Caerleon Roman Fortress Baths, museum in Newport

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What is recorded here

Caerleon Roman Fortress Baths preserve the excavated bathing complex made for the legionaries of Isca, one of the three permanent Roman legionary fortresses in Britain.

Who made it and when

The Second Augustan Legion built the fortress and its great bath-house from about AD 75. Soldiers, builders and enslaved workers created a planned complex beside the River Usk.

How it was made and used

Visitors moved through changing rooms, a large exercise hall, cold rooms and heated rooms. Furnaces and spaces beneath raised floors circulated hot air through the bathing range.

What was found

Excavation revealed the swimming pool, drains, building foundations, lost personal objects and evidence for repair. Finds show bathing mixed hygiene, exercise, rest and social contact.

What remains

The pool, stone walls and heating remains are protected beneath a modern cover with raised walkways. Light and projected water help explain the missing depth without covering the original fabric.

Why it mattered

The baths reveal the organised daily life behind a Roman army base and preserve one of the clearest places in Britain to understand how a legionary community washed and relaxed.