The Roman Bath, York
In the city of York, beneath The Roman Bath Pub, are the remains of a caldarium, or steam bath, from the Roman city of Eboracum. This city was built by the 9th Legion Hispana in 71 AD and occupied by the Romans for nearly 350 years.
During our recent trip to York, we went to visit this fascinating historical site. The bath house complex was historically a favourite place for the Roman soldiers to socialise as well as a place to get clean. The complex was open from dawn to dusk and offered a health spa, food, drink and toilets with running water. There was also a gymnasium and it is speculated that there may have been a swimming pool. Various rooms offered different grades of heat from cold to very hot.
The caldarium was a hot and steamy room heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system using tunnels with hot air and heated by a furnace tended by slaves. We could see the remains of the pillars which supported the floor. In the caldarium, there would originally have been a plunge bath of hot water sunk into the floor.
Roman caldarium remains at the Roman Bath in York. Photograph by Robbie Cheadle
The soldiers would have applied olive oil to their bodies to cleanse themselves and removed the excess using a tool called a strigil which was designed for removing dirt, perspiration and oil from the body.
Next we saw the remains of the frigidarium, the cold bath. According to the literature provided at the Roman Bath, the soldiers would exercise in the gm and freshen up in the cold bath. They would then move on to the various heated rooms in order to build up their body heat slowly.
Frigidarium at the Roman Bath in York, photograph by Robbie Cheadle
We saw four tiles found on the site, two of these clearly show the impact of nails from the sandals of Romans who trod upon them before the tile had hardened after being made. Two other tiles appear to show the seal of the 9th Roman legion, who founded the city of Eboracum in 71 AD.
How does this relate to Through the Nethergate
My new book, Through the Nethergate features both Nero and Caligula, both exceptionally evil Roman Emperors, as minor characters. You will have to read the book to find out how these two men become involved with Margaret, the heroine in Through the Nethergate, but I can treat you to a short extract:
“The door to the stairwell opened and two men entered the hall. One of the men wore a loose robe of bright-coloured silk with a handkerchief bound about his neck. His hair was cropped into a bowl shape on top with longer strands curling around his neck. The other man had shorter hair and wore a long-sleeved tunic covered by an embroidered cloak covered with precious stones. He also wore bracelets.
As they advanced towards Lucifer, his eyes lit up with a savage delight. “Ah, Nero and Caligula, how delightful to see you both. May I introduce you to Hugh Bigod and Margaret?” Lucifer did not extend his introduction to the other members of Hugh’s party. “Pleased to meet you,” Hugh and Margaret greeted the newcomers simultaneously. They had learned from Lucifer’s earlier lessons.”
“Nero and Caligula are going to keep an eye on your friends and you, Hugh. Trust has to be earned, you know that, don’t you?” Lucifer clapped Hugh on the back so hard he almost fell and smashed head-first into the floor.
Within minutes, the travellers were all squashed inside the coach, ready to journey to their unknown destination. Lucifer gave clear directions to the coachman’s head and then climbed aboard. A few short moments later, they were moving at a steady pace back up towards the earth’s surface.”
Through the Nethergate
Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Margaret, a girl born with second sight, has the unique ability to bring ghosts trapped between Heaven and Hell back to life. When her parents die suddenly, she goes to live with her beloved grandfather, but the cellar of her grandfather’s ancient inn is haunted by an evil spirit of its own. In the town of Bungay, a black dog wanders the streets, enslaving the ghosts of those who have died unnatural deaths. When Margaret arrives, these phantoms congregate at the inn, hoping she can free them from the clutches of Hugh Bigod, the 12th century ghost who has drawn them away from Heaven’s White Light in his canine guise. With the help of her grandfather and the spirits she has befriended, Margaret sets out to defeat Hugh Bigod, only to discover he wants to use her for his own ends – to take over Hell itself.
Purchase links
It is available from Lulu.com here: Lulu.com
It is also available from TSL Publications as a soft copy book here: TSL Publications
It will be available on Amazon in a few weeks’ time.
About the author
Robbie, short for Roberta, is an author with five published children’s picture books in the Sir Chocolate books series for children aged 2 to 9 years old (co-authored with her son, Michael Cheadle), one published middle grade book in the Silly Willy series and one published preteen/young adult fictionalised biography about her mother’s life as a young girl growing up in an English town in Suffolk during World War II called While the Bombs Fell (co-authored with her mother, Elsie Hancy Eaton).
All of Robbie’s children’s book are written under Robbie Cheadle and are published by TSL Publications. Robbie has recently branched into adult horror and supernatural writing and, in order to clearly differentiate her children’s books from her adult writing, these will be published under Roberta Eaton Cheadle. Robbie has two short stories in the horror/supernatural genre included in Dark Visions, a collection of 34 short stories by 27 different authors and edited by award winning author, Dan Alatorre. These short stories are published under Robbie Cheadle.
Find and follow Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Roberta Writes Blog Amazon Author Page Twitter Facebook
While the Bombs Fell
What was it like for children growing up in rural Suffolk during World War 2?
Elsie and her family live in a small double-storey cottage in Bungay, Suffolk. Every night she lies awake listening anxiously for the sound of the German bomber planes. Often they come and the air raid siren sounds signalling that the family must leave their beds and venture out to the air raid shelter in the garden.
Despite the war raging across the English channel, daily life continues with its highlights, such as Christmas and the traditional Boxing Day fox hunt, and its wary moments when Elsie learns the stories of Jack Frost and the ghostly and terrifying Black Shuck that haunts the coastline and countryside of East Anglia.
Includes some authentic World War 2 recipes.
Robbie also writes as Robbie Cheadle
Robbie’s Inspiration Blog Goodreads Facebook YouTube
Amazon author page Twitter: @bakeandwrite
Books by Robbie and Michael Cheadle
The Sir Chocolate books are a delightful marriage of story, verse and cookery
… a perfect recipe for sharing with children. Silly Willy goes to Cape Town tells the adventures of two very different brothers…and includes five party cake ideas.
You can purchase the Sir Chocolate books from:
or you can buy them in South Africa directly from the authors by emailing Robbie Cheadle at sirchoc@outlook.com.
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Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Thank you for having me over today with this post, Sue. I really enjoyed our visit to the Roman Baths.
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Always a pleasure to have you as my guest, Robbie 🙂
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I always like the way you bring history to life Robbie. (K)
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Thank you so much, Kerfe. I appreciate your comment.
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I’d love to go!
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It is not that far for you, Ritu. The kids would love York. It is fascinating.
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One day!!!
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York is such a Roman City. Some great info here, Robbie and a great teaser to your next book.
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Thank you, Darlene. York has a bit of everything – Romans, Vikings, Luddites, highwaymen and even Guy Fawkes was born there.
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It is my second home as hubby is from there and we got married in York. I agree it has so much history. Just love it.
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I’ve been to the ones in Bath some years ago. Fascinating.
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HI Mary, I haven’t made it to Bath yet, but we went to the Roman Museum in Canterbury which is also amazing.
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I can’t imagine being surrounded by that kind of history- so interesting!
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I told my hubby today, Jacquie, that England has the best and most amazing history in the world. They also present it so well which makes it easy to enjoy.
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You can’t walk a step in York without passing through another layer of history 🙂
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You are right about that, Sue.
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Pingback: Guest author: Robbie Cheadle – The Roman Bath, York – Roberta Writes
Fab I love history and this certainly brings what you saw to life, and I can well imagine your books are alive and real and have great impact on children and adults alike. Fab writing and wishing you much success. Thanks Sue for hosting her.
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Thank you for your lovely comment, Jane. I also love history and so does my son, Gregory. It is important for the new generation to remember the past.
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Yes youngsters often cry ‘before my time’ if you mention anything historical.
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That’s a lot of interesting English Roman history I hadn’t heard before. The scraper for cleansing sounds interesting. That’s one way of getting clean. I don’t like the sound of the frigidarium though. brrr!
Thanks for sharing some of Through the Nethergate. Intriguing.
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Thank you, Norah. I thought that scraper was rather interesting, I also didn’t know how the Roman’s cleaned themselves. I vaguely thought they must have used soap. Poor slaves must have suffered though.
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I think we live in better times. 🙂
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What intriguing history with the Roman baths. And it’s interesting to think they used olive oil. It must have been a fascinating place to visit.
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I would say this was a highlight, Mae, but I think nearly every place we visited was a highlight for me. I find the age of the Roman relics astonishing and I can’t believe how advanced they were with baths and toilet facilities.
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Terrific post as always Robbie.. They were so advanced in many areas but certainly their bathroom facilities were exceptional… interesting that when they left these all went to pot and it would the Victorians before we starting getting our stuff together in places like bath.. as for flushing toilets inside a building that was way ahead of its time.. thanks Sue for sharing..hugs
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The Romans were far from the first to have indoor toilets that were flushed with running water. They go back almost five thousand years. There are examples in the Indus Valley and, closer to home, in Orkney. Yet decent sanitation seems to have gone off the radar for millennia somehow…
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Yet most think that Thomas Crapper invented it all!! and whilst I love France, those holes in the ground were a shock to the system.. xxx
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In all my years there, I only met he odd one or two. The worst by far…though spotless… was in the middle of nowhere and with the whale-sized waistline of advanced pregnancy. Not easy… 😉 xx
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OMG…xxx
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There were other words at the time 😉 xx
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haha.. I can imagine…♥
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🙂 xx
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It is astonishing, Sally. When we visited the cave city in Nottingham, we saw a cesspit and re-heard the story of how the gong men used to clean them out with a spade. It is a shame the Roman technology wasn’t adopted, it may have spared the UK some of the cholera, plague and other epidemics.
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Exactly Robbie..unfortunately despite being invaders for nearly 400 years, when they left their expertise died. But their influence continued for a great deal longer and even 400 years later during the Saxon wars many of their structures including the baths were still standing in major cities such as London and were coveted by the rich.. Not to mention the wonderfully straight roads they carved out that are still used today. xxx
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I’ll let the Romans have credit for the actual construction of durably surfaced roads but, apart from the military routes, many of the roads followed the network of trackways that had been in use for thousands of years before the invasion.
Ruddy Romans want credit for everything 😉 xx
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Agreed Sue.. I bow to your area of expertise..hugsxx
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Hugs, Sally. I really mustget over this antipathy towards the Romans 😉 xx
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They were invaders..xx
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Yes, the small silver lining to being under their cruel thumb.
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Thank you for this interesting story, Robbie! What would we have done without the Roman vacation here? LoL Look in difference at our car industries Michael.
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Yes, you are right about that Michael. The Roman’s had a very advanced technological culture which is incredible. They were also very cruel. I always think of the gladiators and fights at the Colosseum when I think of the ancient Romans, so the bad and not the good.
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Great bit of history and a short snippet from the book to whet our appetite as well – bravo Robbie!
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Thanks for reading and enjoying, John. I must say that Budapest is the first European city I have visited that promotes very few chocolate and food products in their souvenir shops. I managed to find Hungarian marzipan and honey and that is all. In the UK, food products are a huge tourist industry.
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I saw Paprika everywhere, but you are right, that didn’t seem to be front and center to their everyday life…although I also felt it was lagging in any sort of aggressive tourist initiatives…as compared to other European cities…glad you had a great time!
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Yes, I think you are right about that. I did buy paprika but that is just about all.
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I used mine in my special “Downton Abbey” dish for “Dinner And A Movie” – very powerful flavor!
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Fabulous post and images Rpbbie. How amazing to see such history. I look very forward to the book 😉 ❤
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Thank you for your support, Debby. I am glad you enjoyed this, I found it fascinating.
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🙂
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I enjoyed the history lesson. The Romans were ingenious. Your book sounds very intriguing!
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Thank you, Joan. The Romans were amazingly advanced, but also cruel.
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Yes, that’s true.
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I’m intrigued, Robbie. I think you have found a genre that really suits you! I can’t wait to read your book! ❤
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Thank you, Colleen. I do think I am interested in dark history and dystopia. It is easy to write passionately about things that interest you.
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I agree. I’m thrilled for your new book. I Can’t wait to read!
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