Bathrooms

A short History of The Bathroom

The basic function of bathrooms associated with human settlement is now very familiar and understood. Interestingly the basic technology associated with the historic development of bathrooms has changed little since ancient times.

The word Plumbing comes from the Latin word for lead, which is ‘plumbum’; the word sewer comes from the French word ‘essouier’, meaning ‘to drain’.

Mohenjo-Daro is a UNESCO World Heritage site in Sindh province Pakistan. Archeologists have exposed here early evidence of the communal use of baths at the settlement which dates back to 2600 BC, a contemporary civilisation of Egypt, Crete and Mesopotamia. They don’t know for sure whether the use was for recreational, cultural or religious purposes.

Elsewhere on the site hundreds of the houses excavated here had their own bathrooms; located on the ground floor surrounded by a kerb to sit on with water drained via a hole in the floor with waste piped into a municipal drainage system. They also had western style toilets which discharged via chutes into cesspits or street drains.

This led Sir Mortimer Wheeler the Director General of Archeology in India from 1944-48 to write ‘the quality of the sanitary arrangements could well be envied in many parts of the world today’. Despite all the scientific and technological advances since 2600 BC this statement still has weight today - ironically in the Third World.

In Great Britain as any avid watcher of Channel 4’s Time Team can confirm, even in Romano-Britain around 200-400 AD villas with baths or villa complexes with communal bath houses were a luxury of the ruling and trading elite. The communal baths at Bath date from around 50 AD; these we’re eventually abandoned as the excesses of Roman culture clashed with the edicts of mediaeval Christianity.

Sadly, with the demise of the roman baths, so went the potential for human health. Famously St. Benedict pronounced that ‘to those that are well, and especially for the young, bathing shall seldom be permitted.’ In 1348 Black Plague entered England through Melcombe in Dorset. One third of the population would be wiped out.

It was not unit the 16th century that the baths at Bath were cleared and brought back into use as the fashion for “taking the waters” increased in popularity. Not until the 19th century, with the spread of industry and increases in urban populations and the first global disease of cholera, did the link between disease and hygiene become re-established by public bodies concerned with public health at large.

Although the first water closet was installed for Queen Elizabeth I by Sir John Harington in Richmond Palace in 1596 the ‘Ajax’ was the butt of many jokes at the time. It would be a further 200 years with the advent of china clay and porcelain manufacture before the concept of a bathroom and a water closet became a desired feature of modern houses.

It will come as a surprise to many people that it was not until the 1960’s that the installation of a bath becomes a requirement of Building Regulations for new houses!

Today bathrooms not only provide functionality for cleanliness but can now offer design led innovation in products and style. For the high end bathroom it can be a central feature of the home with oversized whirlpool baths or stone carved baths for ultimate relaxation. The technology and finesse does not stop there, with steam showers, massage jets, elegant furniture and sleek tiling, today’s bathroom has become a work of art.

For top end providers view our bespoke bathroom, designer bathroom and luxury bathroom pages.