Roman Hypocaust, Park Street, Chester, England, UK
Posted by: Ddraig Ddu
N 53° 11.310 W 002° 53.252
30U E 507514 N 5893246
A roman Hypocaust in a modern park in Chester.
Waymark Code: WMBZP4
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/08/2011
Views: 4
A roman Hypocaust in a modern park in Chester, a city on the Anglo-Welsh border. It was built in AD75 as a Bath building for the roman inhabitants of the time.
"Hypocausts were used for heating public baths and private houses. The floor was raised above the ground by pillars, called pilae stacks with a layer of tiles then a layer of concrete then another of tiles on top, and spaces were left inside the walls so that hot air and smoke from the furnace would pass through these enclosed areas and out of flues in the roof, thereby heating but not polluting the interior of the room. Ceramic box tiles were placed inside the walls to both remove the hot burned air, and also to heat the walls. Rooms requiring the most heat were placed closest to the furnace, whose heat could be increased by adding more wood to the fire. It was labour-intensive to run a hypocaust as it required constant attention to tend the fire, and expensive in fuel, so it was a feature of the villa and public baths." - with thanks to:- (
visit link)