The Baths, Southernhay, Exeter, 1830

A steel-line engraving of the Baths, Southernhay, Exeter, by J. F. Lambert, after a drawing by W. H. Bartlett. Originally published in Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated, (London: H. Fisher, R. Fisher & P. Jackson, 1832).

In the late 18th century, a group of workmen uncovered a natural spring and the remains of a Roman bath whilst digging a drain to serve a cluster of new townhouses. By the 1820s, a project was underway to build a neoclassical bath house to cater to the fashionable Southernhay quarter. As a local newspaper reported:

“We understand, some Gentlemen of this City have purchased a spot of ground, adjoining Dix’s Field, on Southernhay, for the purpose of erecting Public Baths, hot and cold; and which will be proceeded on forthwith.”- Exeter Flying Post, March 1821.

The new building was designed by the architect John Lethbridge, a founder member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and inspired by a monument to Thrasyllus in Athens (destroyed 1827). Featuring three neoclassical style porticos supported by square columns, the edifice was topped with a statue of Poseidon, and largely made of stucco. Inside, the baths' subscribers could find hot, cold, and medicated baths, and showers, partly fed from the nearby natural spring. Over time, however, a decline in the number of subscribers left the project in trouble, and by 1834 they were offered for sale. After being purchased by a Mr E. W. Jackson, they reopened in June 1837, at a lower annual fee. The interior was refurbished and redecorated. However, by 1850 the stucco exterior was deteriorating and the subscriber rate continued to fall. In 1868 the entire building was demolished. 

The text accompanying this illustration read:

"The Baths, Southernhay, Exeter: Exeter, with its suburbs, contains many handsome rows of modern houses, and particularly in the eastern part of the city. Those of Southernhay Place which is an airy and salubrious situation, are fronted by an expansive area, or pleasure ground, enclosed with iron palisadoes. The adjacent PUBLIC BATHS, which were first opned on the 3rd of December, 1821, exhibit a classical exterior, and are replete with every internal accomodation, but, unfortunately, the establishment has not met with that success that it so fully deserves. In front are three porticoes, of similar elevation to the main building, each exterior presenting a lofty entablature and balustrade, supported by four square pillars, coupled. This building was erected from the designs of the late Mr. Lethbridge: over the central elevation stands a colossal figure of Neptune, with a sea-horse."- John Britton, Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated, (London : H. Fisher, R. Fisher & P. Jackson), p.67.

Related Collections

Prints and Drawings