King's Bath hot spring. 19th-century artwork of people bathing in a hot spring in the King's Bath, part of the Roman section of the spa complex in Bath, UK. The original baths date back to Roman times, with the King's Bath dating from the 12th century. Niches allowed bathers to sit immersed up to their necks in water. Bathing in the mineral-rich hot waters was thought to provide a cure for a range of conditions and diseases. Buildings added in the 18th and 19th centuries catered for public demand. This artwork by Robert Cruikshank, based on a drawing by the author Charles Molloy Westmacott (Bernard Blackmantle), was published in 'The English Spy' (1825).