about how they did their make up, about their hair extensions and generally about Roman Women’s Beauty regimes, She was absolutely Fantastic when we went this time in the Dec there was a Male Roman as pictured but by time we finished in the education Suite and made our way around the Museum he was gone but he looked like he was a worker of some kind maybe a blacksmith.
These Three are off the underfloor heating furnace Rooms (if memory serves me correctly) from the First view you get off it as you enter into the Temple Court Yard towards to the Temple steps and the Sacred Spring.
These pictures are to help give you some Idea of how it is laid out, Where the arrow is shows where you enter now as you walk through what remains of the Courtyard.
As you walk around if you notice there is a short thin passage that widens out and if you lean down and get on your hands and knees you can see what the right hand picture depicts and in the back you can see the other side of the Sacred Springs Overflow. Now I am a little confused as to what part of the Baths it is I think it is part of the Temple Court yard.
Both of these photos are off the Temple Courtyard which lead up to What remains of the Temple.
This is the Doorway into the sacred Spring I get the feeling it may go out into a corridor which leads to a door pictured further down which is located opposite the Actual Sacred Spring.
we now get to the Temple, before you reach the Temple Steps (left hand picture where Jessica is stood) you come to this very odd and a little creepy bust of Minerva. this is where you would have seen the Temple Entrance (implicated in the right hand picture) Would have been Just in front of you and realise how grand this place would have been.
Such a Magnificent feat at a time when the types of building tools available were still quiet primitive and they have managed to build something that even by today’s standard with modern technology to help plan measure and advanced tools to help sculpt shape and build such buildings would still be considered a great architectural Achievement and would still takes hours if not days or weeks to make such a intricate design even with modern computers etc.
Now you get to the Steps of the Temple which were first unearthed in 1981.
then you round the corner to the Sacred Spring and the door from the Court yard/ changing rooms. 
The first thing that stood out for me was the seats and towel rings next to them they are some height from the level of the water and it seemed a long way away from the water not sure I would want to be sat up that high!
I love this pool my absolute high light of the whole trip and this is found before you go through to the Temple Courtyard but I wanted to save the best till last this pool is one of the most beautiful things I have seen it is full of coins they would have been tossed in much in the same way people still toss coins into a Wishing well each one in hope of help from Minerva for one reason or an other I think I actually have some photos of the sort of things they had on display about the types o things they have found evidence of people asking her to help with will have a dig.
These Photos show a selection of the many coins that have been taken out of the pool
Couldn’t resist an other picture lol this one you can see the coins better.
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