The discovery of a Roman bath house under a brand new, £120 million retail development in Wigan has resulted in a prestigious project for Maysand.

The company has been asked to restore the remains of a ‘hypocaust’ — a Roman underfloor heating system — and rebuild it in a new location, by Modus, developer of the town’s Grand Arcade.

The ‘hypocaust’ was unearthed during excavation at the site and is thought to have been part of a substantial bath house, probably built by the Roman army. The system heated the appropriate rooms by channelling hot air from furnaces under the floors of the rooms and up through hollow tiles set into the walls. The cavity under the floor was created because the floor was supported on stacks of tiles called ‘pilae’.

"Ian Miller, archaeologist with Oxford Archaeology North, says 'It was a fanatastic discovery because it shows that Wigan was a Roman settlement of some importance, and allowed us to re-assess the nature of the town during this period which had previously been something of an enigma.

“The archaeological work was done prior to the development as we anticipated that some medieval remains may survive on the site, but to discover a well-preserved Roman bath house was way beyond everyone's expectations. It’s undoubtedly one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the North West this century!”

It was whilst working in the evaluation trenches that Ian found the first clue: a Roman hearth. And as the full extent of the hypocaust was revealed, Ian produced detailed drawings and plans before everything was removed for safekeeping.

Maysand will work to these plans so that the restored hypocaust will resemble the original as nearly as possible. “Every stone and tile which can be salvaged has been saved,” says Maysand’s Mick Fowles.

“Our job now is to source additional material to match the originals; commissioning new, hand made tiles and finding a quarry that can offer an acceptable stone for the job. That done, we’ll be rebuilding the hypocaust using natural lime mortars — hopefully in time for the opening of the exhibit.”

Andrew Duffy, Modus’ project manager, says that initially the company had planned to set up display cases of artefacts from the site: “But the hypocaust was such a big find, we decided to restore it completely, using all the salvaged pieces, so that it becomes a feature of Wigan and a real story of its history. For that we needed expert help from Maysand.

Mick Fowles adds: “It’s an incredibly exciting project to be involved in. Whilst we were examining the Roman tiles we found finger prints in one — a thumb print on one side and the fingers underneath — probably from the time the tile was being made. To see that kind of human evidence in a piece so old is amazing.”

Images (right) show: (top) the site is uncovered; (bottom) the relocated and restored hypocaust