Taking the Plunge

In the news recently was the story that David and Victoria Beckham want to create a new lake on their estate in the Cotswolds. The report described the existing landscape features of their park and mentioned that they already have a plunge pool. In this they are following a long tradition stretching back to Ancient Greek and Roman times. In the 18^th century the fashion for plunge pools was revived alongside a fashion for sea and other bathing. Different sorts or water – river, mineral springs and lake waters – were considered beneficial for various different ailments. Cold baths became fashionable as a cure for leprosy, asthma, rickets madness and to counteract the effects of over-eating and over-drinking. Some doctors recommended plunging in head first, others suggested that it was better to walk in and then duck under several times.

Finding an open-air plunge pool is rare and the one at Lydiard Park is a fascinating example.  Prior to the restoration work in 2006 there were just a couple of intriguing stone steps near the lake, leading nowhere. The assumption was that it had been a boat house or a holding tank for freshwater fish or mussels, until a brick wall at the lake end and a stone ashlar floor were discovered. Volunteers from RWE Npower helped excavate it and uncover the evidence that it had been a cold bath, filled from the lake. The type of brick and mortar used suggests it was built around 1820 when Sir George Richard St. John, the 3^rd Viscount Bolingbroke, owned Lydiard. Today the water doesn’t come up to its edge so it looks stranded – but in the 19^th Century the lake was at a slightly higher level so it could fill naturally. One can imagine Sir George and his guests taking the plunge in the healthful waters of the Lydiard Park lake.

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