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They are one of Britain's foremost ancient monuments and attract as many people as Stone Henge. But visitors who choose to drop in to Bath's Roman Baths today will find them empty. The Great Bath at the city's Roman Baths is being drained of natural thermae spa water for its quarterly clean-up... Modern-day items recovered in previous cleans include umbrellas, traffic cones and even a moped. Once the Roman sluice-gates were re-opened, the Great Bath refilled from the spring at the rate of 13 litres per second. The plug was pulled on the Great Bath at 11am yesterday morning and...

For two millennia the Great Drain has carried the mineral-rich waters of Britain's only hot spring from the Roman Bath in Bath to the nearby River Avon. The drain runs for nearly half a mile under the city but although parts of it are large enough for a man to walk through, it has never been fully explored. Archaeologists will have their first opportunity to get inside the previously inaccessible sections of the Great Drain this month when engineers open it up for repairs. A stretch of drain built long after the Romans is causing the difficulties. The extension was...