A Historical Connection - The Roman Baths and The Hall

Did you know that The Hall has historical and significant links to the world-famous Roman Baths?

Reputed to be “the handsomest man in England” and one of the most sought-after peers on the marriage market, English nobleman and the Second Duke of Kingston, Evelyn Pierrepont is often famed as an early excavator of the Roman Baths.

Born in 1711, fifteen-year-old Evelyn Pierrepont would inherit The Hall from his mother Rachel Bayntun who died in 1722 at the age of 27. His father, William Pierrepont, died the year after his birth, and with no paternal influence, the young teenager would suddenly find himself a Duke when he succeeded his grandfather as the Second Duke of Kingston.

With a new title and a Jacobean mansion, the Second Duke of Kingston also inherited substantial pockets of land around Bath Abbey, just as a construction boom – driven by the increasing popularity of the city as a spa resort – was beginning.

Keen to make profitable use of his newly acquired city-centre property, The Second Duke of Kingston ordered the development of the northern part of the Kingston Estate, beginning with the demolition of Abbey House in 1755. However, as the Duke’s workmen began digging down to create new cellars, they uncovered the spectacular remains of the eastern Roman Baths.

On the remains of the eastern Roman Baths, The Duke of Kingston created a sumptuous private bathhouse, known as the Duke of Kingston’s Baths. By 1762, the eastern baths had been covered over and buried beneath a network of vaulted cellars that supported a grid of new elevated streets, including the Kingston Buildings, now known as Kingston Square and fittingly on Pierrepont Street that sits beside the renowned Bath Abbey.

The Duke of Kingston's Baths were demolished a decade or so later when the great Roman Baths we know today were first exposed. Constructed in around 70AD as a grand bathing and socialising complex, the Roman Baths is one of the best-preserved Roman remains in the world and continues to be a top tourist attraction in the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is the city of Bath today.

Evelyn Pierrepont died in Bath on 23 September 1773. With no male heir, the title of Duke of Kingston would become extinct.

In recent years, Evelyn Pierrepont has become more commonly known for his bigamous marriage to the scandalous society figure Elizabeth Chudleigh, better known as the Dutchess of Kingston who is notorious for being the first woman to be tried and convicted of bigamy in Great Britain in 1776.

While his reputation and questionable liaisons may precede him, the Duke’s pioneering construction work that would unearth the great treasure that is the Roman Baths should not go unmentioned. A sensation of the Georgian Age, the former resident of The Hall would certainly leave his mark on the world.

The Second Duke of Kingston, Evelyn Pierrepont created a lasting legacy etched in stone that is still felt on the cobbled streets of Bath today. Both The Hall and the Roman Baths are designated as Grade I listed buildings by Historic England, signifying their exceptional historical and architectural importance.